Leadership changes are announced, promotions are carried out and key roles are filled.
A woman will be at the helm of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority (DSPA) for the first time in the organization’s 60-plus-year history.
The DSPA board held a special meeting Monday and unanimously appointed Deb DeLuca as executive director, effective Thursday. DeLuca has served as the port authority’s government and environmental affairs director since 2014.
The search committee reviewed dozens of applications and interviewed a series of highly qualified candidates from across the United States in multiple rounds of a rigorous selection process, said Tony Sertich, DSPA commissioner and search committee chair.
“One candidate rose above the rest,” Sertich said. “Not only does Deb DeLuca possess the management expertise we were seeking, but she also is heavily invested in this community. She is a person who values collaboration and takes into account the opinions of all stakeholders. Those connections will undoubtedly help inform strategic planning and decision-making here at the port authority going forward.”
DeLuca brings decades of public and private sector experience to the job. She has spent the last four years tracking regulatory issues and legislation for DSPA, the Port of Duluth-Superior and the Great Lakes-Seaway system. In that role, she represented the port’s interests to policymakers at local, state and federal levels of government and to environmental, economic development and community development organizations.
She currently chairs the Harbor Technical Advisory Committee for the Duluth-Superior Metropolitan Interstate Council, serves on the executive committee of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and represents the port authority on the Mayor’s Economic Development Coalition. Earlier this year, DeLuca was one of just 36 civilians selected to participate in the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, a public liaison program of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Effective Monday, Olivier Ghesquiere is president and CEO of Textainer Group Holdings Limited. He has replaced Philip K. Brewer, who retired after 22 years of service to the company. Ghesquiere also will be appointed to the company’s board of directors.
Ghesquiere joined Textainer, one of the world’s largest lessors of intermodal containers, in December 2015 as senior vice president of sales and marketing and was promoted to executive vice president of leasing in January 2017. He previously was CEO of Groupe Ermewa S.A.
Brewer joined Textainer in 1996 and was responsible for finance, risk management and resale before being named president and CEO in September 2011.
The board of directors of PAO Novoship has elected Alexey Khaydukov as the company’s president.
Novoship’s previous president, Yury Tsvetkov, stepped down from his role last week following his appointment as a deputy minister of transport for Russia and head of the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport.
Prior to his appointment, Khaydukov was managing director of SCF Management Services (Novorossiysk) Ltd. He will retain this position in addition to his new responsibilities as president of Novoship.
He joined Novorossiysk Shipping Company in 1992 as a deck officer. He spent the next 12 years as an officer on Novoship vessels, including five years as a master. In 2004, Khaydukov joined the shore-based team of Novoship.
Volvo Penta has named Peter Granqvist senior vice president for product development, planning and purchasing.
Granqvist is joining Volvo Penta on Sept. 1 from DENSO Corp., for which he currently is the president and managing director for Sweden.
He replaces Johan Inden, who became president of Volvo Penta’s European region July 1. Stefan Carlsson, the former president, will continue to support Volvo Penta as senior adviser.
CS Leasing, a provider of intermodal lease and equipment solutions, has appointed Mike Krengle as vice president of operations.
Based in Houston, Krengle brings 22 years of experience in customer service and technical expertise across multiple container types, including tanks and dry freight special containers. Most recently he was a sales director for Raffles Leasing.
U.K.-based cargo management systems provider Hermes Logistics Technologies has appointed Jack Lechocki head of products and services as it continues to roll out its Hermes 5 globally.
Lechocki, who is taking the helm of the cargo and quality control teams, previously managed the global customer engagement program for British Airways World Cargo.
Global freight forwarder and 3PL provider Team Worldwide has named Randy Loper vice president of information technology. He had been manager of the IT department for more than 10 years.
Loper has managed the bridge between the system user and the programmer group to guide the development of the company’s next-generation platform. Based in Winnsboro, Texas, Team Worldwide recently completed the construction of a 6,000-square-foot, custom-designed IT complex.
Air Partner, a global aviation services group, has hired Jack Burt to lead its U.S. cargo division as vice president. He has more than a decade of experience in the field and previously served as cargo director for a number of other aviation companies.
Based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Burt will be responsible for the implementation of air cargo strategy throughout North and South America as well as the overall management of the U.S. cargo division.
