Meet the Newest Penguins Employee. Ron Porter

No, I'm not talking employee as in free agent signing.

Ron Porter, President and CEO of RDP Consulting Services, Inc., was hired by your Pittsburgh Penguins today.

Porter, 62, of the Hill District, is a consultant, trainer and speaker with expertise in team-building and collaboration between corporations and their communities. He also is an adjunct instructor of multicultural management at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz School of Public Policy and Management.

Since the new arena is going to be built in the Hill District, the Pens hired a consultant with close ties to the project at hand. Porter grew up in the area, having gone through the Pittsburgh Public School system. He founded RDP in 1984.

Porter will provide excellent credentials to bridge the gap between old Hill and new Hill. The building of the Civic Arena (loved that name) largely contributed to the decline of the Hill as a cultural center in the '50s, so Porter is headlining the effort to help the new arena revitalize the area. I hope the new arena brings a new life to the former Crossroads of the World.

If Porter succeeds, then HOK Sport and ICON Venue Group, who already have close ties to each other, should be able to work well with the history-laden Hill District.