From The Pro Football Hall of Fame
Five new members were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Board of Trustees at its recent annual meeting. Joining the Hall’s board are: Brian J. Barker, founder & chairman of AFS Logistics, and a Limited Partner in the Atlanta Falcons; Brian S. Belden, vice president sales & marketing, The Belden Brick Company; James A. Porter, publisher of The Canton Repository and GateHouse Ohio Media; John A. Sirpilla, founder, Encourage LLC; Robert A. Zmudka, senior vice president and chief commercial officer Rail North America, GATX. Barker and Zmudka had served on the Hall of Fame’s Advisory Board.
“On behalf of the entire Board of Trustees, we are pleased to welcome five individuals who bring enormous talent, great leadership and vision to the Pro Football Hall of Fame,” stated Randy Hunt, the Hall’s chairman of the board. “We look forward to their contributions at a time when the Hall is positioned for significant growth built around its important mission and its focus on values learned from this great game.”
Several longstanding members of the Hall of Fame’s board will shift to emeritus status including former Board chairmen John L. Muhlbach, Jr. and Thomas W. Schervish, Sr. effective at the recent annual meeting. Also transitioning to emeritus status are William H. Belden, Jr. and Ronald W. Dougherty at the end of this year.
“John and Tom established the foundation of the Hall which has enabled us to continue to grow our programs and national outreach,” Hunt added. “Without their leadership, the Hall would not be the number one sports museum in the country.”
... Porter, who joined The Repository 31 years ago, was named Publisher of The Repository and GateHouse Ohio Media in September 2013 and now oversees management of The Repository, The (Massillon) Independent, The Alliance Review, Friday Night Ohio, The Suburbanite and Jackson Suburbanite and their related digital products. Under his leadership, The Repository has been recognized as the top newspaper in Ohio each of the past three years. During his career, Porter has been recognized as one of Presstime Magazine’s “20 Under 40” and won an International Newspaper Marketing Association (INMA) award for best overall marketing results. He serves on a number of other boards including the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, ArtsInStark, and United Way of Greater Stark County.
Porter resides in Jackson Township (Ohio) with his wife, Sarah, and four daughters.