Menke appointed to Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation

Indianapolis — Hank Menke, CEO of OFS Brands in Huntingburg, has been named to the new Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure, which will determine the future of the next generation of roads, railway, waterway and air initiatives in the next 10 years.

Menke is the president of the I-67 Coalition, a group formed to complete a 37-mile interstate grade connection through Dubois County connecting U.S. 231 with I-69 in Washington. The coalision, made up of local business and government leaders, has been pushing to have the project completed in the next eight years.

The Blue Ribbon Panel was named on Tuesday and will identify a list of priority projects to be the focus in the near future.

Menke says that the appointment helps bring the I-67 project closer to reality.

Menke has been bending the ears of officials in both Indiana and Kentucky on the benefits of making a new interstate that would go between Bowling Green, Kentucky north into Indiana as a way to create a transportation corridor to make it easier for north-south commercial traffic to reach its destination and to take excess pressure off of I-65.

He says that their first meeting is next Friday and with the inclusion of co-chair of the Panel Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann, the prospects for getting I-67 look strong.

The 24 member panel includes business leaders from the transportation industry and state and local municipal leaders.

Governor Pence names appointees to Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure

Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence today named appointees to a Blue Ribbon Panel to plan the next generation of transportation infrastructure in Indiana.

The Panel, which was articulated in Pence’s Roadmap for Indiana, will review projects related to all four modes of transportation: water, air, road and rail. Based on the metrics they will develop, the Panel will identify a list of priority projects over the course of the next ten years. In the long term, the group will explore and monitor innovations in transportation infrastructure to keep Indiana on the cutting edge.

Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann and Cathy Langham, President of Langham Logistics, will co-chair the Panel. Additional Panel members include:

·         Mike Cline, Purdue University

·         Richard Conner, American Structurepoint

·         Mike Daigle, St. Joseph County Airport Authority

·         Mark DeFabis, Integrated Distribution Services, Inc.

·         Chip Edington, OSP Group

·         Dennis Faulkenberg, Appian, Inc.

·         Andrew Fox, Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad

·         Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, City of Gary

·         Pete Georgeon, ArcelorMittal USA Flat Carbon

·         Mayor Tom Henry, City of Fort Wayne

·         Mark Holden, A&R Logistics

·         Scott Jones, ChaCha

·         Douglas Joset, Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority District

·         Chris Matney, Indianapolis Airport Authority

·         Hank Menke, OFS Brands

·         Don Miller, Mt. Vernon Barge Service

·         Bob Palmer, AGFS of FedEx

·         Don Sansone, Red Gold, Inc.

·         JR Saylor, Brightpoint, Inc.

·         Zack Scott, UPS-Ohio Valley District

·         Noah Sodrel, Sodrel Truck Lines, Inc.

·         Mark St. Clair, Consolidated Grain & Barge Co.

·         Phil Terry, Monarch Beverage Company

·         Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, City of Evansville

For more information about the Blue Ribbon Panel on Transportation Infrastructure,click here.