As it concludes a yearlong search for a permanent leader, the Port of Greater Cincinnati Economic Development Authority has zeroed in on three individuals with extensive economic development experience in the public and private sectors.
They include a business executive with decades of commercial development experience in Cincinnati; a public sector executive with extensive development experience on the state and local levels in Florida; and a New Jersey state economic development official with experience in large-scale urban developments in Columbus.
"Of the pool of candidates we had, these are far and away the most qualified," said search committee chairman Tom Williams, president of North American Properties.
Williams said the search committee plans to conduct more in-depth interviews with the finalists, and each will also visit Cincinnati.
The three finalists were selected from among a pool of 66 applicants seeking to become the Port's first permanent executive director and CEO.
It's an ambitious task: He or she will be charged with turning the Port into an economic development powerhouse for the entire region, while skillfully navigating both the public and private sectors.
The finalists say they're not only ready, but eager, for the challenge.
Laura Brunner of East Walnut Hills has nearly three decades' experience in accounting, finance, real estate, strategic planning and economic development.
Brunner, 52, was most recently executive vice president for new business development at Al Neyer, Inc., one of Cincinnati's top commercial developers.
She was previously managing principal at the Cincinnati office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, a commercial real estate services firm.
She has firsthand experience recruiting companies to Greater Cincinnati. She also has a deep knowledge of the community, having served on multiple professional and charitable boards.
The Port is an "opportunity to do something that's very important, at this time, for our community," Brunner said. "I feel like this is what I've, in a sense, been groomed for. I'm anxious to bring all my skills together to help move our community forward."
Thaddeus Cohen of Tallahassee, Fla., has extensive economic development experience in the public sector.
Cohen, 60, was most recently assistant city manager in Pensacola and director of its Community Redevelopment Agency, where his work included a public-private partnership to create a $70 million riverfront development.
He was previously secretary of Florida's Department of Community Affairs, where he worked with lawmakers on a 2005 overhaul of state economic development laws.
He also worked with local, state and federal officials to craft a long-term economic recovery strategy in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"I've had that level of being able to talk with stakeholders about how you grow a community," Cohen said. "I like to be able to work on the bigger picture."
Odis Jones of West Long Branch, N.J., is director of development and finance at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, where he is charged with driving growth and development to the state.
Jones, 39, was previously president of an Ohio-based land development company and CEO of the Columbus Urban Growth Corp, a nonprofit arm of the city.
His work included redeveloping a 15-acre former landfill into a high-class office park.
He also led efforts to redevelop a 200-acre industrial park near the Rickenbacker Airport, a development touted as a potential model for air cargo development surrounding the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
"This opportunity in Cincinnati is not only work that I'm passionate about, but work that I have a long track record of experience in," Jones said.
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