Around the Port

MARAD meets MERC
Doris Bautch (right), newly appointed director for the Maritime Administration's Great Lakes Region, visited the Port in August. Her tour included a stop at Superior's Midwest Energy Resources coal facility, where Marshall Elder, terminal operations manager, brought her up close and personal to Interlake Steamship Company's James R. Barker. Ms. Bautch reports directly to MARAD Administrator Captain William G. Shubert in support of all agency programs. She succeeds Al Ames, who retired in July.

Dayton visits Port
U.S. Senator Mark Dayton, D-Minn., visited the Port in August to discuss maritime security legislation and other congressional issues affecting Great Lakes ports.

Iowa farmers visit Port
Forty members of the Iowa Farm Bureau visited the Port in August to meet with local grain agency officials and tour grain elevators. The Farm Bureau is a voluntary organization dedicated to helping farm families in Iowa prosper and improve their quality of life.

Retiring property superintendent honored
More than 300 people gathered in September at the Port Authority's fifth annual Tenant Appreciation Day — this year combined with a retirement celebration for Port Property Superintendent Tom Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy had been a Port Authority employee since November 1963, when he started as an accounting clerk. He held several positions with the Port Authority as well as with previous Clure Public Marine Terminal managing agent North Central Terminal Operators before being appointed property superintendent in 1988. He is shown here with his wife, Barb, (and his cake).

Pacesetters
While visiting the Port in October, U.S. Seaway Administrator Albert S. Jacquez (right) and Seaway Trade Development Director Rebecca McGill presented Gary Nicholson (second from left), president of Lake Superior Warehousing Company, Inc., and Fred Shusterich (center) president of Midwest Energy Resources Company, with Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Awards recognizing increased international tonnage moved via those facilities through the Seaway System. Administrator Jacquez also made a special presentation to Port Director Davis Helberg (left). Only three terminals out of the dozens in the entire System posted gains during the 2001 navigation season, with the additional award going to Federal Marine Terminals in Burns Harbor, Ind.