Middletown considering 36 applicants for economic development position

Thirty-six people have submitted applications to become Middletown’s next economic development director.

The applicants come from a variety of backgrounds and several have had economic development experience in the area. Applications came from seven states and the District of Columbia with another applicant coming from Kyoto, Japan.

Acting City Manager Susan Cohen said she hopes to have a new economic development director in place in the next several weeks to replace Jennifer Ekey, who resigned last month to become the economic development director for the Clinton County Port Authority.

Applicants include:

  • Mary Huttlinger, Cincinnati, executive director of the Middletown Visitors Bureau.
  • Chris Xeil Lyons, West Chester, economic development consultant, CXL Consulting; former Sharonville economic development director.
  • Jacob Hurt, Crawfordsville, Ind., vice president of economic and community development, Regional Opportunity Initiatives; former planning and community development, city of Crawfordsville, Ind.
  • Matt Eisenbraun, Oxford, acting economic development director, city of Middletown; director and business counselor, Ohio Small Business Development Center at Biztech.
  • Nicholas D. Brophy, Lebanon, self-employed financial planner for Northwest Mutual; air operations manager for Amazon in Wilmington; area manager at CVG for Amazon; development manager for The Port.
  • Jung-Han Chen, Middletown, planning and development director, city of Trotwood; former Oxford community development director; former San Angelo, Texas, service area director for planning and community development; former Middletown acting economic development director and principal planner, and senior planner.
  • Donald E. Root, Muskogee, Okla., former economic development director of Muskogee, Okla., Charlotte County, Fla., and St. Lucie County, Fla.
  • Chandler M. Poole, Madison, Wisc., former community and economic development director of Rock Island, Ill.; former development director, West Lafayette, Ind.; and former executive director for the Uptown Shelby Association, Shelby, N.C.
  • Jillian Marie Nolte, Cincinnati, project manager for the Department of Internal Medicine, UC Health; also served as a program coordinator and administrative assistant for UC Health; former intermodal logistics specialist, Alliance Shippers, Inc.
  • Tian Xu, Oxford, student in urban planning at Miami University.
  • Mark Caudell, Franklin, technical service specialist, MANE, Inc. Also worked as a flavor technician and a capusle operator for MANE, inc.
  • Kenneth Taylor, Middletown, an experienced production manager.
  • James Cody Hill, Salt Lake City, Utah; analyst for Lewis Young Robertson & Burningham, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah.
  • Daron A. Kunkel, Cincinnati, quality assurance inspector, TMK/Ipsco, Wilder, Ky.; former business development manager, Parallel Technologies, Cincinnati.
  • Connor J. Goodpaster, Maineville, career specialist at the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative.
  • Navruz Khotamov, Kyoto, Japan; entrepreneur and business development professional with experience in private sector development.
  • Eve Mayes, Cincinnati, senior consultant, provider networks behavioral health, Gateway Health/Highmark, Pittsburgh, Pa., but worked in Cincinnati; client services director, Ohio Shared Information Systems, Cincinnati.
  • Elyse Jenkins, Cincinnati, founder, president and CEO of SELEBRIAN Strategic Marketing and Consulting; and midwest regional director for North Carolina A&T State University.
  • Richard D. Giroux, Cambridge, Ohio, former city manager of Sebring, Ohio; former safety/service director of Hillsboro, Ohio; former city manager of Wauchula, Fla.; public service director in Green, Ohio and also Cambridge, Ohio.
  • Alaina Geres, Germantown, economic devevelopment program manager for Middletown; former office manager of the Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County, Ind.
  • K. Niki Davies, Columbus, Bridge Africa Foundation, volunteer executive director/co-founder; Ascena Retail, category IT manager; American Electric Power, principle contract analyst in supply chain procurement.
  • Jaymont Matthews, Dayton, seeking an engineering internship.
  • Derek Chancellor, Washington, D.C., legislative correspondent and a staff assistant for U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; interim city manager for Vermillion, S.D.
  • Colleen O'Callaghan, Dayton, 2nd lieutenant, Ohio National Guard, Tiffin, first woman infantry officer; merchandiser, Taylor Communications, Dayton.
  • Rishi Kohli, Indianapolis, project management consultant, Guilford Group; certified scrum manager; project management consultant, Pyramid Technology Solutions.
  • Anita M. Archambeau, Collierville, Tenn., community development director/assistant city administrator, Sartell, Minn.; planner for Dahlgren, Shardlow, Uban, of St. Cloud, Minn.; planner for Ramsey, Minn.; and GIS planner, Oakdale, Minn.
  • Michael Patrick McNamara, West Chester, former Butler County development administrator, county Land Bank president, and Port Authority executive director.
  • Harry A. Staven, Richland, Wash., city manager/treasurer of Gold Hill, Ore.; city administrator, Auburn, Mich.; finance director, Bandon, Ore.; city administrator/planner, Hoonah, Alaska.
  • Ramain Gohar, Roanoke, Va., business service manager at Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, State of Virginia, Radford, Va.
  • Malinda S. Webster, Miamisburg, business manager, Riverside Research; product manager, The Reynolds and Reynolds Company.
  • Marques Fobbs, Cincinnati, development manager, city of Cincinnati economic inclusion; state of Michigan, analyst; city of Toledo diversity and inclusion, contract compliance specialist.
  • Taron Cunningham, Youngstown, deputy director of planning, city of Youngstown; economic analyst, Economic Development Office, city of Dallas, Texas.
  • James Christopher Davenport, Salem, N.J., executive director, Stand Up for Salem, a Main Street program; and the city of Salem, N.J.
  • Eric M. Henry, Fairborn, economic development coordinator for Greene County, Ohio.
  • Kelly Pettigrew, Centerville, vice president business development and marketing, RE/MAX Complete, Fishers, Ind.
  • Lisha M. Proudfoot, Hamilton, business strategist and certified behavioral consultant; and owner, L&J Properties South, LLC; former contracted SBDC business coach in West Virginia.

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