Chicago's MPEA Gets New CEO
By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 1/15/2007
On Jan. 2, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich named Juan A. Ochoa CEO of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns and operates Chicago's McCormick Place and Navy Pier. Ochoa replaces Leticia Peralta Davis, who has served as MPEA chair for the last three and a half years.
"I am very excited to have Juan join the Pier Authority," Blagojevich said in a statement.
Ochoa has been president and CEO of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for the last 10 years. Under his leadership, the IHCC has grown from 52 members and a $45,000 budget to more than 1,200 members and a $1.2 million budget.
"I'm grateful that the governor has confidence in my ability to lead an organization that is so critical to the economic vitality of our state," Ochoa said in a statement. "This is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to serving."
Davis was the first woman appointed, also by Blagojevich, to head the MPEA. In 2005, Chicago fell into third place behind Orlando in the number of Tradeshow Week 200 shows the city hosts.
Even as conventions moved to the warmer climes of Orlando and Las Vegas, Davis helped negotiate new labor rules with rigger and decorator unions when exhibitors complained of high costs at McCormick Place.
Davis also headed the authority during most of McCormick Place's $882 million expansion project, which will add 447,000 square feet of exhibit space to the facility when it opens in July.
Before taking the MPEA post, Davis was founder and president of the financial advisory firm Davis Financial, and finance chair of the Chicago Housing Authority board of commissioners.
In 2003, Davis replaced Scott Falwell, a longtime aide to former Gov. George Ryan. Falwell is in prison after he was found guilty of federal racketeering charges that involved state employees working on Ryan's political campaigns on state time. He is currently serving time in a South Dakota federal prison.
Besides the IHCC, Ochoa's activities include advocating increased trade opportunities in Mexico and Latin America. In 2000, he served as an international observer for the Mexican presidential elections.
In 2001, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed Ochoa to a seat on the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority board of directors, on which he still serves. It's not the first time he's worked with the governor either. After the 2002 election, he was a senior member of Blagojevich's transition team.
