USA: GPA Elects New Board Chairman

The Board of Directors of the Georgia Ports Authority today elected Robert S. Jepson Jr. of Savannah to serve as chairman of the board.

Jepson was first appointed to the Board of Directors in 2008 by Governor Sonny Perdue and previously served as vice chairman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of Jepson Associates, Inc., a private investment firm he founded in 1989.

Jepson will follow Alec L. Poitevint II, who served as GPA chairman of the board for the past two years.

“Alec Poitevint has been an important voice for the port, garnering support on the state and national levels,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz. “His leadership on the port deepening issue has moved the ball significantly downfield.”

Jepson said under his watch, the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project will remain the top priority.

“As we enter the final stages of approval, it is important that we continue to stress the vital impact of this project, the completion of which will preserve the port’s roll as a dynamic economic engine for Georgia and the region,” he said.

Jepson formerly headed The Jepson Corporation, a NYSE listed fourteen-company conglomerate, and Kuhlman Corporation. He currently serves on the Boards of Dominion Resources, Inc. in Richmond, Va., the Lucas Theatre in Savannah, the Georgia Historical Society, and is Chairman of the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Board of Visitors. He served as Chairman of the 2008 SEUS/Canada Alliance Conference in Savannah and was the first Chairman of the Georgia Cancer Coalition. In former years, he has served on the boards of The Telfair Museum of Art and numerous NYSE listed companies, including Washington Water Power Company, Hecla Mining Company, and AGL Resources, Inc.

He is Trustee Emeritus of the University of Richmond. Mr. Jepson earned two degrees from the University of Richmond: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Commerce. He and his wife, Alice, have two grown children and four grandchildren.

Also elected to a one-year term is Stephen S. Green, who will serve as vice chairman – a roll he previously fulfilled before his June 2007 election as chairman. Green was first appointed to the GPA’s Board of Directors in July 2004 by Governor Sonny Perdue. He was board chairman for fiscal years 2008 through 2010. Green has served on professional, civic and charitable boards and organizations including Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport Commission, the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, the board of directors of First Chatham Bank and the Savannah Vocational Technical College Foundation Board of Trustees. Green is one of the founding organizers of The First Chatham Bank and previously served as chief of staff to Congressman Lindsay Thomas.

Roy H. Fickling of Macon will maintain his position as secretary/treasurer. Fickling is the president of Fickling & Company, Inc., a regional real estate development, brokerage, management and consulting firm. He is the owner and president of Fickling and Company, Inc. He serves as director of Oxigene, Inc. and Piedmont Community Bank, as well as president of Riverside Ford, Inc. and Riverside Automotive, Inc. Fickling is on the Board of Directors of the Macon Economic Development Commission, Education First, and the Shield Club, and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization, and the Commission on Macon/Atlanta Rail. He is a former member of the Georgia Technology Authority and the Macon/Bibb County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Fickling earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Teresa, have two children.

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Dredging Today Staff, June 26, 2012; Image: gaports