PRESS RELEASES

Port Canaveral names new chief financial officer, hiring Port of Jacksonville official

PORT CANAVERAL, FL, May 1, 2018 – Port Canaveral has named Michael Poole as its new chief financial officer, filling a vacancy created by the departure of previous CFO Rodger Rees, who left at the end of December to become the head of the Port of Galveston in Texas.

Poole has been CFO at the Port of Jacksonville for more than a decade. Overall, Poole has 30 years experience in maritime transportation, municipal finance, public accounting, and financial and operating auditing.

“Sound fiscal policy and well-defined financial strategies are key to supporting our mission as a premier maritime gateway,” Port Canaveral Chief Executive Officer John Murray said, in announcing Poole’s appointment.

Before his tenure in Jacksonville, Poole was deputy port director at the Port of Pensacola for nine years. He also was an auditor with the public accounting firm Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, and with the Florida Auditor General.

“We are proud to have Mike join us and look forward to his coming aboard,” Murray said. “His business experience, financial expertise and leadership qualities are central to continuing our growth and vital to ensuring we remain competitive in a complex global maritime market.”

Murray said Poole “will have overall responsibility for providing strategic financial guidance, and defining and managing the port’s efforts to achieve fiscal and business goals and objectives.”

Poole holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from the University of West Florida. He is a Florida certified public accountant and a certified government finance officer.

Poole is chairman of the Florida Ports Financing Commission, and is a member of the Florida Ports Council, Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Program Council, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Government Finance Officers’ Association.

Poole was hired by Port Canaveral after a nationwide search for candidates led by the executive search firm Odgers Berndtson.

Rees left his Port Canaveral job on Dec. 31. Rees took over Jan. 15 as the port director/chief executive officer in Galveston.

Since Rees left Port Canaveral, Pat Poston has been filling in as interim CFO. Poston is Port Canaveral senior director of finance and has worked at the port since 1996.

The Jacksonville Port Authority has named financial executive Beth McCague as its interim chief financial officer, effective May 7. McCague has been serving as an adviser to that port’s CEO and finance group.

About Odgers Berndtson in Toronto

Odgers Berndtson is a global leader in executive search, committed to providing an integrated approach to talent management. We specialize in recruiting and assessing senior executives and board members in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors across Canada, and internationally.

Contact:
Robert Baron
Partner & National Practice Leader, Real Estate & Infrastructure
robert.baron@odgersberndtson.com