• Owen Pucel is the Executive Director of Washington County Authority. He was hired in August 2022, as its Director of Operations. Among other things Owen is the lead for Washington County’s Broadband Initiative for the Under/Underserved.

    Born and raised in Southwestern Pennsylvania Owen began his professional career working for The Gateway Engineers, where he was a Land Surveyor for 3 years. His land surveying career continued for another 13 years at Dick Corp. Mashuda Corp and GAI consultants.

    Crown Castle was a career move from Bridge and Highway Engineering and Construction to Fiber / Broadband Engineering and Construction. Owen Spent 11 years working for the company and concentrated on Small Cell constuction, long haul fiber builds, upgrades to the Tower’s fiber systems and over saw thousands of fiber miles constructed during his time there.

    Owen lives in New Eagle and has three children, Julian, Oliver and Scarlett. In his free time, he owns and operates his own Wood Fired Pizza Food truck. “The Wooden Peel”

  • Frank Howard III has been Treasurer of Howard Concrete Pumping Co., Inc., a family company founded by his father, since 2006. Prior to that, Frank worked as a Project Manager and site Superintendent for the same. Frank has been a fixture in the Howard offices for his entire life. Since graduating, Frank has played an important role in Howard’s continued growth, emphasizing customer satisfaction and quality. He believes that the company’s personnel are the reason for this growth, and he maintains Howard’s focus on the core values of people-first and innovation. Frank graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with Highest Honors and lives in Washington County, with his wife and four children. He enjoys brewing beer in his garage and volunteers his time with several charitable organizations. Frank recently joined the Board in Spring 2021; his term concludes at the end of 2026

  • He is President of LaCarte Enterprises, a holding company that owns and operates several businesses that include Model Dry Cleaners, Uniforms, Apparel and Stoney’s Brewing Company for 30 years. Additionally, Mr. LaCarte is President of LaCarte Development Company, an enterprise focused on development ownership of commercial properties in Western Pennslyvania and North Eastern Ohio. Prior to LaCarte Development he briefly worked at PNC at the beginning of his professional career. His undergraduate degrees were in Accounting & Economics while his MBA was concentrated in Finance from the University of Rochester. He was recently voted to be the new Vice Chairman since John Artuso’s retirement. John’s term with Washington County Authority concludes at the end of 2026.

  • Ernest J. Benchek III is co-founder and CEO of Boord, Benchek & Associates Inc. (BBA) founded in 2004, BBA specializes in Civil and Environmental engineering and Land Surveying throughout PA, WV, and OH. BBA also owns and operates a limestone quarry in Smith Twp. Washington Co. PA. Mr. Benchek was also co-founder and COO of Dellovade & Benchek Energy Construction LLC, a civil construction company focused on the construction of well pads and oil and gas infrastructure. Mr. Benchek is a licensed Professional Surveyor in the states of W.V. and M.D., He attended Penn State University studying business Administration, and holds an Executive MBA from IE Business School. He is also an Army Veteran of the War in Iraq. He joined the Washington Country Authority board in February 2020, with a term concluding at the end of 2024.

  • Andrew Nixon is currently a member of the Strategic Finance team at Extrahop Networks, a cybersecurity company. Prior to his current role, Andrew held several corporate development and finance positions within the healthcare and transportation industries. Andrew holds an undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Dayton and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. He lives in Peters Township with his wife and 3 children and enjoys playing tennis, golf, and running marathons in his spare time.

  • Shannon Barry recently joined Baird and serves as the Senior Vice President. The Fishchetti Barry Family Wealth Planning group provides client-focused services. Shannon has over a decade of experience in Wealth Management where he specializes in Financial Planning, Portfolio Management and Corporate Retirement Plan Services. Previous to his Wealth Management experience he Co-Founded a private technology company and a Real Estate / Restaurant Holding Group. He attended the University of Pittsburgh and received undergraduate degrees in Economics and Mathematics. Shannon lives in Peters with his wife and three sons. Shannon is extremely involved in the young sports world, he serves on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics of Pennsylvania as the Treasurer among several other organizations too. His term for Washington County Authority concludes at the end of 2025.

  • Dan Ostrowski was born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania.  He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics, later receiving a Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate from Georgetown University. He served in a variety of positions in the U.S. Army throughout a 20-year career as an Army Aviator (AH-64 Apache Longbow) deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan on multiple occasions.  Dan moved back home to Pittsburgh following retirement from the Army and attended Leadership Pittsburgh’s, Community Leadership Course for Veterans.  He is serving his first term on the Board of Directors for Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard and the Washington County Authority.  He currently resides in Washington County, Cecil Township and works as a Project Manager for JLL

  • Pete Cameron spent 40 years in the beverage business between Cameron Coca-Cola and Ameron Beverage Company. Presently he owns Commerce Street LLC a real-estate company with several commercial buildings. He attended Muskingum College and many corporate manufacturing schools. He has served on several boards in the past including Southeastern Container, Coca-Cola Production Advisory, and Trinity Area School Technology. He lives with his wife in Amwell Twp. and has 4 grown children and 7 grandchildren. He is honored to be on the Washington County Authority Board.