Illinois Governor Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley today appointed a new six-member interim board for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA); the agency owns and operates McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
Under guidelines included in historical legislation and recently approved by the Illinois General Assembly, the governor and mayor each appoint three members of the MPEA interim board. The six-member board will choose an additional member to serve as chairperson. The interim board will then work closely with a newly-appointed MPEA trustee to make sweeping changes at the MPEA over the next 18 months.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the people of Illinois as MPEA trustee and I look forward to working with the interim board to enact the changes needed at McCormick Place, ” said James Reilly, new MPEA trustee. “The work to be carried out by the MPEA interim board is an important step on the path to fundamental reform in Chicago’s convention industry. I look forward to helping restore our city’s preeminence in that vital industry.”
Conventions and tradeshows at McCormick Place are an important economic resource for the city of Chicago, as well as the state of Illinois, generating more than 65,000 jobs and $8 billion in economic impact for the city and state.
Mayor Daley’s appointments are:
• Sarah Nava Garvey, member
Garvey is board chair for the Shedd Aquarium and a retired vice president for corporate relations for the Boeing Company. She previously served as director of taxes for Boeing and as a partner in the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche, where she held several leadership positions in the tax, and merger and acquisition areas. She is a member of the board of the Civic Federation.
New MPEA Interim Board
• Julian Green, member
Green is director of media relations for MillerCoors, where he is also responsible for directing the company’s external communication activities, including corporate and financial communication, and corporate social responsibility. Previously, he served as the director of communication and marketing for the Chicago Park District and also has experience working in government at the federal and municipal levels.
• Roger Kiley, Jr., member
Kiley is an attorney, whose primary practice areas include public law and government transactions. He served as a Cook County Circuit Court Judge from 1976-89 and as Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Chief of Staff from 1995-96.
Governor Quinn’s appointments are:
• Carmen H. Lonstein, member
Lonstein is a partner in the Chicago office of Baker and McKenzie, and chair of the financial restructuring Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy Practice Group in North America. She is also a member of the board of the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture. Lonstein has been named an Illinois leading lawyer and ranked in top 50 leading women business lawyers.
• Ronald E. Powell, member
Powell serves as the international vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). He has served as president of the UFCW Local 881 since 1983, and also served as chair of the Illinois State Board of Investment from 2009-2010. He is currently vice president of the Illinois state AFL-CIO.
• Larry R. Rogers, member
Rogers is a founding partner of the Chicago law firm Power, Rogers and Smith. He is a past president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association and of the Cook County Bar Association.
Rogers has served on the United States Senate Judicial Nomination Commission for the northern district of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on the Administration of Justice and an Illinois Supreme Court Committee on jury instructions.
