Stephen A. Edwards will be the new CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority in January 2021. Courtesy Port of Virginia
Stephen Edwards, a Los Angeles-based CEO with more than two decades of maritime industry experience, will be the Virginia Port Authority’s new CEO and executive director, the authority’s Board of Commissioners announced Wednesday. Edwards, who will start his new post Jan. 19, replaces retiring CEO and Executive Director John F. Reinhart.
A U.K. native, Edwards is currently president and CEO of TraPac LLC, which operates container terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, California. He will oversee the Port of Virginia, one of the state’s largest economic engines. He was the “immediate and unanimous” choice of the board, said John G. Milliken, chairman of the Virginia Port Authority Board.
Reinhart announced in May that he planned to retire in March 2021 after more than six years at the port’s helm. During his tenure, the port started and completed a nearly $800 million expansion of its terminals in Hampton Roads, as well as starting a $350 million dredging project last December. After its completion, which is expected in 2024, Norfolk Harbor will be the deepest and widest port on the East Coast and will be able to handle more ships and containers. During Reinhart’s tenure, the port took on a $1.5 billion capital spending program, including a $350 million investment by the state.
