Port adds another member to high-powered board

Cincinnati's port authority has another top regional business leader to the agency's big-name board of directors.

Bobby Fisher, regarded as a leading mid-cap CEO, has been appointed to the board that oversees the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, the agency announced this week.

Fisher is the third new member of the board this year, joining former Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and Western & Southern's Mario San Marco.

Fisher is a Hamilton County appointee, and replaces Reds co-owner Tom Williams on the port board. Williams left the board in January because of a rigorous travel schedule and other board commitments.

Fisher is chairman and CEO of Loveland-based Washing Systems, which provides chemicals and products for industrial, hotel and hospital laundries. He also is co-chair of the Build Our New Bridge Now, a coalition of top business leaders pushing for the Brent Spence Bridge project to get done.

Fisher also is a founding member of the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee, a group of mid-cap CEOs formed in recent years to help grow jobs and lead education and other civic initiatives. Fisher's brother, Michael Fisher, is the CEO of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Bobby Fisher joins one of the highest-powered public boards in the region. The port board also includes Kroger Vice President Lynn Marmer, leading philanthropist Otto Budig and RCF Group Chairman Scott Robertson, whose company provides office furniture corporations and agencies across the U.S., including Procter & Gamble. Executives from GE Aviation, Duke Energy and P&G also sit on the board.

The port board has 10 members, with five appointees each from the city and county. The port authority is a jobs-creating agency with a wide range of powers under state law. The agency has the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds for real estate projects; run transportation and parking systems; and purchase and redevelop blighted commercial and residential properties.