Reserve, LA — The Board of Commissioners of the Port of South Louisiana has selected Paul Matthews to serve as the Port’s next Executive Director, effective January 15, 2022. Matthews is replacing long-time Executive Director Paul Aucoin, who served the Port with distinction for over eight years and led the organization through record growth.
Following a national search led by Shey-Harding Executive Search, the Commission voted unanimously at the December 6, 2021, board meeting to select Matthews. “The Commission was tasked with identifying the best possible candidate for this position,” commented Commission Chair, Paul Robichaux. “I feel confident that with his experience and deep knowledge of the region, Paul Matthews is an exceptional choice to serve as the Port’s next Executive Director. The future has never looked better for the Port of South Louisiana.”
Matthews served most recently as Deputy Director at the Port of Plaquemines, LA, where he helped negotiate multi-million-dollar terminal leases and helped develop a private-public partnership to expand rail service. He helped secure millions of dollars of federal port security and dredging funds and has been involved in attracting grants for critical port infrastructure projects. Paul began his port career in community affairs at the Port of New Orleans in 2012. Mr. Matthews is a graduate of Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans, Tulane University, and received an MBA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
“I am honored to serve the Port of South Louisiana and look forward to growing the port to its full potential,” says Executive Director-elect Paul Matthews. “I am grateful for the opportunity to take the lead at a port with such firm foundation. Paul Aucoin has left a lasting legacy and I am fully prepared to continue on our path to greatness.”
About the Port of South Louisiana
Founded in 1960, the Port of South Louisiana [PSL] is a 54-mile port district on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, encompassing the parishes of St. Charles, St. John and St. James. The facilities located within the port’s district consistently handle over a quarter billion short tons of cargo annually, ranking it one of the largest tonnage ports in the Western Hemisphere [and the 16th largest in the world], the nation’s leading grain exporter, and one of the major energy transfer ports in the United States. Along the 108 miles of deep-water frontage on both banks of the river there are seven grain transfer facilities, four major oil refineries, 11 petrochemical manufacturing facilities and several other facilities for a total of more than 50 docks owned and operated by an impressive group of companies in the Port District, such as ADM, ArcelorMittal, Cargill, DowDupont, Marathon, Shell, Nucor Steel, Occidental, Valero, and Occidental Chemical. The Port also owns and operates the Executive Regional Airport [KAPS]. To learn more, visit www.portsl.com, like on Facebook [PSL and KAPS], and follow on LinkedIn and Twitter.
For more information about this particular topic or about the Port of South Louisiana, contact Alexandra “Alex” Hernández, Public Information Officer, at (985) 652-9278 or ahernandez@portsl.com.
