NEW ORLEANS - Marquel “Buddy” Broussard, warehouse assistant manager at New Orleans Cold Storage (NOCS), was named the 2018 Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) Next Generation Award winner, the highest honor for young leaders in the cold storage industry across the world.

The GCCA NextGen Award was founded in 2015 to annually acknowledge talented young people within the industry who have demonstrated to their employers that they have the potential to make a positive contribution to the development of the industry and become future leaders in the industry.

In May, Broussard was named the recipient of the 2018 Don Schlimme Future Leader Award. As the winner, he represented the North American membership of 1,100 member companies of the GCCA during the competition at the 2018 Global Cold Chain Expo, June 25 – 27, in Chicago.

He competed against two other finalists: Mauricio Carlos Esquer of Basal Almacenamiento y Logistica representing Latin America as the recipient of the 2017 Latin America Future Leader Award Winner and Mathew Reiffel of Americold Logistics representing Australia as the 2017 winner of the Frank Vale Award.

In order to be nominated, an employee must have demonstrated excellence in their work, the potential to excel further within the industry, have a broad knowledge of the refrigerated warehouse and possess insight into their organization’s strategic values and direction. Broussard was scored on his resume, essay and letters of recommendation followed by a formal interview and presentation to the convention audience.

“Our entire team is so incredibly proud of Buddy,” said Mark Blanchard, President and CEO of New Orleans Cold Storage. “It takes a lot of courage to make a presentation on a stage at a convention, no less, in front of your colleagues not once, but twice and be judged so highly. He absolutely deserves this international accolade. He is a dedicated member of our team and he works hard every day to be the incredible leader he is.”

“I am incredibly excited to be the winner of the NextGen Award,” said Broussard. “Competing against colleagues across the world and being able to participate in competitions at two international competitions are experiences I will never forget. I am thankful to my team at NOCS for their support.”

Broussard is the award’s third winner. He received an engraved plaque and a travel stipend to attend a GCCA or GCCA partner event anywhere in the world during 2018.