For the first time since October 2008, U.S. trade grew month over month in December, according to annual trade data released Wednesday (Feb. 10) by the Census Bureau and analyzed by WorldCity. U.S. trade in December 2009 was $18.58 billion greater than in December 2008, a solid 8.21 percent growth rate. The $244.83 billion total for the month nevertheless still fell about 7 percent shy of the December 2007 record of $262.62 billion. But to provide a sense of how remarkable 13 consecutive months of falling U.S. trade is, when… Read More
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John Lynch was Seaboard president from 1992 to 2005
Legendary Seaboard CEO John Lynch dies
John Lynch, the legendary former president and CEO of Seaboard Marine, died Sept. 17 at 76, more than half a century after entering the line of work that would capture his spirit and lead the English native to have a profound impact in the Caribbean and Latin American trade lanes and the growth of the Port of Miami.
Lynch joined Seaboard in 1988, having previously served as president of Pan Atlantic Line, a New York-based company he joined in 1972. Once at Seaboard, which had only been founded five years earlier, he was part of the process that led the company to open “new trade lanes from the Port of Miami to the Caribbean and South America,” according to a company statement.
Under Lynch’s leadership, Seaboard grew from “a small roll-on, roll-off carrier, operating in Central America, to the leading carrier based at the Port of Miami providing services to more than 25 countries,” the statement continued. When Lynch joined Seaboard, it had six ships. By the time of his 2005 retirement, it has more than 30 ships and annual revenues in excess of $500 million.
“John was a visionary,” said Edward Gonzalez, Seaboard’s current president and CEO. “He saw the potential of trading partners throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and had a great sense of timing and understanding of when and how that Seaboard could most profitably penetrate such markets.
“Although strong-minded, he was a keen listener to both employees and customers alike,” he said. “Started in 1983, we are still a relatively young company and it was due to John’s strong leadership for so many of these critical growing years that Seaboard Marine has been so successful.”
Lynch was honored for his success at Seaboard and his commitment to the international trade community. In 2002, Lynch was one of the first 10 inducted into the Florida Foreign Trade Association’s Hall of Fame. Four years later and one year after his retirement, Lynch was awarded the International Golden Compass Award by the local chapter of Seafarer’s House, an organization dedicated to the maritime industry’s people and families.
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