Barry Myers Leaves AccuWeather as His Wait to Head NOAA Lingers

(Bloomberg) -- After waiting more than a year to be confirmed as head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Barry Lee Myers has stepped down from his job as AccuWeather Inc.’s chief executive officer.

He officially left the State College, Pennsylvania-based forecaster Jan. 1, and sold all his interests in the company, its subsidiaries and affiliates, according to a statement Friday.

NOAA oversees the National Weather Service and the nation’s fisheries, and Myers has led efforts to trim some of the agency’s weather offerings to give commercial forecasters more room to grow their businesses. Critics have said Myers may soon be in a stronger position to pursue those goals.

President Donald Trump nominated Myers to head NOAA in October 2017, but that nomination expired after the Senate failed to confirm him. He needs to be renominated, according to the statement.

Myers, brother of AccuWeather’s founder Joel Myers, was appointed CEO in 2007 and has also served as executive vice president and general counsel since joining the company in 1989, according to the statement. When he was first nominated for the NOAA post, he said he’d sell his stake in the company and he would step down from the company, as would his wife, who serves as director for executive projects.

A NOAA official declined to comment Friday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Will Wade, Margot Habiby

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