by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The Daytona 500 may be about a month away, but the new CEO for the Jacksonville Port Authority has already completed his own 500 and put his efforts in high gear to make the local port the best on the Eastern Seaboard.
“Over the last four days, which were my first on the job, I must have met about 500 people that included elected officials, customers of the port and employees of the port,” said Paul Anderson, recently appointed CEO of the Jacksonville Port Authority.
“I planned to do that out of the box, and I plan to do a lot more listening. It’s an exciting time and I look forward to meeting with a lot more people as we move forward with our goal of taking the port to the next level, and making it the best,” he said.
The port authority board of directors unanimously approved its selection committee’s recommendation to hire Anderson on Jan. 5.
The board hired an executive search firm, Boyden Global Executive Search, to find candidates for the position, which were also interviewed by the board’s selection committee: David Kulik, board chair; Buck Fowler, vice chair; Herschel Vinyard, treasurer; and Reginald Gaffney, secretary.
“I introduced (Anderson) at the (Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce) annual meeting as Captain Kirk of Starship Jacksonville and his mission is to bring us to the next level at warp speed,” said Kulik.
Anderson left International Oil Shipping Co. as president to take the position in Jacksonville, and he was also a senior fellow on the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in Washington, D.C., from March to July of 2010.
Before working for International Oil, Anderson was a commissioner and chair of the Federal Maritime Commission in Washington, D.C. He was nominated by President George W. Bush April 10, 2003, and was introduced for confirmation by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat.
Anderson has recently revisited his old friend and looks forward to meetings with public officials.
“I have met with Senator Nelson to discuss the port and he, and other legislators, are well versed on the potential and challenges that the port has,” said Anderson. “I don’t know the governor, but plan to meet with him soon to discuss the port.”
Anderson is also familiar with another person who will play a key role in the future of the port, the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, U.S. Rep. John Mica.
“He is a longtime friend who hired me in 1983 out of college to work on the staff of (U.S.) Senator Paula Hawkins,” said Anderson, a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. “We’ve stayed in close touch. I consider him a friend and mentor.”
While Anderson has 30 years of experience working with the transportation industry, his two years at International Oil constitute his only job experience at the helm of a business.
“I have served and learned alongside top executives, including Jim Moran,” said Anderson, referring to the founder of JM Family Enterprises.
“My whole career has been preparing me for this opportunity and I am confident in my abilities to excel at this position,” he said.
Kulik concurred and described how the port’s directors found what they were looking for.
“For the future of the port, we need Paul’s experience and leadership to get us to the next level,” said Kulik. “We are confident that his experience coupled with our management team can get us there.”
The board of directors has not been secretive about Anderson’s focus, finding funding for a list of projects to move the port into the upper echelon of the shipping industry.
Anderson wasn’t very talkative about where he plans to seek the funding.
“For now, I’m going to keep some aces up my sleeve,” said Anderson.
The projects include Mile Point, which limits the time each day that ships can call on Jacksonville ports due to tidal conditions; deepening the shipping channel to 50 feet to accommodate the larger ships that will be traveling through an expanded Panama Canal by 2014; developing a rail network at the port to directly offload cargo to railcars instead of trucking products across town to a rail station; and infrastructure improvements to the docks and roads around the ports.
The port consists of three cargo facilities, a cruise terminal and a public river ferry. The port said it generates 65,000 jobs and more than $19 billion in annual economic impact for the North Florida region.
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