Michael Vanderbeek, formerly with the Port of Long Beach, CA, the nation’s second busiest container cargo seaport, is the new Director of Business Development for Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, FL, announced Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steven Cernak.

“Michael’s demonstrated leadership skills, knowledge of international trade and multi-lingual communication abilities made him the top choice to lead the Business Development Division for Broward County’s Port Everglades Department,” Cernak said.

The Port Everglades Business Development Division is responsible for developing marketing and sales strategies to draw additional cruise business and containerized, dry and break bulk cargo volumes to Port Everglades. Staff provides customer service to the cruise and cargo shipping communities and markets Foreign-Trade Zone No. 25 and other Port facilities to the maritime community. The Port’s Corporate & Community Relations Section is also part of the Business Development Division under Vanderbeek’s leadership.

Vanderbeek served as the Manager of Business Development for the Port of Long Beach where he managed business and economic development including identifying new market opportunities where he helped facilitate more than $86 million in new trade. He also worked closely to build and maintain relationships with customers in the cargo shipping field and to promote and administer Foreign-Trade Zone No. 50. Prior to that position, Vanderbeek served as the Manager of Strategic Planning for the Port of Long Beach.

In addition to his work at the Port of Long Beach, Vanderbeek served as a faculty member at the Sol Price School of Policy at the University of Southern California (USC) where he collaborated with partners such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the American Planning Association, and the municipal governments of Ningbo and Zhoushan, China, to develop research and policy agendas related to the economic benefits of trade for major metropolitan regions.

Vanderbeek earned a Master of Planning degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish from Boise State University. Vanderbeek is a member of the American Association of Port Authorities’ Maritime Economic Development Committee and Real Estate Best Practices Group.