Westchester County Association names John Ritacco interim president/CEO

John E. Ritacco, the former president and CEO of CMS Bancorp Inc., has been named the interim president/CEO of the Westchester County Association effective Jan. 1. He will remain in the post until a successor to William M. Mooney Jr. is found. Mooney, the longtime head of the business organization, retires Dec. 31.

“John has been an active business consultant to the WCA for the past two years and has worked closely with Bill Mooney and the board,” WCA Chairman William P. Harrington  said. “So his taking the interim position is a terrific and natural fit if we have not identified a new CEO by the new year.”

A seven-person search committee, chaired by Jeffrey Menkes, president and CEO of The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and a key member of WCA”™s Executive Committee and Board of Directors, is in the process of conducting a search for Mooney’s successor.

“The search committee wants to make their selection from a solid, capable, diverse pool of highly-qualified individuals,” Menkes said. “We will keep moving ahead as we begin our next chapter and prepare to meet the extraordinary opportunities afforded by a changing and dynamic business climate.”

A longtime financial services executive, Ritacco was an adviser to the New York and Connecticut Middle Market Lending Groups at Wells Fargo Bank. Most recently he was a special projects consultant to the WCA.

The WCA will honor Mooney at its annual Fall Leadership Dinner on Nov. 13 at the Performing Arts Center, Purchase College, SUNY.

Ritacco has asked that all individuals interested in the position of president and CEO of the WCA to contact him at jritacco@westchester.org as soon as possible.