'Jim has all the great qualities we were looking for to lead our business development team—outstanding leadership skills, knowledge of international trade and multilingual communication,' said Steven Cernak, chief executive and port director for Port Everglades.
Pyburn began his career in the international trade and transportation industry in 1977 with U.S. Lines, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in the company’s Houston, Chicago and New York offices. For a three-year period, he was a partner in a freight forwarding/customhouse brokerage company in Houston. After selling his company, Pyburn eventually made his way to South Florida to work for Tropical Shipping, Tec Marine Lines and Emery Worldwide.
At Port Everglades, Pyburn fills the position previously held by Michael Vanderbeek, who moved to the Massachusetts Port Authority/Port of Boston to become deputy port director earlier this year.
The Port Everglades business development division is responsible for developing marketing and sales strategies to draw additional cruise business and containerized, dry and break bulk cargo volumes. The staff provides customer service to the cruise and cargo shipping communities and markets Foreign Trade Zone No. 25 and other port facilities.
The corporate and community relations section is also part of the division under Pyburn’s leadership.
