Claudia Kattán de Jordán, general manager, Honduras and Nicaragua, for Crowley Maritime Corporation's liner services group, and Cal Sweep, director of facilities development for the corporation in Jacksonville, were awarded 2005 Thomas Crowley trophies, the company's highest honor, at ceremonies last week in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Created 20 years ago, the Thomas Crowley Trophy award honors employees with outstanding performance, whose dedication, leadership, initiative and productivity most clearly reflect those of the company's founder. The trophy, a limited edition, bronze sculpture depicting young Thomas Crowley as he ferried goods to and from ships on San Francisco Bay in the early 1890s, is a tribute to the founder of the company as well as the winners of the award.
Tom Crowley, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, presented the awards at the ceremony, which was attended by Crowley's board of directors, senior management team and about 40 area employees. Also included in the group were previous Thomas Crowley Trophy recipients: Rinus Schepen, senior vice president and general manager, logistics; Mike Hopkins, vice president , Latin America operations; Jay Brickman, vice president, government services; Nelly Yunta, general manager, Dominican Republic and Haiti; Jose Roberto Bodewig, general manager, El Salvador, and Arthur LaMoureaux, director, internal audit.
"Claudia and Cal have been major contributors to the company's success for a number of years and are very worthy recipients of this recognition," said Crowley. "Claudia has helped to make Honduras our leading market in Central America, and Cal has been our 'go to' person for everything from simple lease issues to major Crowley facilities construction projects from Alaska to South America and everywhere in between."
"Claudia is an inspiration to all Crowley employees," Crowley said. "She began her career with us as an administrative assistant and later as a sales manager helped us grow our services and account base in the country. And now, as the first female general manager in one of our countries, she's making the necessary organizational and process changes to make sure we are ready to grow as a result of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). You can see that her staff is very motivated and encouraged by her creativity, team-building mentality, loyalty and integrity."
Kattán de Jordán and Sweep were completely surprised at the recognition and expressed thanks to their coworkers.
Kattán de Jordán joined Crowley in 1989 as an administrative assistant, moved into customer service and later into sales, becoming manager of sales in 1997, before being promoted to general manager. She graduated from Universidad Tecnologica de Honduras with a degree in international marketing and commerce. She is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce and the Asociación Honduraeña de CompañÃas y Representantes Navieros (shipping lines association).
Sweep joined Crowley in 1974 as a maintenance supervisor and over the ensuing 12 years served as a port engineer and senior port engineer. In late 1986 he became manager of construction in Crowley's then-Caribbean division and began working more on land-based projects, including terminal expansions. Taking on roles of increasing responsibility, he was promoted to director of facilities development for the entire corporation in 2000. He is responsible for many things including office services; facilities leasing, construction, renovation and expansion; terminal development and corporate travel.