August 19th, 2025
Burr served as chair of Monroe County’s Industrial Development Agency since 2016, leading COMIDA through unprecedented period of investment and innovation
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello today announced the naming of the County’s business center in honor of Ann L. Burr. The honor was announced at the August meeting of the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency (COMIDA).
Burr has served on the COMIDA Board of Directors since 2005. Since her appointment to chair in 2016, Ann has provided steady leadership through challenging times and refocused the agency on its core mission of economic growth.
Over the past five years in particular, Burr led COMIDA through an unprecedented period of investment and innovation in Monroe County. Under her guidance, COMIDA facilitated over $4 billion in new capital projects, helping retain more than 5,000 jobs and create 4,000 new jobs in high-growth sectors.
“Over the last decade, Ann Burr's vision and leadership have had a transformative effect on this community, and I'm deeply grateful for her service,” said County Executive Bello. “Ann not only helped us land significant new projects, she also helped us reimagine how we attract and retain businesses while uplifting local workers and their families. Renaming our business center is a lasting tribute to her legacy, recognizing her tireless work on behalf of Monroe County.”
Major projects during her tenure include Amazon’s three distribution centers, Constellation Brands’ new headquarters, and the historic fairlife dairy plant in Webster – a $650 million investment that is the largest industrial development project in county history. Expected to open in late 2025, the fairlife facility will be one of the most advanced dairy processing plants in the U.S., bringing 500 construction jobs and 250 permanent high-paying jobs, while boosting hundreds of agribusiness jobs across the region.
Burr also spearheaded the COMIDA Modernization Initiative in 2022, which reimagined how the agency drives equitable economic development. A centerpiece of this effort was the creation of COMIDA’s pioneering Workforce Development Fund – an innovative program that reinvests
COMIDA’s fee revenues directly into workforce training and talent development to support the very projects it backs.
Under her leadership, COMIDA’s model – aligning tax-break incentives with workforce upskilling and inclusion of minority- and women-owned businesses – has become a statewide example of innovative economic development.
Burr joined COMIDA’s board after a distinguished 35-year career in the telecommunications and cable industry.
The Ann L. Burr Business Center is located inside City Place, 50 West Main Street, in downtown Rochester. It’s used by the Department of Planning and Economic Development for programs that support local businesses and for public meetings.
