Metro Ports recently announced three new personnel appointments: Patrick Furrow, senior VP HR & administrative services; Kenneth Keane, director, safety; and Steve Mathis, director, business development.
Patrick Furrow joined Metro in September 2009 and reports directly to the president & CEO as a key business partner responsible for attracting, developing and retaining talent and ensuring safety and compliance measures and managing administrative contacts and expenditures. Furrow’s educational accomplishments include a BBA in Finance, Masters in International Relations, and a Juris Doctorate. He brings a very diverse set of experiences, including more than 14 years of progressive management experience with singular responsibility over all Human Resources management, regulatory affairs, commercial and welfare insurance management, taxation planning, legal analysis and strategic planning for the North America region of an international company.
Ken Keane started in December 2009, having previously served as the director of safety and security for a breakbulk stevedoring company in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which followed his retirement as a captain in the U.S. Coast Guard in 2000. In his current position with Metro Ports, he oversees a decentralized safety program in coordination with safety group leaders and the training of accident prevention to company staff and its divisions; ensures compliance with federal, state, and local safety rules and regulations; and interfaces with various agencies with oversight of workplace safety, while continually improving the corporate culture of safety through leadership, training, and example.
In addition to 25 years in the U.S. Coast Guard, Keane has extensive experience as a federal maritime safety /security regulator and crisis manager in various U.S. ports. He has actively served as a leading industry member of the Central and Southern California Area Maritime Security Committee where his knowledge of stevedoring and U.S. Coast Guard port security operations helped ensure a reasonable approach to regulatory compliance following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. He also served in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War of 1991 and as an environmental crisis response advisor to the National Science Foundation in Antarctica.
Steve Mathis also joined the Metro team in December 2009. He is a logistics professional with more than 25 years of experience. Mathis began his career in warehouse operations and inventory management, progressing to traffic management in pharmaceuticals where he managed off-shore domestic container and RoRo traffic between the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico as well as truckload, LTL, stack train, courier and air freight traffic. He transitioned to the port industry in rates analysis, tariff and contract publication, and marketing. Most recently, Mathis worked in stevedore marketing and sales and, prior to that, at the Port of Sacramento. In his current position, Mathis is a key resource in the identification, marketing and execution of business development opportunities for Metro Ports on the West Coast, working across the Metro organization to build West Coast profit centers.
“These appointments further strengthen the Metro Ports management team as we continue to grow and expand our nationwide operations,” said Metro Ports CEO James Callahan.
Metro Ports is a holding of Nautilus International Holding Corp. The 87-year-old company is a marine terminal operator and stevedore contractor that handles all types of cargo and excels in providing outstanding additional services to various segments of the shipping community. Companies under the Metro Ports brand include Metropolitan Stevedore Co., Southeast Crescent Shipping Co., and Southeast Maritime Services LLC (which holds the Savannah International Terminal).
