Chicago, IL – Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel have appointed eight members – none from the trade show industry — to the board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), which runs McCormick Place. These appointments, which are effective immediately, will phase out the interim board created by the state legislature to oversee the revamping of the state-city agency and its operation of McCormick Place.
The interim board oversaw McCormick Place’s transition to private management by SMG. Jim Reilly, the trustee of the interim board, will stay on as CEO of the MPEA. The new board members will join former McDonald’s Corp. top executive Jack Greenberg, who was named chair of the MPEA board by Quinn and Emanuel last month.
Under state law, the governor and the mayor are each given four appointments. Quinn has appointed Carmen Lonstein, attorney with Baker and McKenzie, and three union leaders: Ronald Powell, international vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Robert Reiter Jr., secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Federation of Labor; and Becky Strzechowski, secretary-treasurer and assistant trustee of Teamsters Local 700 in Park Ridge.
Emanuel has appointed Dan Hynes, senior vice president at Ariel Investments and former state comptroller; Frank Clark Jr., retired chairman and CEO of ComEd; Julie Chavez, senior vice president and community relations manager for Bank of America; and Roger Kiley Jr., an attorney and former chief of staff for Mayor Richard Daley.
Reach Jim Reilly at (312) 791-7500 or jreilly@mpea.com; Mary Kay Marquisos at (312) 791-6237 or mmarquisos@mpea.com
