Ga. ports chief Marchand retiring at end of year
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Doug J. Marchand, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority since 1995, announced he will retire at the end of the year.
He will be succeeded by Curtis J. Foltz, the port’s chief operating officer. Foltz joined the port in 2004, coming from CSX World Terminals where he had been vice president of operations.
Marchand made the announcement while giving the authority's annual state of the port address Thursday in Savannah.
Under Marchand’s watch, the Port of Savannah has become the fourth-largest U.S. container port after Los Angeles, Long Beach and New York-New Jersey, and has seen container volumes more than quadruple.
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| Foltz |
Savannah handled 2.4 million TEUs in the fiscal year ending June 30, the second-highest number ever and 10.5 percent less than the record set the prior year. In 2000 the port handled less than 1 million TEUs.
The ports authority owns and operates deepwater terminals in Savannah and Brunswick, and manages inland river barge terminals in Bainbridge and Columbus.
'Doug Marchand's commitment to innovation has earned Georgia recognition throughout the international shipping industry,' said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who attended Marchand’s presentation.
During his speech, Marchand announced that Kia Motors, which is building an assembly plant in West Point, Ga., and its part suppliers had selected the Port of Savannah to ship parts and supplies. He said this business would result in more than an additional 15,000 TEUs of cargo moving through the port in the first year of operation.
Under Marchand’s leadership, the port emphasized the key role of beneficial cargo owners. This strategy increased the number of distribution warehouses in proximity to the Port of Savannah and leveraged the presence of the GPA's shipping customers to attract international retail customers such as Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Target and Ikea.
'Despite the international slowdown in business, we have increased services and business at our facilities in Savannah,' Marchand said. 'Our ability to weather this storm is due in large part to the addition of 12 new or reconfigured services in fiscal year 2009. As the economy begins to turn around and vessels begin loading to capacity, our services will enable us to rebound faster than our peers with a much larger market share.'
Marchand plans to remain an executive advisor with the ports authority. In this role, he will assist with the Savannah Harbor Expansion Plan, strategic growth and development plans, marketing and sales efforts and plans by Georgia and South Carolina to jointly develop a new container terminal down river from Savannah in Jasper County, S.C.