Skip Jacobsen joined the Port Authority in 1993 to monitor the Port’s $40 million investment during construction of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Once completed, responsibilities shifted to overseeing the Port’s interests in other projects financed by the Development Finance Group and managing maritime capital improvement projects. These projects ranged from construction of multi-story class A office buildings to the dismantling and relocation of a waterside, taconite transfer facility and the new port entrance that entailed reconfiguration of a state route interchange. Building projects include a world headquarters for Applied Industrial Technologies, MTD Consumer Products Test Center, Avery Dennison Fasson Roll Headquarters, several buildings for the Cleveland Clinic, and many others. The total constructed value of these projects approach $1 billion.

More recently an emphasis has been placed on project development for the Port Relocation project. Jacobsen’s role as project manager includes in depth coordination with the USACE, which will initially develop 160 acres as a confined disposal facility (CDF) for river dredging. As the CDF cells are filled, the Port will stabilize the newly created land for a phased relocation of existing port operations east of the Cuyahoga River. This 30 year planning and construction effort has involved several planners and will require multi-disciplines of engineering expertise from dozens of firms to complete.

Prior to the Port Authority, Jacobsen worked as part of the team with a national real estate developer on more than a $100 million transformative project that changed the look of downtown Cleveland that included a 400 room hotel, 57 story office building, and underground parking garage. Jacobsen was involved with a bulk material handling engineering company that installed systems worldwide. Jacobsen’s formal education includes a BSCE from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University.