Personnel: Alabama, Virginia

In Alabama, Angus R. Cooper III and Tim Parker III were named to the Alabama State Port Authority’s board of directors, and Mr. Cooper was named chairman of the board. The Virginia Port Authority also welcomed a new board chairman recently: Jeffrey D. Wassmer was elected to the position on July 31.

Alabama Governor Names Maritime Executives to Port Authority Board

Gov. Robert Bentley has appointed Angus R. Cooper III to an at-large seat on the board of directors of the Alabama State Port Authority and also named him board chairman of the nine-member board. Concurrently, the governor also appointed Tim Parker III to the board’s Central Region seat. Both appointments are for five-year terms, effective August 1, 2013. 

Mr. Cooper is group president and a member of the board of directors for Cooper/T. Smith, an Alabama corporation. He also serves on the region’s Bank South Alabama Area Advisory Board, the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration’s International Business Advisory Board, and the boards of directors for the National Association of Waterfront Employers (NAWE), the Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust. He is also vice chair of the Alabama Wildlife Federation and the UMS-Wright Preparatory School Boards of Directors.

Mr. Parker is president of Cargo Handlers, Inc., and a board member of Parker Towing Inc. He has worked in sales and marketing positions in both the maritime transportation and trucking industries. He is a board member the Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway Association, the Alabama Coal Association and the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama. He also sits on the advisory board for BB&T Bank in Tuscaloosa.  
  
Angus R. Cooper III (left) and Tim Parker III.
Photo/Alabama State Port Authority

Virginia: Wassmer Takes Helm as VPA Chairman

Jeffrey D. Wassmer is the new chairman of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) Board of Commissioners, succeeding William H. Fralin, Jr. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell appointed Mr. Wassmer the VPA board by on July 15, 2011, and reappointed him to an additional five-year term that ends June 2017. Mr. Wassmer  served as board vice chairman from November 27, 2012, until his election as chairman at the board meeting of July 31. 

Mr. Wassmer is president and CEO of Spectrum Comm, Inc., a company he founded in 1999. He has more than 20 years of experience in network security and program management of Department of Defense command, control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs.  

At its July 31 meeting, the board also elected Commissioner Scott R. Bergeron as its vice chairman. Mr. Bergeron is the CEO of the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry. He serves as chairman of the board’s finance/planning committee, vice chair of the marketing/business development committee and is a member of the executive, compensation and investment and administrative committees. His term ends in June 2017. 

The board’s newest member, Martin J. Briley, is president and CEO of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and became a member of the board on July 1. He is a senior executive with 25 years of leadership experience in local, state, national and international business development and management. 
    
From left, VPA Board Chairman Jeffrey D. Wassmer, Vice Chairman Scott R. Bergeron, and Commissioner Martin J. Briley.
Photo/Virginia Port Authority