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By Beverlyn Grissom
The first minority and women-owned ocean transportation company fills a void in the maritime industry by expanding opportunities for women and minorities to participate in the maritime trades.
The Port of Camden and I have a lot in common. Both of us are older than we look.
There has been considerable speculation about why I wanted to start a shipping company and I can tell you now without reservation that it is all Barbie’s fault. I’m serious about this.
Growing up, my brother had an array of vehicles. He had train sets, remote control cars, motor bikes, and other battery-operated and internal combustion powered toys that moved. But, there were no vehicles for girls.
Sure, I could have and did take his toys, but it just wasn’t the same. I kept begging my parents for a Barbie vehicle and finally, I did receive one. Unfortunately it didn’t move. Back then, Barbie did not make a battery-operated Jeep and Raggedy Ann was strictly a pedestrian.
The Women Behind Camden Shipping
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Beverlyn Grissom—The New Jersey native holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Rutgers University, a juris doctorate from Tulane University, and was the first African American woman to receive a maritime law certificate from Tulane Law School. She is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association.
Working as an aide to the New Jersey Senate Education Committee, Beverlyn was one of the principal architects of a provision in the school construction legislation that linked local municipal community development projects with new school construction. Through her work with the committee, she helped develop a number of urban education reform programs.
Combining her experiences in development and education, Beverlyn formed a consulting company—AbbottLinks, Inc. to provide guidance to school districts, universities, private pre-school providers and construction companies to help them implement Abbott v. Burke, a landmark decision set forth by the New Jersey Supreme Court to overhaul urban education.
She went on to co-found Horizon Pediatric Systems Inc. to provide a safety net for medically fragile children with a particular need for comprehensive healthcare and early childhood education. Horizon serves 70 families in the Trenton, NJ area.
While standing on a dock in Camden, Beverlyn’s life came full circle to her first love, maritime transportation. Merging her desire for socially and economically viable urban communities with her love of the maritime industry, she was inspired to co-found Camden Shipping. Her vision is to fully support the State’s effort to revitalize the City of Camden by utilizing one of the city’s most valuable assets—the South Jersey Port Corporation.
Michelle Bunting—A woman who has always had the entrepreneurial spirit, she graduated from Rider University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She was the first woman to graduate from the U.S. Army Airborne School, Fort Benning, GA, and acquire her jump wings. Having qualified as a sharpshooter, Michelle was a member of her university rifle team.
Rather than accept an entry-level position , she opened her own video store in the heart of her hometown. After taking six years off to become a mother of three children, she re-entered the workforce by co-founding Horizon Pediatric Systems. She serves as president of Horizon and vice president of Camden Shipping.
Diane Allen—A member of the New Jersey State Senate, Diane is known by many titles: corporate president, working mother, pilot, sharpshooter, daredevil hang-glider, award-winning TV news journalist, and Quaker Sunday School teacher.
A graduate of Bucknell University with a degree in philosophy, she competed on the school’s swim team and rifle team before beginning her career in broadcasting. She anchored the noon news at KYW-TV in Philadelphia in the 1970s, had a three year stint working for ABC in Chicago, and later spent seven years with the CBS-owned station, WCAU-TV, where she was executive producer, evening anchor, and education reporter.
In 1994, after standing up to CBS for discriminatory practices and having the government find in her favor, she left the station and formed her own media production company. In 1995, she was elected for the first time to the New Jersey State Assembly.
Elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1997, she had more bills signed into law than any other legislator during her first four-year term in office.
As president of VidComm Inc., a Burlington, NJ company that produces broadcast documentaries as well as DVDs, CDs and digital videos from a variety of clients, including fundraising videos for non-profits, Diane’s company has won eight Emmys, a Peabody, and dozens of other national and international awards.
A long-time advocate of women, minorities, and New Jersey families, Diane co-founded Camden Shipping to fill a void in the maritime industry. She is vice president and chief financial officer of the company. |
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So my fascination with ships began when I got an aerial view of a container ship while flying into Newark Airport. Ironically, from the air, the ship looked like a toy and I thought, “I want that.” I did not know back then that the ship I was admiring was essentially a floating mall. Nor did I understand that in order for me to get on a ship and be able to touch all of the buttons without being told no, I would have to form the first company of its kind in the world.
So I thank the folks that manufactured toys in the early 1970s for my fascination with things that move. It is that fascination that led me to one of the oldest industries in the world.
The maritime transportation industry has facilitated the movement of goods between nations and states since recorded time. Today, hundreds of years later, the world still chiefly relies on maritime transportation systems. Eighty percent of the goods exchanged in the world are carried by sea. Maritime transportation is the unifying lynch pin that binds the world together as one global community. And, a community needs all of its members to succeed and move forward.
The Port of Camden (NJ), which was founded in 1834, is a vital member of the world maritime community. And while the Port of Camden is considered small compared to other ports in this region, and throughout the world for that matter, this port handled a record-breaking three million tons of cargo last year. That included fruit, scrap, steel, cement, mineral ores, and container shipments. Most notably, the Port of Camden is one of the largest importers of cocoa beans on the East Coast and the largest importer of wood products in the United States.
Prominent tenants such as Del Monte, St. Lawrence Cement, Camden Iron & Metal, Camden International Commodities, and Joseph Oates Corporation, as well as a number of corporate giants such as Lowes and Home Depot all find it convenient to do business with this port. So, while the Port of Camden is small, it is mighty.
The port’s host, the City of Camden, is also considered small in terms of its tax base. According to Camden’s economic development plan, the median income for all households in New Jersey is over $56,000, while the median income in Camden is $22,000. The state’s unemployment rate hovers around 4 percent. Camden’s unemployment rate exceeds 13 percent. But Camden’s tax base is not what ultimately defines the city. Camden is big in heart and in world-class opportunities via its port. It is a community filled with hard working, talented people who understand that you don’t have to be big to be better. The people of Camden are capable of handling more of the world’s cargo and assuming indirect maritime-related positions and businesses. So although Camden is considered small—it is mighty.
The Camden Shipping Corporation is also small compared to other major shipping organizations. The U.S. Maritime Administration estimates that international trade will double within the next 16 years. This increase will place significant stress on transportation systems that are already overloaded. Nowhere is the stress more evident than at our major port gateways and coastal transportation corridors. Anyone driving on the East Coast’s I-95 corridor, especially along Northern New Jersey and New York, can tell you these roadways won’t handle that kind of volume.
Although larger East Coast ports have embarked on capacity-expansion programs, they still face infrastructure problems, particularly existing congestion and space restrictions that limit their ability to fully accommodate the projected surge in trade. Smaller and under-utilized maritime assets such as the Port of Camden are strategically positioned to serve as alternative gateways for international commerce.
It is based on these market circumstances that our company, the Camden Shipping Corporation, will work with the South Jersey Port Corporation, the City of Camden, the Camden Economic Recovery Board, the State of New Jersey, the federal government, private industry, and nations throughout the world to position the port to claim a share of this growing maritime market for the residents of Camden and the South Jersey Region.
Attracting a fraction of the projected maritime cargo volume will transform communities through the City of Camden by providing more jobs, more income, more tax revenues, and a brighter future for the young, talented people of Camden.
Camden Shipping is here to serve as a conduit for the world to do business with the residents of Camden.
What this trailblazing company will do
Camden Shipping is positioned to participate in international and domestic ocean transportation. Through collaborative partnerships with existing and established ocean transportation companies, Camden Shipping performs tug and barge services, short seas shipping, charter parties, ship operations and management, and port operations.
Beverlyn Grissom, Esq., is president and CEO of Camden Shipping Corporation.
(This article is reprinted from the Winter 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)
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