GUBERNATORIAL APPOINTMENT Taft names director of Appalachia office

The new director was a regional economic development representative.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR COLUMBUS BUREAU
COLUMBUS -- The new head of the Governor's Office of Appalachia says he expects to help maximize jobs in that region of the state and hopes to draw from his business background to do so.
& quot;I've got a strong background in industrial development and economic development, & quot; said T.J. Justice, named Monday by Republican Gov. Bob Taft as the office's director.
Justice, 37, most recently the Governor's Regional Economic Development Representative to Chillicothe, replaces Joy Padgett, who stepped down in January to be appointed to an Ohio Senate seat.
Justice, of Wellston in Jackson County, said he is to begin in his new position in the next few weeks.
& quot;T.J. brings excellence in service and a deep commitment to fostering economic development and improving the quality of life for the people of Appalachian Ohio, & quot; Taft said in a prepared statement.
& quot;I am confident that as director, he will succeed in moving forward with local, state and federal initiatives that facilitate economic and community development throughout the region, & quot; Taft said.
Twenty-nine of Ohio's 88 counties are designated as Appalachian, including Columbiana. As Taft's regional economic development representative to Chillicothe, Justice served as the point person between business interests in that region and the Ohio Department of Development, Taft administration officials said.
In that position, Justice played a key role leading up to USEC's 2004 decision to locate a commercial plant in Piketon in southern Ohio, administration officials said.
Background
Justice, who attended Ohio University, previously worked for the Ohio Department of Transportation in Chillicothe.
Justice said he's most familiar with Jackson County and the immediate surrounding areas but will also spend much time in the northern Appalachian Ohio counties learning as much as he can about them.
According to the governor's office, Justice served as a member of the Wellston Board of Education from 1994 to 1997 and from 2000 to 2003 and was vice president of the school board in 1997, 2002 and 2003. Justice said an annual salary for his new position has not yet been agreed upon.