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Sometimes, Paul Matthews explains, the same person can be in the same scenario at various points in life and view the situation completely differently.

It’s simply a matter of perspective.

For instance, the newly named Chief Executive Officer of the Port of South Louisiana says when he first started driving in uptown New Orleans as a student at Ben Franklin High School (and later as an undergrad at Tulane University), he absolutely could not stand getting caught at a train crossing.

The waiting. The uncertainty of not knowing when it would end. The deep, frustrated exhales as train car after train car slowly crept past. Matthews says he couldn’t bear it, but something changed once he started working in maritime.

“Back then, I thought, ‘Wow, this is the worst thing possible,’” Matthews recalls with a laugh. “Not only am I dealing with regular traffic but now I got this train holding me up, too? This is terrible. Well, fast forward to now, I haven’t had those thoughts in the 10 years I’ve been working in the maritime business. I’ll gladly put the car in park and wait, because I know all the products I’m using on a daily basis are passing right in front of my eyes to their final destination.

“You see things differently.”

The same could be said of Matthews’ new role at the Port of South Louisiana.

From an outside perspective, given the Port’s seemingly cemented status as one of the Largest Tonnage Ports in the Western Hemisphere and its proven ability to stand strong in the face of adversity such as natural disasters, global economic downturns and even a pandemic, it could be assumed that Matthews’ main task in replacing former Executive Director Paul

THE NEXT STEP

BY WILLIAM KALEC

Equipped with a decade of maritime commerce experience in leadership roles, new Port of South Louisiana CEO Paul Matthews looks to build on the Port’s tradition of excellence

Aucoin is to simply maintain the status quo.

But that’s not how Matthews sees things.

As someone who has spent almost his entire professional career entrenched in the Gulf Coast maritime commerce scene, Matthews knows better than anyone that the ultimate goal for the Port of South Louisiana shouldn’t be to match the heights reached in the past but to exceed them.

“You can take what’s been built, celebrate it, but not let what’s been done prevent you from maximizing growth and operating at optimal levels,” Matthews says. “You can’t rest on your laurels. You must always strive be better, in all things. Better in all aspects–from a regional level to a global level.

“And for that to happen, the culture you build and establish has to be able to nurture that growth and embrace concepts or ideals that outfit the Port to thrive in an evolving marketplace.”

The seedlings of Matthews’ proactive approach to business sprouted in January 2012 – exactly 10 years before he landed the top job at the Port of South Louisiana – when he accepted a position as Community Affairs Manager at the Port of New Orleans. Under the expert guidance of then-Port of New Orleans CEO Gary Lagrange, Matthews cut his teeth in the world of maritime commerce and learned the ins and outs of the many

You can’t rest on your laurels. You must always strive to be better, in all things. Better in all aspects — from a regional level to a global level.

facets that go into operating an international port.

From there, Matthews moved to the Port of Plaquemines to fill the Deputy Director role in 2017. When asked what aspects of port operations crossed the deputy director’s desk, Matthews laughs before admitting, “Virtually all of them.” Finance. Logistics. Marketing. Security. Accounting. Legal items. Recruiting prospective business tenants. Pretty much every single thing that goes into not only the port’s day-to-day minutia, but also its short- and long-term viability.

Reflecting on his four-plus year in this role, Matthews was quick to heap mounds of credit on Port of Plaquemines Executive Director Sandy Sanders for instilling the confidence and offering the support necessary to thrive in

that deputy director positions.

“During my time at Plaquemines with Sandy, he was in the military and served as a two-star general,” Matthews says. “And as much as one would think you’d learn toughness from a general, what I really took away from my time with Sandy were the leadership qualities of a two-star general. He empowered me to not only get things done, but to fulfill my potential in that role – that’s leadership.

“I wouldn’t be prepared to be the CEO at the Port of South Louisiana – a true leadership position – if I didn’t have a chance to learn from great leaders.”

With Matthews now at the helm of the Port of South Louisiana, he says he hopes to strengthen the port’s long-standing connection to the River Parishes in ways that go beyond being one of the area’s largest employers. For instance, Matthews said the Port needs to make a greater effort in partnering with more local operators and developers within the River Region, along with standing side-by-side with their neighbors when it comes to securing funding for shovelready projects outside the Port District like improving the local infrastructure.

Additionally, Matthews aims to find funding – be it government grants or private investments – for the Port of South Louisiana to be a cutting-edge leader when it comes to the “Energy Transition Process” –establishing the framework so that companies within the Port District can reap the financial and environmental benefits of fuel sources like green ammonia, biodiesel, hydrogen, and methanol. “We have to be ahead of everything,” Matthews says. “We can’t just sit back and react, because by then it’s too late. It takes a proactive approach to understand market trends and how to best position the Port to meet those needs before they happen. “The Port has to ‘Be Ready’ so it never has to ‘Get Ready.’” •