Georgia Ports Authority announces key leadership changes

USA – Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has announced the appointment of Flavio Batista as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and Rob Dooley as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective July 1, 2024.

This move follows a well-planned succession strategy, with the previous CFO, Michaela Thompson, and CCO, Cliff Pyron, transitioning into new roles.

“The appointments reflect a succession plan put in place in 2023 for the June 30, 2024, retirement of Chief Financial Officer Michaela Thompson and for the current Chief Commercial Officer Cliff Pyron to step into a GPA advisor role,” says an official release.

Griff Lynch, President and CEO of GPA, expressed his gratitude to Thompson and Pyron for their invaluable contributions, “Cliff and Michaela have been tremendous assets to the Georgia Ports Authority, setting a high standard in professionalism and world-class customer care for our organization.”

“Their years of experience, dedication, and customer relationships have provided a wealth of insight to our commercial planning, growth, and operations, and made finding the right successors a key to our future success.”

Flavio Batista, who joined GPA as vice president of sales and marketing in January 2023, previously worked at Wallenius Wilhelmsen Group.

Batista is committed to maintaining competitive advantages for GPA’s customers and supply chain partners. “Our goal is to keep our customers and our supply chain partners competitive year-in, year-out with our national gateway ports and make it easy to do business with GPA,” Batista emphasized.

“We have a long-term view and plan to support our customer growth with the nation’s best port infrastructure, future capacity, and a $4.5 billion investment planned.”

Rob Dooley, who joined GPA in August 2023 as Senior Director of Finance, brings extensive experience from both public and private sectors, having worked for Northrop Grumman, Integra Connect, and Sontiq.

Dooley shared his enthusiasm for the future, stating, “GPA’s port master plan, decision-making, leadership, and Board of Directors – who are all successful business leaders from the private and public sector – have created excellent market momentum and I’m excited to lead the CFO function in this journey.”

In related news, the GPA Board has approved USD 65 million for improvements to the Ocean Terminal and Brunswick Harbor.

This funding includes a USD 15 million federal grant aimed at enhancing safety and capacity at the Port of Brunswick, specifically for the export of renewable energy sources like wood and peanut pellets.

These upgrades are part of a broader plan to prepare for significant growth. The GPA aims to double its berth capacity and increase efficiency, expanding from a 7.0 million TEU capacity port to 12 million TEUs within the next decade.

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