Indiana Finance Chief York Leaves For Private Sector

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CHICAGO - Indiana's finance director, Kendra York, has left state government for a private sector job.

Gov. Mike Pence appointed long-time public finance figure Dan Huge as interim director.

Huge has been the Indiana Finance Authority's chief financial officer and chief operating officer since 2013.

It's not clear when Pence will appoint a permanent replacement.

As head of the IFA, York acted as Indiana's finance chief and oversaw high-profile financings that include the Ohio River Bridges project, which will construct new bridges between southern Indiana and Kentucky.

York, who helped craft Indiana's reputation as a pioneer of public-private partnerships, left to join engineering contracting firm American Structurepoint.

That firm has been a subcontractor on several of the state's public-private partnerships, including the Ohio River project, according to a report in the Indianapolis Business Journal.

York is the firm's new director of planning services and economic development.

She became the director of the IFA in 2011, after serving as its general counsel and chief operating officer since 2007.

Huge, who last year served as the interim state treasurer for 90 days after then-treasurer Richard Mourdock left before his term ended, was the deputy director and later the director of the Indianapolis Public Improvement Bond Bank from 1996 to 2000.

From 2001 to 2010 he was the director of the Indiana Bond Bank. After that he served as the CFO of the Indianapolis-Marion County Capital Improvement Board, which runs the city's sports venue and convention center. He joined the IFA in August 2013.

"Kendra was one of the people who did a wonderful job of navigating the Indiana Finance Authority," Huge said. "She was there during some of the economic upheaval, and guided us through that and she was really a trailblazer for P3 initiatives in the state of Indiana."

In a statement, York said the decision to leave the state was a "tough one."

"I had the opportunity to serve under two governors, both with deep passion and hope for the people of this state," she said. "Their collective visions have brought significant opportunity to Indiana, and I'm grateful to have been asked by both to share a small part in making those visions realities for Hoosiers today and for decades into the future."

The IFA was created in 2005 as the successor entity to a host of former agencies: the Indiana Transportation Finance Authority, the State Office Building Commission, the Recreational Development Commission, the Indiana Development Finance Authority and the State Revolving Fund Loan Programs.

Indiana, which is rated triple-A, does not issue general obligation bonds.

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