Blair Looney

Blair Looney, president and CEO of the Fresno Better Business Bureau office, started working the local farm fields at age 15.

At age 76, he announced Wednesday his intention to stop working in his current position as head of the Better Business Bureau serving Central California & Inland Empire Counties, which has an 11-county territory of more than 66,000 square miles.

“I’m going to go and engage in the life that I missed as a workaholic,” Looney said of his retirement plans.

Looney’s resume includes 13 years and one month at BBB and a 40-year career in advertising that began at his father’s firm, Charles Looney Advertising.

Looney plans to aid the BBB board of directors in finding a successor as he steps aside Jan. 31, 2024.

His immediately plan after that date is to do some skiing, hitting three states in two weeks this winter. He also plans to stay active with the Fresno Rotary Club, where he serves leadership roles including past president.

Looney said the BBB is entering a new era of digitization called the “Blue Digital Cloud” that requires a next-generation leader for the 37-person local team with offices in Fresno, Visalia and Bakersfield.

“The future has more than I have the skillset to deal with,” Looney said.

The BBB board praised Looney’s talent and judgement.

“We are incredibly grateful to Blair for the energy, vision and dedication to our organization,” said current BBB Board Chair Jimmy Dunn, vice president of operations, California Health Science University. “His decision to step aside marks the end of a remarkable run that has seen impressive accomplishments.”