Thomas Crowley Award to Michel & Weist

Suz Michel, director of people development and learning for Crowley in Seattle, and Bob Weist, vice president of sales and marketing for the logistics group were awarded 2008 Thomas Crowley trophies, the company's highest honor, at ceremonies yesterday at the company's Talleyrand terminal in Jacksonville, Fla.

Created in 1985, only 50 of the company's 4,300-plus employees have been recognized with the limited edition, bronze sculpture depicting young Thomas Crowley as he ferried goods to and from ships on San Francisco Bay in the early 1890s.  The trophy serves not only as a tribute to the founder of the company, but also to those honorees who have aligned themselves closely with the company's values and displayed outstanding performance along with dedication, leadership, initiative and productivity.
 
Michel joined Crowley in 2004, in the company's Environmental, Safety & Quality Assurance (ESQA) department where she was focused on regulatory safety training.  In 2007, she was promoted to director of people development and learning, a new department created in response to employee survey results that indicated the need for accessible and coordinated learning opportunities in support of Crowley's operations and objectives.  Michel has been instrumental in shaping the department and its reinforcement of Crowley's core value - Our People.  She has helped develop learning programs for both shore side and vessel personnel, including Leadership, Supervision, Employee development as well as Health, Safety, Security, and Environmental training for crew and terminals. Michel had the honor of christening Crowley's third heavy lift, flat deck barge (455-3) in 2007.  She has a master's degree in industrial psychology and has worked in organizational and leadership development for many years in a variety of industries. 
 
Weist began his career with Crowley in 1987 in the company's New Jersey office. Since then, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in several different Crowley locations and business units. He was a terminal superintendent in the company's former Baltimore location before moving to South Florida to manage the company's stevedoring in Port Everglades.  He also managed Crowley's operations in the U.S. Gulf from New Orleans with particular focus on the company's terminal operations in Gulfport, Miss. He was key in getting Crowley's Gulfport operation back online following Hurricane Katrina and was instrumental in the implementation of the company's intermodal and inland operations technology solution, Pegasus.  He served as director of inland operations for the company's Puerto Rico/Caribbean liner services group before transferring to the logistics group as general manager of truck brokerage.  He is currently vice president of sales where he is responsible for all logistics business development functions and North American transportation services, including trucking and rail.
 
(www.crowley.com)