Their first meeting was Feb. 26.
Evans and Bockhorst replace Joe Magdich, who resigned last year from his position on the board; and Jim Fitton, who was chairman of the board until his term expired at the end of 2014. After a 10-year tenure on the board, Fitton decided not to renew his term.
At last month’s meeting, Denise Quinn was elected chair of the group by fellow board members. Quinn is the plant manager of the MillerCoors Trenton brewery in St. Clair Twp.
Bob Schmidt, a retired banking executive and Butler County resident, is the board’s vice chairman.
Other board members are Chris Flaig, accountant and principal for the firm Decosimo; Craig Hudson, chief financial officer at Gold Medal Products Co.; and Mike Scorti, retired business owner.
Meanwhile, Mike McNamara, who has worked in Butler County Treasurer Nancy Nix’s office for four years, has been named to a new position of county development administrator. He will serve as executive director over both the port authority and the land bank and work in the county’s development department. The new duties are effective March 23.
McNamara reports to David Fehr, the county's development director. Fehr has been executive director of the port authority since the previous director's position was eliminated April 2014 due to budget cuts and a reorganization. Fehr will continue to work closely with McNamara on the port authority.
Port authorities can provide special financing for large development projects such as issuing bonds. Under Ohio law, port authorities can own, finance, construct and lease real estate, including land, building and equipment.
A port authority that helps finance a project can save a company money, which is the reason why port authorities are seen as a key tool for attracting and retaining businesses.
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