Metro Jacksonville

QuoteJacksonville Port Authority names Miami deputy CEO
The Jacksonville Port Authority board has selected Juan Kuryla, deputy director of the Port of Miami, to serve as its next chief executive officer, according to The Florida Times-Union newspaper.

The board unanimously chose Kuryla over two other short-listed candidates, who included the interim CEO and the former CEO of a container-terminal operator, the paper reported.

Jerry Bridges, former executive director of the Virginia Port Authority, was among eight candidates who interviewed for the Jacksonville job, The Times-Union reported last week.

Bridges left the Virginia authority in October after more than five years on the job. He had been head of the port agency in Oakland, Calif., prior to his time in Virginia.

The Virginia Port Authority board is searching for its own permanent executive director to succeed Bridges, who left the job in Norfolk less than two years after signing a new six-year contract.

Rodney Oliver, who has served the authority as deputy executive director and chief financial officer, was named interim executive director at the end of September.

Oliver has expressed interest in the permanent executive director post.

Hampton Roads ranked eighth in a 2011 ranking of North American ports by volume of standard 20-foot containers moved, according to the American Association of Port Authorities’ website.

Jacksonville ranked 18th, after Miami.

SOURCE:  http://hamptonroads.com/2013/04/jacksonville-port-authority-names-miami-deputy-ceo