by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
You’ll have to excuse Mayor John Peyton if it seems like he’s dragging a little this week. Peyton the businessman spent last week country-hopping in Scandinavia with Roy Schleicher, senior director of trade, development, marketing and customer relations for the Jacksonville Port Authority. Together, the two met with several current and potential Port customers in an effort to reaffirm relations and establish new business connections in the name of economic development.
“I’m a little tired, but it was a good trip. I am a little jet lagged, but I am glad I went,” said Peyton. “Roy Schleicher does a phenomenal job. I am more optimistic about our port than ever.”
Schleicher, who’s been in port development for four decades, called the trip a “huge success” and one that could prove extremely beneficial in the future. While the Port already has serious economic inroads in most of the Scandinavian countries, Schleicher said the trip — and especially having Peyton along — was an opportunity to lay the kind of groundwork that will help make Jacksonville’s port the third largest on the East Coast within a few short years.
“We (the Port) basically wanted the mayor to meet with our key customers,” said Schleicher, who was in New Jersey Monday, still conducting Port business. “We had a couple of issues we needed to straighten out and we did. The steamship lines love it when you bring along elected officials. It shows the solidarity between the Port and the City.
“Having John there was wonderful. He does such a good job with customer relations. It speaks volumes that he’s willing to get away from his other duties (to make the trip). The way I look at things, the mayor ought to be our biggest spokesperson.”
During the trip, Peyton and Schleicher were in a different city every day meeting with different shipping lines. They met with APM Terminals in The Hague, Netherlands — the Port’s biggest customer in terms of revenue.
“They want to expand in Jacksonville,” explained Schleicher. “They wanted our thoughts on how we are growing our economy.”
They also met with Transfennica, a subsidiary of Spliethoff, a Dutch shipping company looking to bring new vessels to Jacksonville. Those vessels — called conrows — will require new equipment at the ramps at the port. Schleicher said it’s likely the Port and Transfennica will purchase the equipment as a joint venture.
“They desperately want to bring those ships in,” he said.
Peyton and Schleicher also went to Copenhagen, Denmark to meet with officials from Maersk, the largest shipper in the world. The JPA doesn’t currently do business with Maersk, but Schleicher is working to change that.
“It would be a big coup,” he said, adding that having Peyton in those meetings is beneficial because it shows the respect Peyton and the Port have for the company and the level of seriousness in pursuing the business.
Schleicher said the meeting with Nordana, another Dutch shipper the Port is looking to bring in as a customer, went well.
“They are very encouraged by the growth of Jacksonville. They see the potential,” said Schleicher. “I’ve been doing this for about 40 years. I know how important having a presence is. I know how important face time is and we are building friendships that will last forever.”
One of the most important stops was in Helsinki, Finland where Peyton and Schleicher met with officials from UPM Kymmene, the second-largest shipper of paper and paper-related products in the world.
“They plan to expand,” said Schleicher. “If they build here, the paper will come from Finland and we will ship trucks to the Baltic states. It would be new export business — trucks and railroad vehicles to countries like the Ukraine and Russia.
“It was an extremely fruitful trip, one of those trips in which everything went exactly as planned,” said Schleicher. “Usually, one thing gets screwed up. This time, everything went perfect.”
Peyton agreed.
“It was a great trip, a hectic trip,” he said. “We were on a plane every day and in a different hotel every night.
“We called on a lot of existing customers. It was refreshing to see the relationships the Port has built. We shared our story about wanting to become the third-largest port on the East Coast. I tell the Port, if there is anything I can do for them as mayor, I am available.”
Peyton said a trip like this one affords him the opportunity to put on a different professional hat.
“I go (on these kind of trips) as a business guy who is also mayor,” said Peyton. “We are looking to grow our economy and the port is our most viable option.”
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