Eggs & Issues Breakfast

The Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Worthington invite you to a speaker series that focuses our collaborative attention to exceptional learning opportunities for the business community.

The Eggs & Issues breakfast series – an extension of our growing Economic Development Committee and our popular Groundhog Day forecast breakfast – provides thoughtful discussion on development affairs in Worthington and its surrounding environs. The quarterly events feature regional or statewide subject matter experts in economic development, community development, urban planning and related matters.

The series continues on April 25, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. at J. Liu Restaurant & Bar. A buffet breakfast will be served. Check-in and networking will begin at 7 a.m., and the program will begin at 7:30 a.m.

About our Program:

"Move: COTA’s Role in Central Ohio Economic Development"
How public transportation fosters economic, workforce and community development, real estate investment and job creation

The Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) is emerging as the region’s mobility services integrator, helping to lead a growing population with growing needs.  COTA’s active partnerships with public and private stakeholders are spearheading several innovative mobility initiatives.  
 
President/CEO Joanna Pinkerton will present COTA’s mission to put more people closer to hundreds of thousands of jobs, provide a growing workforce with low-cost transportation and help train the next generation of workers.  Pinkerton will also present how mobility is essential to economic and workforce development, and how COTA is involved in projects that will make transportation more efficient and convenient.

COTA is the recipient of the 2018 American Public Transportation Association’s Outstanding Public Transportation Award and provides nearly 19 million passenger trips in Central Ohio each year. As the region’s mobility systems integrator, COTA is driven each day to solve the mobility needs of the community by utilizing technology, establishing community partnerships and applying sustainability principles that provide equitable access to jobs, healthcare and education.
 

Joanna Pinkerton is a well-regarded thought leader in the mobility industry. She is licensed professional engineer known for a consensus-building style of leadership. She has a demonstrated history of leading cross-functional teams and organizations through transformative concepts, including connecting public resources to serve industry needs.

Before joining COTA as President & CEO in April 2018, she previously served in executive leadership roles with several of the nation’s leading automotive and mobility institutions. Most recently at The Ohio State University, she served as Chief Operations Officer for Transportation Research Center Inc. – the nation’s largest independent, ground-based mobility proving ground and home to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s only NHTSA Vehicle Research Center.

While at Ohio State, Joanna also served as Co-Director for the Honda–Ohio State Partnership, the largest public-private endowment at the College of Engineering sponsoring transportation research and educational opportunities for students in STEM-related fields.   She also served as COO of the Ohio State Center for Automotive Research.

Previously, Joanna served in leadership roles at the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Union County Engineer in Marysville, Ohio, which is now home to the state’s first connected vehicle corridor for testing and deployment, an effort she led in collaboration with local, state, academic and private partners.

Registration for the event is required by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23. Please use the REGISTER link at right and follow the prompts, then click SUBMIT. You will receive a confirming email once you are successfully registered.  To register by phone, please call the Chamber at (614) 888-3040.

The Eggs & Issues series is presented with the support of the City of Worthington, Worthington Industries, and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield/Shawan-Marquis Agency.  Interested in additional conversations about local economic development issues? See the Chamber calendar for announcements of informal "Conversations & Coffee" discussions, held on first Thursdays in months when there is no scheduled Eggs & Issues breakfast.