Hellervik named new Port Commissioner

Lowell Hellervik, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of PDI Personnel Decisions International, Minneapolis, was named in April a Duluth Seaway Port Authority commissioner by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

He succeeds Thomas E. Cashman, who was appointed by Governor Jesse Ventura in February 2001. Mr. Cashman, a native of Mankato, is president of Feed Service Company, Inc., and executive vice president of the Northwest Agri-Dealers Association, both of Mankato.

Mr. Hellervik began his career at PDI in 1967, was named president in 1975 and became chairman of the board and chief executive officer in 1989. A professional industrial/organizational psychologist, Mr. Hellervik devotes his energy to succession consulting, leadership development and organizational effectiveness consulting. His work involves helping executives clarify objectives for organizational change, then designing and executing a process to achieve their objectives.

Mr. Hellervik completed his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, where he is currently on the adjunct staff as a clinical associate professor. He and PDI have also endowed several academic chairs at the University of Minnesota.

In addition to his multiple professional contributions, Mr. Hellervik is an entrepreneur and business leader. Under his direction, PDI has grown from a small, local consulting firm to a premier, international consulting firm with 30 operating offices around the world.

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority promotes international and domestic waterborne commerce in the port district, owns port and industrial properties and acquires and constructs port facilities. The Port Authority’s seven-member board is made up of six-year appointees, three by the Duluth City Council, two by the governor and two by the St. Louis County Board.

Other board members are Bill Kron, Duluth, president; Steve Raukar, Hibbing, vice president; Janet E. Nelson, Duluth, secretary; Thomas A. Clure, Duluth, treasurer; Cal Larson, Fergus Falls, assistant treasurer; and Ray Klosowski, Duluth.
Sixth-graders go on River Quest
The 15th annual series of River Quest educational cruises for sixth-grade students was held aboard the harbor excursion vessel Vista Star in May. The Port Authority is the lead sponsor of the program, designed to increase students’ awareness of how industry and government work together to protect the environment while maintaining a viable economic atmosphere in the St. Louis River basin. More than 700 students participated in this year’s program, which is now dedicated to Capt. Ray Skelton, one of the original program founders, who died October 13, 2006.

The Duluth Power Squadron’s Charlie Grubb teaches the importance of the personal flotation device.
Pacesetter Award goes to Hallett Dock
Hallett Dock Company of Duluth was honored in April with a U.S. Department of Transportation Pacesetter Award. President Mike McCoshen accepted the award from Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Administrator Collister Johnson Jr.  Hallett posted a 54 percent increase from the previous season in international tonnage shipped through the Seaway.  More than 196,000 metric tons of cargo from Hallett Dock transited the Seaway locks, also increasing the amount of ocean-going vessels arriving at the port to load cargo. The Pacesetter is awarded annually by the SLSDC to U.S. Great Lakes ports and terminals posting increases in international tonnage shipped through the binational U.S.-Canadian waterway.
Seaway Administrator Collister Johnson Jr. (left) congratulates President Mike McCoshen on Hallet Dock’s Pacesetter Award.
Names in the news

Stuart H. Theis was appointed in April as director of the United States Great Lakes Shipping Association.  Mr. Theis, an attorney and business leader in the U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway industry for many years, previously served in a variety of executive capacities with Cleveland based M.A. Hanna Company and Oglebay Norton Company.  Most recently, in a private consulting capacity, he had oversight responsibility for a feasibility study for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.  The USGLSA is an organization of vessel agents serving the marine industry at ports around the Great Lakes.

Port passings
dDiana Cosgriff Klosowski, 64, Duluth, died February 22, 2007.  She was the wife of Port Authority Commissioner Ray Klosowski.  She combined an active and varied professional career with a caring and successful role as mother and Air Guard wife.  She was employed by the U. S. Coast Guard, Social Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, United States Air Force, Litton Industries and the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Department, from which she retired in 1994.

dTony Paul Radosevich, Two Harbors, died February 18.  He began working as a longshoreman at age 16.  He joined the Navy in World War II and served for four years as a pharmacist’s mate attached to the Marine Corps.  He worked at Western Electric and the Northern Pacific car shop and was chief clerk at the Clure Public Marine Terminal. 

dWarren Stowe, 85, Ludington, Mich., died March 3, 2007.  He served as captain of the S.S. Badger car ferry from 1969 to 1983.  Mr. Stowe worked in the trucking business briefly before and after WWII, ending up with the Chesapeake and Ohio Car Ferries in 1951, and then taking over as Captain of the S.S. Badger.