The Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve Seward, a 6-year HART employee who currently serves as Chief Financial Officer, to succeed Katharine Eagan who recently announced her departure after nearly eight years of service, to be CEO of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, Pa. Her last day at HART will be January 5.
A graduate of Columbia College, Seward also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from California Lutheran University. Prior to joining HART, he made valuable contributions while working as the Chief Financial Planning Officer for Sarasota County. As Chief Financial Planning Officer, he was responsible for the management and execution of the County's billion dollar annual budget, managing to build reserves to the point where very few services were required to be cut during the height of the recession. He also was instrumental in the financing strategy and planning for a $32 million major league baseball facility, which led to the Baltimore Orioles' making Sarasota its new spring training home.
"Jeff is a highly respected individual with the experience necessary to manage an agency as complex as HART," said HART Board Chair Commissioner Lesley "Les" Miller. "His 31 years of experience in local government, private-sector and military experience makes him the perfect fit, and his already strong knowledge of HART and plans for the future of the agency will help ensure a smooth transition period for the agency. We are grateful for Jeff's strong commitment to HART."
Seward originally joined HART in 2011 as Chief Financial Officer, where he is responsible for account & financial reporting, budget, cash management, internal audit, procurement, contracts administration, grants & planning, environmental management sustainability and project management.
Seward has distinguished himself as a dynamic and results-driven CFO who has consistently developed balanced budgets, developed strong financial policies, ISO 14001:2004 certification for its Environmental Sustainability and Management System (ESMS), established project management, joint procurements with PSTA, negotiated deals with MegaBus and Red Coach. Also, spearheaded the Regional Fare Collection System which will allow riders to travel throughout the greater Tampa Bay area using a single fare processing system.
Driven by a profound commitment to public service, Seward was named 2014 CFO of the Year in the Tampa Bay Business Journal's government agency category. Seward speaks nationally and internationally on the agency's sustainability and carbon reduction initiatives to reduce the agency's impact on global warming. He was recently a guest speaker at the Annual Climate Change: Impacts and Responses conference at Anglia-Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
He and his wife Theresa have four children; Noah 17, Tyler 23, Jordan 24, and Zachary 27.
