Martin Named President and CEO of Waterways Council, Inc.

Cornel J. Martin has been named as Waterways Council, Inc.'s President and CEO (designate), effective August 1, 2008. Martin will transition alongside current President and CEO R. Barry Palmer, who will retire at the end of December. Palmer has served as President and CEO of Waterways Council for five years, and before that, served for 22 years as Executive Director of DINAMO, the Association for the Development of Inland Navigation in 's .

Martin most recently served as CEO and Chairman of Direct Workforce, Inc., a contract labor company serving the shipbuilding, ship repair, and oil and gas industries based in . Previously, Martin served as President and CEO of the Canadian American Transportation System. He also served as Vice President - Corporate Affairs of American Classic Voyages Company, parent of the Delta Queen Steamboat Company (and other cruise line subsidiaries). In the early 1990s, Mr. Martin worked as Vice President - Southern Region, for the American Waterways Operators.

During the 1980s he was a member of the Senior Professional Staff of the House of Representatives Coast Guard and Navigation Subcommittee, and Legislative Assistant for Maritime Affairs for Congressman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin of .

Martin's professional affiliations include serving as a Board Member and officer of the Passenger Vessel Association from 1995 to 2008, including serving as its President from 2004 to 2005; as a Member of the

Louisiana Governor's Maritime Task Force from 1992 to 2002; and as a Board

Member of the Louisiana Association of Waterway Operators and Shipyards from 1993 to 2001, including serving as its Chairman from 1997 to 2000.

Martin currently resides in , and will relocate to the , area.