SLSDC 06-02
Thursday, October 10, 2002
Contact: Tim Downey
Tel: (202) 366-0091
Two Duluth-Superior
Terminals Earn “Robert J. Lewis Seaway Pacesetter” Awards
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Administrator Albert S. Jacquez
today presented the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Seaway Pacesetter Award to the
presidents of Midwest Energy Resources Company (MERC) and Lake Superior
Warehousing Company (LSW) today in a Port of Duluth-Superior ceremony.
MERC, a coal blending and transshipment terminal located in Superior, MN and LSW, operator of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority-owned Clure Public Marine Terminal general cargo facilities, were among the three terminals in the entire Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System that posted international tonnage gains in the 2001 navigation season, making them eligible for this honor.
“These organizations did an outstanding job generating
new international business that significantly contributed to the System’s
total international cargo tonnage,” said Administrator Jacquez.
Fred Shusterich, MERC president, lauded his workforce for
their achievement that came in a difficult season. “Our employees’ commitment to service made the
difference, and our customers have come to expect competitive costs with superb
access for their products to and from the lakehead to a host of destinations,”
he said. MERC, a wholly owned
subsidiary of the electric utility Detroit Edison serving more than two million
customers in southeastern Michigan, boasts a state-of-the-art coal blending and
transshipment terminal facility.
Gary Nicholson, President of Lake Superior Warehousing Co.,
Inc., also focused praise on his staff. “LSW
employees know that customers can take their business elsewhere so they work the
basics daily, honing in on safety, efficiency and technical expertise, keeping
current customers happy and attracting new ones by word of mouth,” he said.
Nicholson touted project cargoes, steel, lumber, agricultural commodities
and wood pulp as LSW’s staple maritime commodities, singling out imported
lumber from Germany last year as a growth product for 2002.
Presiding over the ceremony was Davis Helberg, the Duluth
Seaway Port Authority’s executive director.
“Robert J. Lewis Seaway Pacesetter Awards are coveted by terminal and
port directors because everyone is eager to show growth over last year’s
numbers,” said Helberg. “That’s always tough to do year-in-and-out, so
having two of only three terminals throughout the System accomplishing that at
your port is significant and reason to celebrate.”
The Robert J. Lewis Seaway Pacesetter Award is presented annually to the U.S. Great Lakes Seaway’s ports and terminals that register increases in international overseas cargo tonnage shipped through the Seaway during the navigation season. Originally known simply as the Pacesetter Award, the name change honors long-time Seaway trade analyst Bob Lewis who passed away in 2001.
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