Ficker steps down as NIT League chief

Ficker steps down as NIT League chief John Ficker has resigned as president of the National Industrial Transportation League to take a position with an industrial real estate firm in the Chicago area, according to a notice to members from Chairman Curt Warfel.
   Ficker told Shippers’ NewsWire he is joining First Industrial Realty Trust, one of the nation’s largest warehouse and industrial park developers.
   He recently informed the board of directors after it finished meeting last Wednesday in Atlanta in conjunction with the association’s annual conference. The NIT League is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
   “Since becoming league president in 2003, John has done a wonderful job of increasing the league’s membership and improving our balance sheet. At the same time he has maintained the league’s reputation of being the finest transportation organization in North America. John will close out the month of November in the office and then take four weeks vacation time he is owned. He has offered to provide whatever help is necessary as we begin our search for his replacement,” Warfel wrote.
   The NIT League’s executive committee, former chairman Tom Pellington and Counsel Nick DiMichael will immediately mount a search for a successor.
   Ficker previously was a logistics executive for Weyerhaeuser Co. ' Eric Kulisch