Evan Scurti
Executive Director
Jefferson County Port Authority
Steubenville, OH
A native of Jefferson County, Evan is a 2000 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, receiving a BA in Political Science. Local development interests led him to Columbus where he received a Master’s of City and Regional Planning from The Ohio State University in 2003. Evan spent the first 10 years of his professional career at the Ashland Economic Development Council (Ashland, OH), serving as Executive Director in his final 6 years in Ashland. An opportunity to return home arose and Evan became the first Executive Director of the newly-formed Jefferson County Port Authority in December 2013, leading new business attraction, expansion and land development efforts in Jefferson County. Under Evan’s leadership, the new Port is focused on strategic public-private partnerships to strengthen the availability of quality real estate throughout the river corridor. A new era of demand for Ohio Valley real estate is expected from corporations and site selection professionals, as the Marcellus/Utica shale plays lead to downstream manufacturing opportunities in the years ahead. The new Port is also forming strong alliances with West Virginia partners and state-level JobsOhio programs to usher in this new approach to modern economic growth.
Evan remains active with the Ohio Economic Development Association and maintains his Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) designation under the International Economic Development Council. He also serves on several local and regional boards, including the Jefferson County Area Chamber of Commerce, the Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth, the Jefferson County Airport Authority, and the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission.