Onondaga County deputy executive honored for Micron, Amazon development work

The biggest economic bets in Onondaga County now run through Robert Petrovich’s office, from Micron’s planned $100 billion semiconductor plant in Clay to Amazon’s growing footprint in Central New York. Petrovich, the county’s deputy executive for economic development and planning and executive director of the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, was honored with the Robert T. Dormer Economic Developer of the Year Award.

The award, presented each May by the New York State Economic Development Council, goes to an economic developer who has made a substantial impact on a community and on the industry itself. For Onondaga County, that impact has been measured in acreage, tax breaks and the long run of planning required to keep two of the region’s largest corporate investments moving forward.

Micron has been the centerpiece. County officials have called the project unprecedented, and late in 2025 OCIDA approvals cleared a path toward groundbreaking by transferring 913 acres of land to Micron and locking in about $2 billion in tax breaks. Petrovich has been one of the county’s most visible advocates for the project, saying, “This is an unprecedented project.” The county has also said Micron works with as many as 900 vendors, a figure that has shaped efforts to bring semiconductor suppliers and other firms into Onondaga County.

That supplier recruitment matters because the county is trying to turn a single megaproject into a broader business base. Onondaga County says its economic development office provides information and services to relocating companies, expanding companies and local businesses, and its industrial development agency says its mission is to stimulate economic development, growth and general prosperity for county residents. In practical terms, that means the work extends beyond one plant in Clay and into the support network around it.

Amazon has been another major piece of the county’s strategy. County officials have described it as one of the biggest developments in decades, with transportation access and workforce quality cited by county and Amazon representatives as key reasons for the company’s interest in Central New York. Together, Micron and Amazon have become the clearest signs of how Onondaga County is trying to compete for large employers and the suppliers, contractors and workers that follow them.

Petrovich’s role has been central for years. He was hired into the county’s economic development office in January 2019 and later named director of economic development, putting him at the center of the county’s business recruitment effort as Micron, Amazon and other projects reshaped the region’s economic outlook.