NMRA Officers Elected
The National Marine Representatives Association (NMRA) has elected its 2011-2012 officers and board members. One new officer and three new board members are joining the association's leadership group. Chris Kelly of Waters & David Co., New Orleans, Louisiana, is now president. Kathy Munzinger of Munzinger & Co., Springfield, Missouri, has been elected vice president and Ken Smaga of ComMar Sales LLC, Land O' Lakes, Florida, is now treasurer. Brandon Flack of Atlantic Marketing Co., Stonington, Connecticut, joins the officers as NMRA's new secretary.
Y2K Worries Prompt Cargill To Avoid S. Africa
Cargill U.S.-based commodities giant Cargill Inc. has told South Africa it plans to avoid trading there from mid-December to mid-January because of worries over the country's preparations for the millennium bug, according to press reports. The group's South African subsidiary reportedly sent a letter to the Department of Agriculture in Pretoria, pointing to a "worst-case" assessment by a U.S. computer consultancy analyzing the risks of the bug. "We plan to avoid entering into or executing trades in maize, oilseeds, wheat or any other commodity in the period December 15 to January 15," the letter said. According to the letter, U.S. consultancy Gartner Group puts South Africa in a high-risk category for the bug…
How Far Has E-Procurement Come in the Maritime Community?
As dot-com firms that lacked a solid foundation disappeared from the landscape, the strongest are left standing amid the rubble. It is worth noting that at the height of the 'dot-com' boom and phenomenal statistics from various research groups, Gartner Group predicted that 75 percent of e-business projects would fail because of a lack of understanding of technology and poor business planning. Of the companies predominately built on smaller amounts of capital from within the industry such as Oslo, Norway-based MarineProvider — from day one there was a vested interest in not only the day-day operations of the company via its investors, but there was a mission that MarineProvider had — which was to assist companies already within the maritime community.
