Two new members to the NC State Ports Authority Board of Directors have been appointed by Gov. Bev Perdue, while two current Ports Authority Board members have been reappointed by leadership in the NC General Assembly. 

Gov. Perdue appointed Robert O. Hill, Jr. of Wilmington, and Simon Rich III, of Edenton NC, to the North Carolina State Ports Authority Board of Directors to first-time terms to the Board. 

Receiving the Governor’s appointment to the Board for a three-year term, Hill is the retired President and CEO of Hillco, Ltd. located in Kinston, North Carolina. On June 30, 2009 he completed two terms on the East Carolina University Board of Trustees serving from 2001-2009. He has served in many capacities with the American Health Care Association, the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, as well as numerous other boards and commissions over the past 30 years. He and his wife of 33 years, the former Nina Markham, are alumni of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. They have recently moved to Wilmington, North Carolina. They have three adult children and three grandchildren. Receiving the Governor’s appointment to the Board for a six-year term, Rich is a partner and general manager of Stevens Towing Co. of North Carolina, a tugboat and barge company. Rich received the Gertrude S. Carraway Award of Merit for historic preservation of the 1909 Edenton Peanut Mill which now serves as the company’s offices. He is chair of the Roanoke River Lighthouse Committee. Rich received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Management from North Carolina State University. 

Receiving reappointments for two-years to the Ports Authority Board of Directors are Derryl Garner, Mayor of Newport, and Jesse S. Capel of Troy. Senator Marc Basnight, President Pro Tem of the North Carolina Senate, reappointed Newport Mayor Derryl Garner for a fourth two-year term. Mayor Garner, who chairs the Board’s property and port planning committee and is a member of the government relations committee, has served on the Board since 2002. First elected mayor of Newport in 1977, he received the Meritorious Civil Service Award for his 40-year-civil service career in the aeronautics engineering department at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. He has held leadership positions on numerous regional and statewide boards and organizations. 

Representative Joe Hackney, speaker of the NC House of Representatives, reappointed Jesse S. Capel of Troy NC to a third two-year term. A Board member since 2005, Capel sits on the Board finance committee and is chairman of the Ports Authority Foundation Board of Directors. He is the retired executive director of Capel Incl., the country’s largest importer and manufacturer of area rugs. He is an honors graduate of NC State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in textile management and served two years of active duty in the US Army. The NC State Ports Authority Board of Directors has 11 members, seven of who are appointed by the Governor, two by the NC Senate President Pro Tem and two by the Speaker of the NC House of Representatives. Carl J. Stewart of Gastonia, NC is chairman of the Board.