Howard Mallen has been named chief financial officer of the Transportation Corridor Agencies.
Mallen will take over CFO duties from Amy Potter, who has been serving a dual role as CFO and deputy chief executive officer since December 2022. Potter was named CFO in 2004.
TCA comprises two joint powers authorities formed by the California Legislature in 1986 to plan, finance, construct and operate Orange County’s public toll road system including the 73, 133, 241 and 261 Toll Roads, which represents 20% of Orange County’s highway system.
Mallen was hired in 2013 as director of finance, and then promoted in 2020 to senior director of finance, where he focused on financial planning and analysis, treasury, debt management, insurance, and financial systems.
Mallen has been part of the finance team that reduced the agency’s debt by $1.4 billion since 2019 through bond refundings, and early bond paydowns, according to a press release. He also has helped manage the agencies’ $1.7 billion investment portfolios, the conversion to all-electronic tolling, the transition to 6C tolling technology (sticker transponders), the elimination of customer account maintenance fees, and, most recently, the conversion to a customer service back-office system.
“Howard has made significant contributions to the TCA over the past 10 years,” Ryan Chamberlain, TCA Chief Executive Officer said in a statement. “His sound fiscal practices and innovative ideas have helped provide a financially stable future for the agencies.”
Mallen has worked in finance in the public and private sectors for more than 30 years and has been a certified public accountant since 1995. He is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association, the Association for Financial Professionals, and the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association.
He earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration with a major in accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.