Joseph S. Gregorio Sr., CEO and Chairman of Pacific Crane Maintenance Corporation, LLC (PCMC), has been named recipient of the 2022 Connie Award, which will be presented by the Containerization and Intermodal Institute on September 14. The industry-wide dinner to honor Joe Gregorio will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach, CA. In addition, Captain Lynn Korwatch will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award recognizing her 45-year maritime career.
The 2022 awardees were chosen following an industry-wide poll and were announced by CII President Steven Blust. “The enthusiastic vote for Joe Gregorio recognizes his significant role in promoting and providing important support services that makes world trade operate. The industry relies on this level of innovation,” said Mr. Blust.
Joe Gregorio is a 40-year veteran of the cargo transportation maintenance industry and co-founded PCMC in 1990. Headquartered in Long Beach, PCMC was founded to provide quality repairs and reliable solutions to the 10 largest shipping lines in the world. Over the years, Mr. Gregorio worked tirelessly to grow PCMC to the largest maintenance and repair maritime industry provider and the largest employer of ILWU mechanics on the West Coast, employing more than 950 steady mechanics. In recent years, PCMC’s subsidiary Pacific Terminal Services Company, LLC (PTSC) has become a new stevedore on the West Coast. Most notably, the company provided a much-needed solution to recent port congestion by opening container storage yards in all major ports on the West Coast.
In conjunction with working to expand PCMC’s operations, Mr. Gregorio has demanded that safety be paramount and monitored closely. As a result, PCMC, including PTSC and its other subsidiaries, has received several Safety Awards in recognition of outstanding performance, including the Signal Mutual Indemnity Association’s Gerald H. Halpin – Safety Excellence Award for the 2019-2020 year. In addition to dedicating his time to PCMC, he also supports many charitable causes and serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Pacific Maritime Association.
Captain Korwatch was one of the first women to graduate from California Maritime Academy, one of the first to earn a Master’s license, and the first female captain of a U.S. merchant vessel. She worked for Matson in various ship officer positions and as a shoreside executive. At Matson, she is acknowledged for vessel operation improvements and launching environmental initiatives, including the industry’s first “zero garbage discharge program” for oceangoing ships and rules to regulate ballast water off the coast of California.
Captain Korwatch is presently the first female executive of the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region. Established in 1849, the Exchange supervises vessel tracking, communications, and tug escorts for the more than 3,500 vessels a year that transit the bay.
CII was founded in 1960 and has been presenting the Connie Award since 1972. It has become the most coveted honor in the field of containerization and its ancillary industries. Among the 70 recipients to date are containerization founder Malcom McLean, Mario Cordero, William J. “Bill” Shea, Jr., Gene Seroka, the late Evergreen Group Chairman Y. F. Chang, James McKenna, Knud Stubkjaer, John Wolfe, Richard Steinke, Captain S.Y. Kuo, Matthew Cox and Robert Pfeiffer.
At the event, CII will carry out its industry education mission by presenting scholarships to students studying logistics, as well as the institutions that are educating our future leaders. Under its auspices, CII has awarded some $1 million toward scholarship since 1972. Companies have the opportunity to support ongoing industry education by purchasing scholarships through CII, starting at $1,000. Information about funding a 2022 named scholarship is available from CII Executive Director, Lisa Aurichio at 917-476-8366 or email info@containerization.org.
The CII Connie Awards dinner is $275 per ticket and tables of ten are $2,750. Seating is limited. Sponsorships for event and tickets are available at containerization.org. For more information, you can contact June Chin at june@bsya.com.
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