Kara Kopach of Eatontown Named Director of Studio Operations for Entertainment Company
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
FORT MONMOUTH – Kara Kopach, who has served as executive director/secretary of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) since 2022, will vacate that post effective July 1 for one of the first positions offered by Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth – manager of studio operations. She will join the entertainment firm in mid-July.
Following Kopach’s resignation announcement during her last official authority meeting June 17, the board voted unanimously to appoint Laura Drahushak, FMERA managing director, as interim executive director/secretary. Board members have until September’s annual reorganization meeting to name a permanent replacement.
Netflix purchased 292 acres of the former U.S. Army base for $55 million, successfully completed a lengthy approval process, broke ground in May 2025, demolished some 90 obsolete structures, and is on track to open Phase 1 of its studios next year, with Phase 2 slated for 2028. A “topping off” ceremony marking construction of the first four of 12 soundstages was held on the property Tuesday. (See article starting on page 1.)
Kopach, an Eatontown native and lifelong resident, joined FMERA in 2015, serving as real estate development manager, deputy executive director and director of real estate development. She was appointed executive director/secretary after the retirement of Bruce Steadman, who served in that position from 2010 until 2022.
A graduate of the University of Scranton, she began working on the fort for the U.S. Defense Department, attending Seton Hall Law School at night. While many civilian staff relocated to Maryland after the fort’s closure, Kopach chose to remain in the area to be near family and friends, she said. Several of her family members are military veterans.
“Redevelopment has been FMERA’s passion project,” she said during her final executive director’s report, thanking “the county and boroughs for consistently showing up when we needed help and for supporting us well before anyone even understood what we were trying to accomplish here.”
She also thanked past officials, including Steadman; late chairman Robert Lucky of Fair Haven, who died in 2022; former Oceanport mayor and longtime FMERA member Jay Coffey; and former Monmouth County Commissioner Lillian Burry, who represented the county on the board for over a decade until her death in 2025, “for always trusting us to do the right thing for the community.”
The authority is a public-private agency overseen by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the attorney general’s office. Members include the mayors of the three towns the fort spans – Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls; county commissioner Director Thomas Arnone; and representatives from state departments, including environmental protection, housing and more. The executive director leads the agency’s professional staff, whom Kopach called “a team of rock stars (who are) ridiculously smart, driven, and feel a call to help this community in the same way I do.”
“We are community stewards partnering with the three towns and county as much as the developers,” she said during a recent podcast. “We take the historic aspects very seriously as they are part of the character of the fort. The developers have done a good job complying with the rules and guidelines.”
During last week’s meeting, Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr., recalling the fort’s “volatile early redevelopment,” said, “When I was an irritable person, Kara talked me off the ledge a number of times.” He read a proclamation from the borough council declaring June 17 “Kara Kopach Day” in Eatontown and citing her for “accomplishing the impossible” through problem-solving, addressing environmental concerns, and overseeing the replacement of aging infrastructure, including electrical and water systems, throughout the fort. The proclamation further commended Kopach’s “integrity and impartiality” in guiding “some of the most complex real estate transactions in the history of New Jersey.”
Oceanport Mayor Tom Tvrdik said the next executive director will have “tremendous shoes to fill,” adding to Kopach, “I’m proud to call you my friend.”
“I will greatly miss working with you and have ultimate confidence in Laura and her ability to show grace under pressure,” said McKenzie Wilson, FMERA chair. Wilson, an attorney, was named FMERA chair following Lucky’s death. (Lucky’s late wife, Joan, founded The Two River Times People Pages, which she oversaw for 15 years.)
Drahushak formerly worked for the state attorney general’s office as a deputy attorney general, focusing on FMERA legal matters. She was named the authority’s director of legal affairs in 2022 and was promoted to managing director the following year. A graduate of St. Bonaventure University in New York, she holds a master’s degree from Drew University and a Doctor of Law from Rutgers.
“Kara’s integrity, passion and work ethic have been integral to the incredible progress the authority has made in the last four years, and she will be deeply missed,” Drahushak said. “Although this is a new chapter for FMERA, our team remains deeply committed to the Fort Monmouth community and completing FMERA’s mission.”
“Leaving FMERA is bittersweet,” Kopach said. “While there is still work to be done, nearly 90% of the fort is sold or under contract. The team has achieved a lot since 2011 and it seemed like the right time, as FMERA is in its final chapters. I’m excited for the opportunity to work at the fort in a different capacity as it enters a new era. I want to climb the next mountain.
To date, 39 parcels have been sold throughout the 1,126-acre site.
The article originally appeared in the June 25 – July 1, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
