The Port of Longview begins a search for a new executive director this week.
The port’s three-member commission voted on May 3 to launch a national search to find a replacement for outgoing director Ken O’Hollaren, who announced in late 2011 that he’ll retire this December.
During the meeting, the commission agreed to a plan to name a replacement for O’Hollaren before the end of July.
Under the plan, the port will accept applications from May 10 to June 22, and the commission is expected to interview four to six finalists in early July.
Among the qualities and qualifications the port says it seeks in its ideal candidate are a strong business and marketing background, experience in the maritime industry as well as both the public and private sectors.
The new executive is tentatively scheduled to be named in late July, and start in mid-September.
O'Hollaren would stay onboard through December in order to help his replacement with the transition.
O’Hollaren, who joined the port as assistant operations manager in 1980, has been its executive director since January 1988, making him the longest-tenured port director in Washington state, and one of the longest-tenured maritime executives on the West Coast.