Posted on March 24, 2016
The Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission has selected Bill Cork, founder of Cork Consulting Group LLC in Texarkana, Texas, as its new chief executive officer.
He succeeds Ashley Edwards, who left to become president of Gulf Coast Business Council.
A Marine Corps veteran, Cork earned a bachelor’s in philosophy and master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“We are excited to have someone with the experience of Bill Cork to lead the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission,” said Robert Kane, HCPHC board president. “He has a track record of economic development success working with both the public and private sectors. Bill and his family will be a great addition to our area.”
Cork served as president and CEO of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, a two-city, two-state business league with 1,000 members.
He also served as executive director and CEO of TexAmericas Center in New Boston, Texas, where he was responsible for the economic redevelopment of a 12,000-acre industrial park and 3 million square feet of building space that includes parts of the former Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant and Red River Army Depot. The mixed-use development included residential, golf course, commercial and industrial development.
Earlier in his career, Cork co-owned a real estate sales and consulting firm, was vice president of national accounts and regional vice president at Sempra Energy and was a researcher and post graduate fellow at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratories.
