By Molly Parker
mparker@scbiznews.com
Published June 23, 2009

The S.C. State Ports Authority board penned a three-year contract this morning with Hapag-Lloyd shipping executive Jim Newsome, naming him the organization’s chief executive and bringing a five-month search for a leader to a close.

Newsome is set to start Sept. 1. He will be paid $300,000 annually, said Bill Stern, the SPA board member who headed the executive search committee.

Stern said the 13-member committee pared five finalists from 106 applicants before settling on Newsome. But it was Stern who sought out Newsome for the job, as opposed to the other way around. Stern said he met Newsome about eight months ago and was so impressed by his credentials and demeanor that he initiated a full-court press to get him to come to Charleston.

“It was, as we say, the stars just aligned,” Stern said.

Newsome is currently the president of German-shipping line Hapag-Lloyd’s American division. Hapag-Lloyd is the world’s fifth-largest steamship company. Newsome joined the company in 1997 and took over as president on Jan. 1. In doing so, he became the company’s first-ever non-German president.

Prior to joining Hapag-Lloyd, Newsome spent 10 years with Nedlloyd Lines Corp. based in Atlanta. In addition to several senior management positions, Newsome served as executive vice president of the Americas for Nedlloyd Lines.

He joined Nedlloyd Lines after a decade-long career with Strachan Shipping Co., where he rose to the rank of president of the company’s Hoegh Lines Agencies subsidiary in Jersey City, N.J.

SPA Board Chairman David Posek called the naming of Newsome a “historic day for the Ports Authority of South Carolina.”

On Sept. 1, Newsome, 53, will become the SPA’s fifth man to fill the chief executive role in the authority’s 67-year history. Former CEO Bernard Groseclose offered his resignation last January during a performance review. When he stepped aside after a dozen years at the helm, container volume had dropped drastically, and Maersk Line, the port’s largest customer, had announced it would be leaving Charleston at the end of its contract in 2010.

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Groseclose was making about $264,000 when he resigned, though he regularly received annual performance bonuses and was slated to receive $132,000 in severance pay per his contract with the SPA board.

Though negotiations continue to keep Maersk calling on Charleston, that company’s announcement created a political firestorm, and lawmakers this session inked a new law that adds oversights to the SPA’s board and management team, and added new resume requirements for board members.

As the search committee sought a new CEO, heated debate ensued in the General Assembly regarding this legislation, and later, a political fight erupted over how and whether to provide railroad access to Norfolk Southern and CSX to serve the Port of Charleston’s new container terminal under construction on the former Navy base in North Charleston. The latter issue has yet to be resolved.

Newsome will be coming to the port at a time of transition. While the Ports Authority during the past several years created a strong balance sheet, critics argued the agency was too focused on growing profits at the expense of churning the state’s economy.

During a brief press conference on the SPA’s front lawn following the contract signing, Newsome said he was “very excited to be here.”

“This is one of the rare jobs I would pursue,” Newsome said, noting he was attracted to the challenge and the opportunities presented by the state’s maritime activities.

Broadly speaking, Newsome said he plans to initially focus on three key areas: building relationships, creating a shared common vision and focusing on the port’s key mission as an economic development engine.

While he was peppered with a host of specific questions about the port restructuring legislation and privatization, Newsome offered only general remarks, noting he was relatively busy in his private industry role. Under his leadership, Newsome said the authority will continue to look for public-private partnerships where it makes sense. On Maersk, Newsome said he hopes to keep the company in town.

Newsome’s job is currently located in New Jersey, but his wife and home remain in Atlanta. The couple will be moving to Charleston, though Newsome said he had not yet picked a place to live.

“Charleston is a world class port, and we have a world class leader,” said SPA interim chief executive John Hassell.

The ports other top finalists were:

· Douglas W. Tipton: Former President & CEO of vehicle processor AMPORTS, president of Contship Containerlines and vice president at Wallenius Lines Holdings.

· F. Brooks Royster, III: Vice President of logistics company Merchants Terminal Corp., and former executive director of the Maryland Ports Administration, CEO of Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co. and president of Riomar Agencies.

Reach Molly Parker at 843-849-3144.