NWC to Meet in New Orleans

The National Waterways Conference will hold its annual meeting in New Orleans at the Hilton Riverside Hotel on September 4-6 where some 350 business, civic and waterways leaders are expected to attend. Donald T. (Boysie) Bollinger, chairman and chief executive officer of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., and Richard R. Calhoun, vice president of Cargill, Inc., and chairman of the National Grain and Feed Assn., will be the main speakers at the event. According to conference chairman, J. Ron Brinson of the Port of New Orleans, Bollinger of Lockport La., will address the opening luncheon. Bollinger Shipyards, one of the nation's largest builders of boats and barges, operates 20 shipyards from Mississippi to Texas. Calhoun, of Minneapolis, will speak at the closing luncheon. Calhoun is in charge of Cargill's grain and oilseed supply chain and also supervises the firm's terminal operations and bargeline, Cargo Carriers, which moves large volumes of grain from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast for export. Major General Robert H. Griffin of Washington, the Army Corps of Engineers' civil works director, will report on the status of the civil works program. Harry N. Cook, also of Washington, the Conference's president, will present his annual State of the Waterways report. The annual meeting will feature six panel discussions which will focus on trends and developments affecting inland waterways, ports and flood control. Three other organizations plan sessions in conjunction with the conference's meeting: the Arkansas Waterways Commission, Inland Rivers Ports & Terminals, Inc., (IRPT), and the Midwest Area River Coalition (MARC)-2000. The program will begin on September 4 with committee meetings, registration and an open reception. Cook's annual report will kick off Thursday's program, followed by two more panels and the annual reception and banquet. Two additional panels are scheduled on Friday morning, followed by the closing luncheon. Joedy W. Cambridge of Washington, marine and intermodal transportation specialist for the Transportation Research board, will moderate the lead off on panel on Thursday, by discussing new and innovative tactics in waterways shipping. Panelists will include Dean White of Mobile, marine superintendent for Gulf Caribe Maritime, Inc.; Richard L. Couch of La Porte, Tex., president of Osprey Line LLC; and Mary Ann Bucci of Pittsburgh, marketing director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission. Donald G. Waldon of Columbus, Miss., administrator of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority, will moderate the second panel, on "waterways casualties in the battle of the budget," General Griffin's civil works report will begin Friday's program. Executive director of the Port of New Orleans, Gary P. Lagrange, will moderate the first morning panel, on restoring Louisiana's eroding coast. The final panel will examine modernization of the Upper Mississippi/Illinois Waterways. R. Barry Palmer of Pittsburgh, executive director of DINAMO (Association for Improvement of Navigation in America's Ohio Valley) will preside. H. Merritt Lane, III, of New Orleans and president of Canal Barge co. and the conference's vice chairman, will be master of ceremonies at the closing luncheon. For full information, contact Ms. Worth Hager, Annual Meeting Coordinator, National Waterways Conference, Inc., 1130 17th Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. 20036-4676. (202)296-4415 p. (202)835-3861 f. or log on at www.waterways.org