PLATTSBURGH -- Empire State Development has a new North Country regional director.

James Fayle, a certified economic developer, has accepted the position and is expected to start in mid May.

"Jim Fayle is highly qualified to direct the state's economic activities for the North Country Region," Empire State Development Co-Chairman Daniel Gundersen said in a news release.

"He understands economic development and has the breadth and depth of experiences in the field that is needed to get things done. Under his leadership, we look forward to helping our businesses grow and moving forward with the revitalization of communities throughout the North Country Region."

Fayle replaces C. Randall Beach, who had been regional director since August 2001. Beach retired effective March 28.

The North Country Region includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Fayle will continue as chief executive officer with the Jefferson County Job Development Corp. and the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency until early May.

His achievements in that position include participation in the effort to bring broadband to a tri-county area, development of a county-wide marketing strategy for economic development and the formation of a public/private sector board to assist in community and economic development.

Fayle will oversee Empire State Development activities for the North Country from the agency's Watertown office.

Roseanne Murphy, also a certified economic developer, will be running the Plattsburgh office and will report to Fayle. She will continue to work with companies, with an emphasis on bringing Canadian and aviation businesses together with local development sites and helping regional companies retain business.

Both Fayle and Murphy said they expect the regional office to continue to run as smoothly as it has in the past.

"I'm very positive there are a lot of good initiatives," Fayle said. "I think the commissioner (Gunderson) has done a good job to identify the issues and start to develop programs that can overcome those issues."

He said it appears the $1 billion Upstate Revitalization Fund will stay intact in the upcoming state budget.

Murphy said that while she hasn't personally worked with Fayle, staff in Empire State Development's Watertown office have had a good relationship with him.

"That's what our expectation is, that things will continue on as they have in the past," she said.