Ports of Indiana strengthens corporate leadership with four new roles

Ports of Indiana has bolstered its leadership team with a series of key promotions and hires at its Indianapolis headquarters. Two familiar faces return to Ports of Indiana as Jennifer Rachau takes on the newly created position of Chief of Staff and Ed Hamilton returns as Senior Engineer. Travis Kohl has been promoted to Senior Director of Projects and Infrastructure, and Eric Powell joins the organization as Director of Communications. 

“We are excited to increase our institutional knowledge and industry expertise through these new roles as we build an all-star team to facilitate growth at our ports,” said Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock. “These four special individuals are a perfect complement to our leadership team as we position Ports of Indiana to achieve new levels of success and economic development for Indiana.”

Before returning to Ports of Indiana, Rachau managed logistics and purchasing for Cleveland Cliffs at its Northwest Indiana steel mills. Prior to that, she served in various roles related to business administration and engineering operations at Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor, as well as public education and banking.

Kohl joined Ports of Indiana in November 2022 after 16 years with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT). While at INDOT, Kohl rose from the position of right-of-way survey technician to capital program management director for INDOT’s Crawfordsville District, serving as team lead in long-term strategic planning and establishment of best practices.

Hamilton joined Ports of Indiana as a staff engineer in 2012, rising to engineering director before leaving in 2020 to pursue construction and property development interests. A Purdue University graduate with a civil engineering degree, Hamilton returns to Ports of Indiana in a part-time engineering role and brings vital institutional knowledge of its three port facilities.

Powell brings more than 25 years of communications and transportation experience to Ports of Indiana. He held a variety of public relations and marketing roles with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IMS Museum and the Indiana Rail Road Co., and most recently was senior rail planner for the Indiana Department of Transportation.