Duane L. Kenagy, a former senior vice president of design firm Moffat & Nichol, will become interim CEO of the Port of Long Beach, Calif., as of Oct. 31. He has been the port’s capital programs senior executive lead, a newly created position, in 2014, to oversee its $4-billion upgrade. Kenagy will replace Jon W. Slangerup, who will become CEO of Mxi Technologies, an Ottawa aviation software firm. Slangerup departs after two years in a three-year contract, says the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Long Beach officials and Kenagy said in a statement that the engineer will not be a candidate for the permanent CEO role, but neither cited a reason. A search is underway. Media report that the search for Slangerup, formerly FedEx Canada president, took one year.
Port officials say its infrastructure investment is the largest of any U.S. port and includes replacement of the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge and the Middle Harbor Container Terminal, each budgeted at $1.3 billion. Another $1 billion is set to boost on-dock rail capacity. The city-owned port handles $180 billion in annual trade. But reports say future uncertainties include the status of an investment in the port’s largest terminal by South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., which filed for bankruptcy last month, and competition from the expanded Panama Canal.