FRANKFORT, Ky. (Feb. 20, 2004) --   Managers with substantial professional experience have been hired for four key positions in the Department of Parks, Commerce Secretary W. James Host announced today.

     They are: John Kington, Prospect, deputy commissioner; Dan Maenza, Frankfort, director of the customer services division; Jerry Pepper, Hopkinsville, director of the ranger division; and Ken Binder, Danville, director of resort parks.

   “I’m delighted to have these four outstanding individuals in the Department of Parks, ” Host said. “Under the leadership of Commissioner George Ward, we have assembled a senior management team with the talent and experience needed to move the park system toward financial self-sufficiency.”

     Kington has a 25-year-plus career in sales, marketing and management. He worked most recently at Crane Distributing Co. in Louisville, where he rose from an entry-level position in 1975 to the post of general manager and partner.  He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Kentucky University.

     Maenza is former president of Kentucky Retail Marketing-Laurel Grocery, a chain of eight supermarkets in the London, Ky. area. His duties included staff management performance and training. He previously served in upper management positions for supermarket chains in Virginia and West Virginia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Pace University in New York City and attended the graduate business program at Lynchburg College in Roanoke, Va.

    The new director of rangers has served as an instructor of criminal justice for 13 years, most recently at the Hopkinsville and Ft. Campbell campuses of Hopkinsville Community College and the RETS Medical and Business Institute in Hopkinsville. Pepper holds a criminal justice degree from the University of Kentucky and is retired from the Kentucky State Police.

   Binder has served in the hospitality industry since graduating from the prestigious Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He most recently operated his own executive search firm for the hospitality industry and previously was director of operations for Grand Tetons Lodging Co., a major concessionaire for the National Park Service.

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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 51 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Commerce Cabinet, operates 17

resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. Each year, Kentucky parks draw 7 million visitors and contribute $230 million to the economy. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.kystateparks.ky.gov