Humboldt Park Association members elected new officers during a meeting and facility tour at the American Eagle Outfitters Distribution Center in the Humboldt Industrial Park.

Brian Poveromo, senior facility and maintenance manager at American Eagle Outfitters, was elected Humboldt Park Association president for 2016 and Chuck Cresap of Simmons Bedding Company was selected as vice president. Treasurer Tracy Karchner of Karchner Logistics and secretary Nancy Stasko of CAN DO will retain their current positions.

Poveromo told the group of 50 members that he was excited to assume the presidency and help the association continue to evolve. “It’s great to see everyone here. Hopefully we can continue to keep this association going. I think we can do a lot moving forward and I’d like to see the association continue to grow,” he said. The Humboldt Park Association is made up of representatives from the more than 50 industries in the park.

Outgoing president Rich Roselle of Freedom Corrugated welcomed the group and reflected on what a vital resource the association has become since his first days as president in March of 2014. “Serving as president has been a great experience for me. This association has shown the potential to improve communications between our plant administrators and the ways we can help each other,” he said.

Gregg Pavlick and Stephanie Milewski of the Barry Isett & Associates engineering firm spoke about a proposed nature trail for the open areas in Humboldt Park. Pavlick, the firm’s vice president for the northeast Pennsylvania region, said many of the park’s employees currently use the open areas for recreation and the initial plan moving forward is to create a focus group to make formal plans for the areas.

Pavlick said CAN DO and Barry Isett & Associates will work together to identify interested partners and locate grants to fund the project.

Milewski commented that similar trails in other business locations have been known to increase employee access to outdoor recreation and improve their quality of life and health and wellness. She said this leads to increased work productivity. She said existing utility corridors, and a wide shoulder to the roads, will play a favorable roll in converting the open land to suitable recreational space.

CAN DO President Kevin O’Donnell updated association members on Humboldt’s transition to using Reading and Northern Railroad, the ongoing refurbishment of the park’s water tanks, and the latest news in the planned extension of Route 424. O’Donnell welcomed three Reading and Northern officials to the meeting who reported that operations have been running smoothly since the rail company assumed ownership of the tracks on January 1.

O’Donnell said crews have completed the refurbishment project on the water tank near the Office Depot facility on Green Mountain Road. Crews sandblasted and painted the tank and applied the CAN DO logo. He said CAN DO will refurbish the park’s remaining tanks in the future. Plans for the Route 424 extension are moving forward. O’Donnell said the project will connect Commerce Drive and White Birch Road, which will give park traffic better access to Interstate 81. CAN DO officials plan to meet with Senator John Yudichak and other local legislators to continue discussions on the project.