VINTON, La, Dec. , 2014 – The Port of Vinton recently announced that the facility’s board of directors has contracted with Lynn E. Hohensee to serve as the facility’s new port director, effective Jan 1, 2015.
“The Port of Vinton has been a viable part of the parish’s maritime community infrastructure for many years,” said Charles Broussard, president of the Port of Vinton board of directors. “We are now on the threshold of tremendous growth opportunity, and the creation of the port director position is a critical step in our expansion plan.
“We know that Lynn’s experience in marine port management, economic development, marketing communications and community relations will prove critical to our strategic growth as a progressive shallow-water port facility,” he added.
Hohensee, a 15-year resident of Calcasieu Parish, owns and operates LEH Communications, LLC, a communications consulting company specializing in marketing communications and public relations support for private business, government entities and non-profit organizations. He also continues to serve as port director for the West Calcasieu Port, a position he has held since June 2006.
“I’m very excited to join the Port of Vinton as its port director,” Hohensee said. “Southwest Louisiana is well on its way to unprecedented economic growth and development, and the Port of Vinton is well positioned in the emerging maritime industry of the parish to grow with the region.
“The port already benefits from the sound leadership of a solid board of directors,” he added. “Now, the port must gear itself to better serve its existing tenants of today – and the new clients of tomorrow.”
Strategically positioned just off the busiest stretch of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway midway between Houston and New Orleans, the 780-acre Port of Vinton is located only 1.5 miles south of Interstate 10 and offers great locations for business, commercial and industrial development.
Current tenant activity includes concrete product construction and pipe fabrication.
Hohensee served as executive director of The Chamber Foundation/Southwest Louisiana in Lake Charles prior to opening his business in August 2005. He joined The Chamber/Southwest Louisiana in June 2003 as the Director of Economic Development & Investor Relations for the Chamber/Southwest Louisiana.
Prior to joining the local chamber, he worked for ConocoPhillips (formerly Conoco) for 22 years and Shell Oil Company for eight years. His final position with ConocoPhillips was regional director of public relations for the company’s Gulf Coast Business Unit headquartered in Lake Charles, from March 1999 to February 2003.
Hohensee is a 1971 graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism/geography (double major). In 1999, he retired as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve.
Locally in Southwest Louisiana, Hohensee serves on the board of the West Calcasieu Chamber of Commerce, and he is a member of the Propeller Club of Lake Charles, the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance and the SWLA Port Network. He also serves on the board of directors of the Port Association of Louisiana and the Boys Village Foundation. He is a 2000 graduate of Leadership-Chamber/SWLA and serves as president of the Community Advisory Council at CHRISTUS St. Patrick Hospital. He is on the advisory board for the Department of Mass Communications at McNeese State University and is a member of the Lake Charles Ad & Press Club.
Download the press release here
VINTON, La., (July 17, 2015) – Life-long Vinton native Jerry Merchant was elected president of the Port of Vinton board of commissioners during the port board’s monthly meeting this week.