Port Everglades, a major facility for container, petroleum and cruise ships in South Florida, has lured Michael Vanderbeek from the Port of Long Beach to be its director of business development.
Vanderbeek replaces Carlos Buqueras, who left the Fort Lauderdale port in December to become the port director at Port Manatee, near Tampa, spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said.
It is the first major hire for new Port Director Steve Cernak, who took the port’s helm after a long stint leading the Port of Galveston, Texas.
Vanderbeek will be responsible for developing marketing and sales strategies to draw additional cruise business and cargo volumes to Port Everglades, as well as oversee corporate and community relations activity.
At Long Beach, the second largest container port in the nation, Vanderbeek served as manager of business development. He helped facilitate more than $86 million in new trade, maintain customer relationships and administer the port’s Foreign Trade Zone. He previously was manager of strategic planning.
He also served as a faculty member at the Sol Price School of Policy at the University of Southern California where he collaborated with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the American Planning Association and the municipal governments of Ningbo and Zhoustan, China, to develop research and policy agendas related to the economic benefits of trade for major metropolitan regions.
Vanderbeek’s leadership, knowledge of international trade and his multilingual skills made him suited for the job, according to an Everglades statement. – Eric Kulisch
Port Everglades recruits Long Beach official
