PORT ANGELES — New pastures are becoming old hat for John Nutter, the Port of Port Angeles’ director of finance and administration.
The former Port Angeles police officer and one-time Olympic Medical Center finance director travels to new employment climes Dec. 1 when he starts as the new chief financial officer for Airborne Environmental Control Systems, he said this week.
The West Hurley, N.Y.-based company which develops cooling systems for high-heat military lasers and sensors, signed a lease effective May 1 for its new headquarters at the port-owned Suite E at 2007 South O St.
Nutter said the company’s new corporate headquarters on South O Street has an opening date of Dec. 1.
Nutter, who said he had nothing to do with negotiating the lease with Airborne or with the company moving to Port Angeles, said he was approached by an Airborne executive who said, “we need a good CFO,” he recalled Monday afternoon.
Earlier Monday, port Commissioner Steve Burke jokingly asked Nutter at a port commissioners’ meeting on the port’s preliminary 2018 budget if Nutter was having fun presenting his final spending plan.
Nutter just chuckled.
The 46-year-old Portland, Ore., native moved to Port Angeles in 1985 when he was 14 and attended Port Angeles High School.
After graduating from Peninsula College and Western Washington University, he was a Merrill &Ring timber accountant before he was to be Olympic Medical Center’s financial analyst.
He later became the hospital’s finance director, then was a Port Angeles police patrol and downtown resource officer before he was hired as the port’s finance director in February 2015.
Nutter, who earns $125,000 a year at the port, said Monday his new salary is being negotiated.
Port board of commissioners President Colleen McAleer said Tuesday that Executive Director Karen Goschen may reorganize the port’s administrative structure in light of a few upcoming senior staff retirements and Nutter’s departure.
“He’s not a typical finance guy,” McAleer said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
