Slangerup to helm Long Beach port; Pyburn to head business development at Florida port

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Monday approved the appointment of Jon Slangerup as the Port of Long Beach's executive director.

He succeeds J. Christopher Lytle, who departed the port nearly a year ago to assume a similar position at the Port of Oakland. Al Moro, the port’s chief harbor engineer, had been serving as interim executive director and will remain in that post for about six months to help ensure a smooth leadership transition.

Slangerup has extensive experience in global logistics and environmental technologies, port officials said in a press release. For the past two decades, he has served as a president, CEO and/or director of both public and private companies ranging from technology startups to a billion-dollar FedEx Corp. subsidiary.

During the last seven years of a 20-year FedEx career, Slangerup was president of FedEx Canada. He previously was CEO and board director of several environmental technology companies.

Meanwhile, Port Everglades has named Jim Pyburn director of its business development division. The 36-year port industry veteran most recently served the Port of Tampa as director of marketing and business development for Latin America.

Pyburn began his career in the international trade and transportation industry in 1977 with U.S. Lines, where he held positions of increasing responsibility. He later became a partner in a freight forwarding/customhouse brokerage company in Houston, and then after the company was sold, held various posts at Tropical Shipping, Tec Marine Lines and Emery Worldwide.