The Times and Democrat - Mineta joins CaroLinks advisory board

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta has joined Carolina Linkages’ advisory board, which is quickly becoming a who’s who list of political and national corporate leaders.

The Charleston-based intermodal company has plans to build an inland port linking the Port of Charleston with the Upstate. Included in its plans is an Orangeburg County distribution center.

Mineta, who is now vice chairman of public affairs firm Hill & Knowlton Inc., said he met CaroLinks founder and CEO Lucy Duncan-Scheman while he was in Congress. Duncan-Scheman represented high-tech firms in his Silicon Valley district.

“Her extensive technical knowledge, coupled with her great sense of the legislative process, made her an effective representative of those companies,” Mineta said in a release. “Lucy is now taking those same skill sets to start a new company that fits in with the necessity of reducing congestion on the land side by utilizing the water side to efficiently move containers safely, reliably and at less cost.”

CaroLinks plans to spend $250 million to build its inland port concept. It plans to transport containers from ships up Shipyard Creek in North Charleston, and then transport the containers to the Upstate and an Orangeburg County site at the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and Interstate 95 for distribution.

Duncan-Scheman said she is honored to work with Mineta, and has followed his career from Lockheed Martin to his service in two presidential administrations.

“As the U.S. transitions from a knowledge-based economy to a distribution-based economy, no one understands this dynamic better than Secretary Mineta,” she said. “He understands the importance of moving cargo more rapidly away from ports and is keenly aware of the safety issues involved as well.”

The Mineta appointment follows CaroLinks’ announcement that former senator and potential presidential aspirant Tom Daschle had joined the advisory board.

Others joining the advisory board include Chuck Raymond, chairman and CEO of Horizon Lines; Howard “Humpy” Wheeler, president of Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Lowe’s Motor Speedway; Margaret A. Gilliam, CFA, a former Wall Street securities analyst covering retail and related industries; and Steven S. Honigman, former general counsel of the United States Navy.

The advisory board is expected to schedule its first meeting for early to mid-September.

CaroLinks plans to purchase 789 acres at the I-95-U.S. 301 interchange for the Orangeburg leg of the inland port. CaroLinks has until October to exercise its option on the Orangeburg County property, but company officials have said they could move on the property within a few weeks.

E-mail this page

Print version

Comments:

Add Your Own Comments ?