Mr. Withers has more than 30 years experience in the maritime industry including 16 years with Sabine Transportation Company where he was Vice President, Inland Barge Division and then Vice President, Marketing, Offshore Division. After officer positions in marketing, chartering, and sales at Ocean Specialty Tanker Corporation and Coastal Towing, Inc., he joined Kirby Inland Marine as Vice President, Sales in 2002 and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2007. A past President of the Texas Waterways Operators Association, he also served as a Director of the American Waterways Operators Association. He received his BBA in Economics and an MBA from Lamar University.

LW & Associates’ Ports and Waterways Division is an alliance of companies and individuals specializing in port security, grant writing, planning, engineering, surveying, mapping, and GIS. They have offices in Florida, Mississippi, and Texas. Mr. Walters is on several committees including Greater Houston Partnership’s Ports and Waterways Committee, Ports Association of Louisiana, The Institute of Navigation, and The Society of American Engineers. Mr. Walters graduated from the University of Houston and GE’s Leadership and Management program.

Captain Vest is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. After five years of active duty as an officer on an ammunition ship in the Pacific and as Harbormaster of s Naval Weapons Station, he worked in the offshore oil field drilling industry in Columbia and the U.S. Gulf. He then worked for Moran Towing in deepwater towing operations for five years before becoming a pilot in 1986. He uses his considerable photographic skills to capture the beauty and energy of the Port of Houston.

Mr. Shallenberger has extensive experience offshore and onshore in exploration and production worldwide. He served as an Engineering Technologist for 40 years with Exxon Production Research and then worked for five years with Baker Hughes Inteq and formed Coring Services Consulting.

Jürgen R. Schröder, CEO, Schröder Marine Services, Inc., a Houston based company providing Stevedoring, Terminal, Port Captain and related services to the Maritime community in Texas since 1986.  Mr. Schröder graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in Hamburg, Germany, in 1963 and subsequently sailed as Nautical Officer until his arrival in the United States in 1966 where he joined Texas Transport & Terminal Company as Stevedore Superintendent in Houston.  Since then Mr. Schröder has served Roberts Steamship Agency, Charter Oil Company, Manchester Terminal and New Terminal Warehouse Company as Vice President and President until forming his own company.  He has served the community on various Boards of Directors, including the Houston Port Bureau from 1978 until 2010 (as President in 1981-1982), The Houston International Seafarers Center from 1985 until Present (as President in 1992-1993), The Pines Montessori School in Kingwood, TX from 1991 until 2003 (as Chairman) and other Industry Committee assignments

Mr. Rose graduated from the US Coast Guard Academy in 1967 and served four years of active duty before earning his MBA from the University of Denver in 1972.  He spent over thirty years in the maritime industry working for Zapata Marine Service and Bay-Houston Towing Company before retiring in 2005 as President of SEACOR Marine, where he now serves as an advisor on special projects. He is a member of the American Bureau of Shipping and a Director (and immediate past Chairman) of the Houston Maritime Association.

A U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate, Mr. Roland has Masters Degrees in Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan as well as an MBA from Iona College and a PMD from Harvard Business School. His career included management of several tanker fleets as well as responsibility for marine, pipeline, and refinery planning for Amoco Oil Company. He retired as President of Bona Shipping Company (US) and currently serves on the Board of Webb Institute. He is a past Board member of several maritime organizations including the “Marine Board” of the National Academy of Science.

His office manages union labor from Moorehead City, North Carolina to Brownsville, Texas. Mr. Robb has over 30 years experience on the Houston Waterfront and served as the President of I.L.A. Local #28 prior to going to work for the district.

A former advertising and marketing executive for Kroger and Uniroyal Tire Co., Mr. Reckles joined a national outplacement firm where he managed projects for a number of Fortune 500 companies involved in mergers and acquisitions before retiring in 2001. He is a member of the Gulf Coast Historic Ship Modelers and an internationally renowned model builder and miniaturist.

Mr. Niemand received his undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in industrial relations from UCLA. He has extensive maritime industry service working for the Pacific Maritime Association, the Gulf region of the Carriers Container Council, Inc. and the West Gulf Maritime Association – the premier trade association representing almost two hundred members in the ports from Lake Charles, LA to Brownsville, TX.