Join us in welcoming Curt McNew, our Mobility Manager
Curt grew up in the farm country of Iowa, which is what makes rural Preble County feel like home to him. The Navy put him through college at Oregon State University. He served ten years of active duty and retired from the Reserves as a Commander.
Curt then went into the trucking business, managing over the road truck drivers for twelve years. The last company he worked was at Zumstein out of Lewisburg. He initially came to Ohio to manage Elder Beerman’s logistics before it went bankrupt in 1998.
He had an itch to have his own business, so he left trucking to spend twelve years of his life as a Financial Advisor with Northwestern Mutual. This began in the Miami Valley, then he moved his business home to the farm country of Iowa. Becoming tired of chasing money, he learned he found more fulfillment in serving people. He became the Director of EARL Public Transit in Northeast Iowa, seving five small rural counties—all less populous than Preble County, yet supporting over 150,000 rides per year covering over One million miles. As time passed, he yearned to be near his three sons, who live within five miles of each other in western Montgomery County, and moved back to the Miami Valley I August of 2018.
The Mobility Manger role is a Federally Funded Program from the Federal Transit Administration. Ohio grants these funds to agencies delivering transportation options for seniors, handicapped, disabled, and low income individuals. The Mobility Manger Grant holder in Preble County is the Council on Aging, however, Curt serves the entire county. Basically, if someone needs a ride, or transportation in Preble County, how do they find it? Curt’s job as Mobility Manger is to build awareness of current methods to meet those needs. In essence, what does Preble County need to build up transportation, and how can we get that?
Curt’s love for transportation began when he was a child on his first big family road trip from Iowa to Colorado (he was in sixth grade). He got the Trip Tik maps AAA and plotted, planned, and tracked the route from Iowa to Colorado. His dad listened to him some of the time.
He has always loved to travel and has driven through 47 states and four countries. In the Navy he enjoyed traveling much of the world and in the Reserves he helped set up the logistics bases and planning in case of a war for NATO. He loves to travel.
You can reach Curt with your transportation inquiries at 937-634-9060. ‘Who knows, maybe someday we can have a public transit service in Eaton?’ It is good to dream.
