Ports of Indiana has appointed two Indiana natives as port directors for its Ohio River ports in Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon.

In Jeffersonville, George Ott has been promoted to port director after serving as operations manager since 2019. A resident of Elizabeth, Ind., Ott has 17 years of experience in various operations, facility management and maintenance supervisor roles, and has served as interim leader of the Jeffersonville port since Jeff Miles retired in July 2022.

In Mount Vernon, veteran agribusiness manager Jason May will become port director on May 30. A Wadesville, Ind., resident, May has 25 years of experience in logistics, business development, and operations, including eight years managing the Mount Vernon port’s general cargo terminal with Consolidated Terminals & Logistics Co. (CTLC). May has been serving in an interim leadership role as an operations consultant with Ports of Indiana since February 2023 and he will fill a director’s role that has been vacant since Ben Weithman resigned in October 2022.

“Sometimes you don’t need to look far to find talented leaders with exceptional knowledge of our ports,” said Jody Peacock, chief executive officer for Ports of Indiana. “We often face difficult decisions at our ports, but this wasn’t among them. It’s a privilege for me to name George and Jason as port directors. In recent months, we’ve challenged George to expand his role and he not only embraced the opportunity but excelled. Likewise, Jason has demonstrated strong leadership and accountability in a consulting role at Mount Vernon. Both George and Jason have developed excellent relationships with port customers, and their past work experiences make them ideally suited for these roles.”

Ott’s previous experience includes nine years as a manager with Legacy SCS and GE Appliances Distribution Center within the Jeffersonville port, as well as additional roles with Southern Indiana Plastics and Beach Mold & Tool. Ott is an ASE/Business graduate of Lincoln Technical Institute and a volunteer with Harrison County 4-H Club and South Harrison Community Schools. He and his wife Jennifer have two daughters, Lila, 9, and Isley, 7.

“I’m very appreciative of the opportunity to become port director and to build on our organization’s success,” Ott said. “We’ve got a great customer-focused team at Ports of Indiana and it’s exciting to see the new projects and business opportunities coming to the port right now. We’ve got world-class companies at this port and we want to grow our business by helping our customers grow their business.”

In Mount Vernon, May previously served in various leadership roles with Consolidated Grain & Barge, including facility superintendent, environmental associate and grain merchandiser, as well as terminal manager at CTLC, facility manager at Cargill, grain operations manager at Superior Ag Cooperative, and business development and operations manager at Bulk Storage Building Solutions. He and his wife Cheven have two children, Aubrey, 15, and Charley, 13.

“I feel like this is the perfect culmination of my career,” May said. “It’s a tremendous honor to be part of the Ports of Indiana team that I’ve had the privilege to work with so often through the years, and I am eager to be in a role that is focused on collaborating with our customers to develop long-term partnerships that will drive business growth for southern Indiana.”