Chris Peterson, vice president of west coast services for Crowley Maritime Corporation's Pacific/Alaska region, was awarded a 2007 Thomas Crowley trophy, the company's highest honor, at ceremonies yesterday in Seattle. Created 20 years ago, the Thomas Crowley Trophy award honors employees with outstanding performance, whose dedication, leadership, initiative and productivity most clearly reflect those of the company's founder. The trophy, a limited edition, bronze sculpture depicting young Thomas Crowley as he ferried goods to and from ships on San Francisco Bay in the early 1890s, is a tribute to the founder of the company as well as the winners of the award.
Tom Crowley, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, presented the award at the ceremony, which was attended by about 50 area employees. Also included in the group were six previous Thomas Crowley Trophy recipients:
' Rinus Schepen, Sr. Vice President & General Manager
' Jerry Dowd, Vice President, Labor Relations
' Eric Evans, Director - Finance & Planning
' Sandy Teng, Director ' Finance
' Jim Van der Veen, Director - Contract Services
' Lee Egland, Director - Labor Relations
"Chris is a longtime Crowley veteran who has taken on additional operational and commercial responsibilities over the years that have helped grow our commercial contract and ship assist and tanker escort business on the West Coast," said Crowley. "He is very deserving of this award. In addition to his normal day-to-day responsibilities, he has taken an active role in our company-wide Safety Leadership Team, and been a champion promoting our Leading One Crowley program, which is designed to promote an engaged, high-performance culture. As a member of the Safety Leadership Team, Chris helped design a short service employee safety and orientation program to make sure that new hires are well versed on company policy, procedures and safety."
"I am honored and humbled. This trophy is representative of the team of outstanding individuals that I have had the privilege to work with over the years. The genuine support, enthusiasm and teamwork shown by each individual in the Crowley family every day makes this award truly special," said Peterson.
Peterson began his career with Crowley in 1986 sailing out of Seattle as a second mate on a tugboat. He was promoted to port captain in 1993, relocated to San Francisco and began his shore side career with Crowley. Two years later, Peterson relocated to Houston and started working in the commercial sector as an account executive for marine contract services. After a series of promotions in the commercial sector, he was promoted to general manager and moved to the Pacific Northwest in late 2002 to concentrate on Crowley's outside towing and marine contract services. He was appointed director of marine operations in 2005, and vice president of West Coast services in 2007, which gave him operational and commercial responsibility for ship assist and tanker escort services as well as Crowley's contract services.
Peterson is a graduate of California Maritime Academy and holds a B.S. in Nautical Industry Technology.
