OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego County Industrial Park is now named in honor of L. Michael Treadwell, executive director of Operation Oswego County, Inc. (OOC), who retired on Dec. 31 after nearly 40 years of leading OOC.

Officials with OOC and the County of Oswego Industrial Development Agency (COIDA) made the announcement during a Dec. 2 event at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center. Nearly 80 people — including family, staff, and colleagues — gathered to celebrate Treadwell’s career.

To cap the evening, Kevin Caraccioli, general counsel for the COIDA and OOC; Carolyn Rush, former chair of the COIDA; Gary Toth, current chair of the COIDA; and Ellen Holst, president of the OOC board of directors, collectively announced the renaming of the Oswego County Industrial Park. 

In addition, the Oswego County Legislature and New York State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R–Pulaski) thanked Treadwell for his dedication to economic development in Oswego County by issuing proclamations in his name. 

Austin Wheelock, the incoming executive director, served as emcee for the event.

The L. Michael Treadwell Oswego County Industrial Park is a “well-established” park, home to 14 companies from the industrial, business, and education sectors, OOC said. With an additional 185 acres purchased adjacent to the industrial park a little more than a year ago for expansion, the industrial park is positioned for continued growth.

Treadwell joined Operation Oswego County in 1983 and has served as executive director throughout his tenure. Over his nearly 40-year tenure, Treadwell “has touched nearly every business in the county, at one time or another,” OOC said. Treadwell also “played significant roles” in keeping Huhtamaki in Fulton and saving the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant from closure, the organization noted. 

Besides leading OOC, Treadwell served as the CEO of the COIDA, a public-benefit corporation established in 1976 by the Oswego County Legislature and a “major economic-partnering agency in the county,” per the OOC announcement.