Michael J. Kayes, our Immediate Past President, is from Amsterdam, New York (Montgomery County).  Mr. Kayes also serves as the President of the Mohawk Valley Economic Development District and the Executive committee of the Hudson-Mohawk Resource Conservation and Development Council.

Mr. Kayes is also the immediate past president of the New York State Association of County Planning Directors, a past President of the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Planning Association and a member  of the Board of Directors of the New York Planning Federation.

In October, 2003 Mr. Kayes received the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association Award for Professional Planners Distinguished Leadership and in September of 2002 was awarded the New York Planning Federation Heissenbuttal Award for Planning Excellence. The Distinguished Leadership Award is for sustained contributions to the planning profession through distinguished practice, teaching and writing. The Heissenbuttal Award is for outstanding accomplishments in the planning field. These are the highest Awards a professional planner can receive in Upstate New York.