Andy Abraham, received her J.D., cum laude, at night at Quinnipiac University, while working full time at Swiss Army Brands, Inc.  At Swiss Army, Andy was Director of Traffic and Importing and handled the import and compliance issues for products such as pocket knives, cutlery, watches, sunglasses and apparel. She dealt with classification, valuation, reconciliation, drawback and NAFTA issues. For several years, Swiss Army had an on-site bonded warehouse. She oversaw all procedures and handled all entries and compliance matters for the bonded area. Andy has also dealt with various Canadian customs issues for Swiss Army’s subsidiary in Toronto.

Andy started her career at C. Itoh & Co., a Japanese trading company. She worked in the chemical department handling import and exports.

Andy is the author of Chemical Customs Classification Manual, A Resource for Navigating Chapters 28 and 29 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule and Polymers and Rubber Customs Classification Manual, A Resource for Understanding Polymers and Rubber in Primary Forms in Chapters 39 and 40 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

Andy received her Custom’s broker license in 1997. She received her B.S. in biology and chemistry from the University of Connecticut. She is admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York.

Randy Bayles is currently Director of International Intermodal for Norfolk Southern where he has responsibility for ocean carrier and port relationships.  Randy has held various Marketing & Sales roles at Norfolk Southern over the years.  Prior to joining Norfolk Southern in 1998, Randy was Director of Logistics for the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, a steamship line headquartered in Baltimore, MD where he was responsible for all rail, trucking, inland depot and maintenance & repair activities in North America.  Randy has 30 years of experience in transportation, working in progressively responsible positions in both operations and sales with such companies as Yellow Freight Systems and Roadway Package System.  Randy is a 1984 graduate of Auburn University where he was a member of the 1983 SEC Championship Auburn Tiger football team.  He received his Masters Degree in Transportation & Logistics from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD in 1994. Randy completed a Masters Degree from the University of Denver Intermodal Transportation Institute. Randy was also President and Chairman of the Traffic Club of New York.  Randy and his wife, Louise, have one son, Sam and reside in Virginia Beach, VA.

Matthew Bock, Esq.,  Middleton & Shrull, LLC

Prior to joining Middleton & Shrull, LLC, Matthew was as a member of an international trade law firm in Dallas, TX, and Ernst and Young’s Global Trade practice in Dallas and Houston, TX. Since 2011, Matthew has committed himself exclusively to representing clients in all aspects of international trade law, assisting them in navigating and complying with U.S. import and export laws and regulations in order to increase operational efficiency, reduce duty obligations, and avoid costly penalties.

Matthew earned his juris doctorate degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 2010, and a master of laws degree (LL.M.) in International Economic Law from the University of London – SOAS in 2011. Matthew also obtained a bachelor’s degree in Multinational Business Operations from Florida State University in 2004.

Matthew is a licensed customs broker, is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts, New York and the U.S. Court of International Trade, and is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Customs and International Trade Bar Association (CITBA), the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade (CONECT), the French American Chamber of Commerce – New England (FACCNE) and the USA 500 Clubs.

Matthew has also spent over 16 years in sub-Saharan Africa, developing a particular interest and expertise in matters relating to this area.

Mark Chadwick, Executive Sourcing Leader,  Logistics; President, Global Shippers Association
GE Corporate Global Ops. - Sourcing

Prior to joining GE, Mark spent four years working for Freight Forwarder “Frans Maas”, first in Manchester and then in Valencia, Spain. Mark joined GE Plastics in 1995, holding various logistics leadership roles in Cartagena (Spain), also becoming a certified 6 sigma black belt during the initial wave of the program. Mark played a key role in the launch of GE Corporate’s European Transportation Council, becoming its chairman in 2001.

In 2002 he was promoted to lead logistics for Plastics Europe, relocating to Bergen Op Zoom in the Netherlands. He transferred to GEHC in 2005 to lead logistics for EMEA, based at GEHC HQ in the U.K.

Mark is currently the Executive Sourcing Leader for Logistics at GE Corporate, and president of the Global Shippers Association (group of GE and non-GE businesses who collectively negotiate transportation). He relocated to Fort Myers in January 2011.

Mark is married to Maria, and they have two daughters.

Brian M. Conrad is currently based in Oakland, California as Executive Administrator of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA), a research and discussion group of container shipping lines operating in both directions of the trade between Asia and the U.S.

Mr. Conrad has been with TSA since 1997, when he was named Administrator/Secretary to the group. He became Deputy Executive Director in 1999 and served in that capacity until 2007, when his position was changed to Executive Administrator as TSA underwent an organizational restructuring to increase direct member carrier management participation.  

From 1993-99, Mr. Conrad served as Managing Director for the Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement (ANERA), a carrier group that set rates and negotiated annual Asia-U.S. service contracts on behalf of members. During 1997-99 he held concurrent positions with ANERA and TSA, as rate conferences were phased out in favor of discussion agreements to coincide with 1998 changes in U.S. shipping law.  He held various positions within ANERA from its inception in 1985, including that of General Manager from 1989-93.

Mr. Conrad is a native of Hong Kong and a graduate of the University of Surrey in Guildford, England.  

Mario Cordero, Chairman, FMC

Chairman Mario Cordero of Long Beach, California, was designated Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) by President Barack Obama on April 1, 2013. Prior to being designated Chairman, Mr. Cordero served as an FMC Commissioner. He was initially nominated to the Commission by President Obama on September 17, 2010, and he was confirmed by the Senate on April 14, 2011. Chairman Cordero was first sworn in as an FMC Commissioner on June 3, 2011, for a term set to expire on June 30, 2014. He was reconfirmed on October 8th 2015, for a term set to expire on June 30, 2019. In his role as Chairman, Mr. Cordero brings with him over thirty years of private legal practice and decades of public service – including serving eight years on the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Long Beach (POLB).

Prior to serving at the federal level, Chairman Cordero was very active in the Long Beach Maritime Community. Initially appointed by the then-Mayor of Long Beach and confirmed by the Long Beach City Council in 2003. While a POLB Commissioner, Chairman Cordero spearheaded the Port of Long Beach’s pioneering Green Port Policy, a policy aimed at reconciling economic growth and environmental stewardship to achieve long-term, sustainable port development. During his years serving on the Port of Long Beach’s managing body; he served as both a Vice-President and President. He also used his time and leadership position on the POLB to educate the public about the importance of a robust Port, an effort that included new and expanded community outreach initiatives.

Seana Fairchild, Senior Business Director – International Intermodal Sales

Seana L. Fairchild is the Senior Business Director – International Intermodal in the Marketing & Sales Department at Union Pacific Railroad. Seana and her team have sales responsibility for all ocean carrier customers and container ports.  Under Seana's leadership, Union Pacific Railroad collaborates with its ocean carrier customers and the ports to enhance supply chain delivery

. 

Seana joined Union Pacific in 2004 and held a variety of roles in Marketing & Sales and Finance. Prior to her current position, Seana was the Senior Business Manager – Plastics Marketing.  In this position, she was responsible for developing and implementing Union Pacific Railroad’s export strategy for plastic resins.

Seana is a 1998 graduate from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where she acquired her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.  Seana also holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as an LL.M. in Tax Law from the University of San Diego. Seana is currently based in Omaha, Nebraska, and she and her husband Chris have 5 children.

Ed Foley, VP Sales & Business Development, Genesee & Wyoming Northeast Region 

Ed started his intermodal career in New England in the early 1990’s. From 1992-1995,  Mr. Foley managed the account development in the New England marketplace for the Chicago, IL based Romar Transportation Systems, primarily selling domestic intermodal, trucking, warehousing, boxcar and international shipping business. 

In 1995 Ed was hired by Emons Transportation Group and the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad. From 2002 – 2008, Ed held various senior commercial titles for G&W’s Canada Region. In 2008 Ed was promoted to General Manager of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad and St. Lawrence & Atlantic Quebec for the Genesee & Wyoming’s Canada South Region, where he had responsibility of nearly 100 employees in three states and the province of Quebec.

In 2013, Ed was once again promoted to the newly formed G&W North East Region as Vice President Sales & Business Development. In this role Ed is directly responsible commercially for three New England Railroads including CSO, NECR and the SLR.

Ed is a graduate of the University of Denver’s, Intermodal Transportation Institute, where he earned a Master’s of Science Degree in Intermodal Transportation Management.

Mr. Foley moved back to Mansfield, Massachusetts last July after living in Maine and managing short line railroads in Northern New England and Quebec for the past 20 years with his wife Karen and their two daughters Jacqueline and Jillian.

Peter Friedmann is Washington DC Counsel for the Coalition of New England Companies for Trade, an organization which has become New England's leading advocate of pro-trade policies.  He helped found CONECT when it became apparent that the benefits of international trade to New England were not widely recognized by government decision makers. 

From his vantage point in Washington DC, his previous service as Counsel in the U.S. Senate, and his day-to-day involvement representing international trade interests Peter brings an always up-to-the-minute perspective.  He knows how to translate policy debates into terms that are understandable and practical to those engaged in international business.  His updates on trade regulation are valuable to importers, exporters, customs brokers, forwarders, and all other CONECT members.  His office organizes the Annual CONECT Mission to Capitol Hill, and he leads CONECT in conveying the “free and fair trade” message to Congress and Executive Branch agencies.

Peter’s BA and law degree are from the University of Washington in Seattle. He served as senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. He drafted international ocean shipping legislation, tax and energy legislation and organized and led a Congressional trade mission to Asia. In his private practice, he currently represents in addition to CONECT, various national and regional trade associations, multi-national corporations, state and local governments and port authorities, pursuing federal appropriations, legislative policy and regulatory measures favorable to his clients. 

George Goldman is the President, ZIM USA from September, 2015.  ZIM USA is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Formerly, George was with APL as their Head of Commercial of the Americas (Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing & Customer Support for APL’s Liner division). This includes all commercial activities for North, Central and South America.  He recently relocated to the United States after serving 12 years in Asia where he was responsible for leading APL’s and APLL’s overseas regional business operations.

George had been with APL/NOL for the past 24 years and has worked in numerous management capacities. His overseas tenure began in 1996 as the Transpacific Market General Manager in Singapore, followed by ten years in China (Hong Kong & Shanghai) as Vice President & Managing Director of the region. He also served as Chairman of the Trade and Transportation committee in Shanghai for the American Chamber of Commerce.

George has a Bachelor of Science degree from San Jose State University, California with an emphasis in Marketing and Cybernetic Systems. He attended graduate school at NYU and executive management courses at the University of Michigan. George was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and has lived in New York/New Jersey area, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong and is originally from the Netherlands.

George has two grown sons.  He currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  

R. Gil Kerlikowske was nominated by President Obama and sworn in on March 7, 2014 as Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection taking the helm of the 60,000-employee agency with a budget of $12.4 billion.

Mr. Kerlikowske oversees the dual U.S. Customs and Border Protection mission of protecting national security objectives while promoting economic prosperity and security. As Commissioner, he runs the largest federal law enforcement agency and second largest revenue collecting source in the federal government. Most recently, he served as Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Mr. Kerlikowske brings four decades of law enforcement and drug policy experience to the position. He formerly served nine years as the Chief of Police for Seattle, Washington. When he left, crime was at its lowest point in 40 years.

Previously, he was Deputy Director for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, where he was responsible for more than $6 billion in federal assets. Mr. Kerlikowske was also Police Commissioner of Buffalo, New York. The majority of his law enforcement career was in Florida where he served in the St. Petersburg Police Department.

He was elected twice to be President of the Major Cities Chiefs, which represents the largest city and county law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada. He has received numerous awards and recognition for leadership, innovation, and community service. He served in the U.S. Army where he was awarded the Presidential Service Badge.

Mr. Kerlikowske holds a B.A. and a M.A. in criminal justice from the University of South Florida.

William Mohalley, Field Director, Regulatory Audit, U.S. CBP

Mr. Mohalley presently occupies the position of Field Director, Office of Regulatory Audit, Office of International Trade, Boston, Massachusetts. He has served in this position since May 2003.  His responsibilities include managing a professional staff of regulatory auditors located in Boston, Buffalo and Detroit. Assignments conducted by Mr. Mohalley’s staff include Focused Assessments, Surveys,  NAFTA Verifications, Drawback, Foreign Trade Zones, Brokers, audit support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (ICE/HIS) in areas such as trade fraud and money laundering, and other referral audits.

Mr. Mohalley began his government career in August 1974 with the U.S. Customs Service as an auditor in the Office of Internal Affairs in New York City.  From 1985 to 1992 he was the Assistant Regional Director (Audit), Office of Internal Affairs in Boston, MA.  In 1992 Mr. Mohalley transferred to the Office of Regulatory Audit as the Assistant Field Director in Houston, TX.  Since assuming his current position in 2003, Mr. Mohalley has been a key participant in the development and implementation of many processes including NAFTA Verifications, Compliance Assessment, Focused Assessment, and ISA. In 1998, Mr. Mohalley received the

Vice-President's Hammer Award for his contributions in furthering partnership between Customs and the petroleum industry. 

Mario O. Moreno is economist for The Journal of Commerce and PIERS, the data division of JOC Group Inc. Since joining the company in 2009, Mario has developed and is lead researcher and writer for numerous reports, including the quarterly JOC Container Shipping Outlook, the quarterly JOC Port Forecast and the monthly JOC Insights, a multimodal, data-driven analytical report. His most recent project is development of a five-year forecast for the global container shipping market. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, and regularly cited in business media including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and the New York Times. Prior to joining JOC Group, Mario worked for independent research firm Dealogic as a fixed-income analyst and as a financial consultant for RBC Wealth Management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Global Business from William Paterson University and is working on his master’s degree in Economics at Rutgers University.

Alan, Murphy, CEO & Partner, SeaIntel Maritime Analysis
Alan Murphy has 11 years of experience in Container Shipping research and analysis, with a focus on providing actionable intelligence and analysis, based on rigorous quantitative and econometric modeling.
Mr. Murphy has a degree in business economics and a background in academic Finance Research, before entering the logistics industry in 2004, working with project management and systems development at Maersk Line, and later as Senior Analyst of Maersk Line's Intelligence and Analysis section.
In January 2011, Mr. Murphy partnered with former Maersk Line and TCC Intelligence Director, Lars Jensen, founding SeaIntel Maritime Analysis, an industry-leading analysis and consulting firm providing actionable intelligence to the global Container Shipping industry.

Val T. Noel, TRAC Intermodal 

Val Noel joined TRAC Intermodal as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in November, 2013, and reports directly to the President and Chief Executive Officer, Keith Lovetro.

Mr. Noel is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company. Prior to joining TRAC Intermodal, he held several senior leadership positions at Pacer International, Inc., and its affiliate, Pacer Cartage, most recently as Executive Vice President of Intermodal Operations and President, respectively. From 1983 to 2002, Mr. Noel was President of CSX Intermodal and was responsible for trucking operations, rail terminal operations and equipment management.  Mr. Noel is also currently serving as the Chairman of the IANA Operations Committee. 

Hun Quach, Vice President, International Trade, RILA – Retail Industry Leaders Association, As Vice President for International Trade, Hun Quach coordinates with RILA's government affairs team to advance the retail industry's trade policy agenda. RILA's lead expert on international trade, Quach acts as a liaison between RILA members and Congress as the industry voices its support for a U.S. federal trade policy that fosters economic growth.

Prior to joining RILA in 2015, Quach served as Assistant United States Trade Representative for Congressional Affairs where she provided strategic policy and political guidance to senior Administration officials, and served as a liaison to Congressional Members on trade negotiations. In addition to her experience with USTR, Quach spent seven years as International Trade Advisor for the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where she advised the Committee Chairman, Senators and staff on international trade issues, and built coalitions among government, business, and non-governmental organizations to support the Chairman's legislative priorities.

Quach earned Bachelor's Degrees in Political Science and Business Administration from the University of Washington.​​

Bethann Rooney is Assistant Director in the Port Commerce Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. She is the architect and coordinator of the Port’s Council on Port Performance; the first forum of its kind in the nation that was established as a framework for port constituents to identify challenges to port efficiency and service reliability and develop recommended solutions. Prior to assuming this new role, Ms. Rooney was the General Manager, Port Security for the Port Authority.  Assuming this post in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, she is a recognized world leader in maritime security and emergency management issues.  A nearly 25-year veteran in the maritime industry, Ms. Rooney has also worked in Port Operations, Property Management, Intermodal and Technology Planning.  She is a graduate of the State University of New York Maritime College with a Masters in International Transportation and a Bachelors in Marine Transportation.  

Robert Silverman is a founding partner of the New York based law firm of Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP.  GDLSK is one of the largest law firms specializing in Customs law and related trade matters.  Before entering into private practice to form the firm, Mr. Silverman served as a trial attorney in the Customs Section of the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice where he represented U.S. Customs in proceedings before the Court of International Trade, Federal District Courts, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  

Jay Strongosky, Director of Intermodal, CSX
Jay Strongosky is the Director of International Intermodal Sales at CSX Transportation. Jay and his team have the Intermodal sales responsibility for all ocean carriers. In his 20 years at CSX, Jay has held numerous positions in Sales and Marketing touching all major lines of business within the Intermodal portfolio. Jay is a graduate of Jacksonville University where obtained a B.A. in Finance and Economics. Jay continued his education at Jacksonville University where he received an M.B.A. and then at the University of Denver where he received a Master's degree in Intermodal Transportation.

Jay, his wife Audrey and two teenage children reside in Jacksonville, FL. In his free time Jay is an avid golfer, enjoys travel and loves reading the biographies of historical and modern leaders.

Peter Tirshwell, Senior Director, Content, IHS Maritime & Trade Peter Tirschwell is Senior Director for Content at IHS Maritime & Trade, a leading global provider of maritime data, analysis, consulting and media. In his role he is responsible for all content appearing on JOC.com, The Journal of Commerce magazine and JOC Events, as well as the established IHS maritime brands Fairplay, Safety at Sea and Dredging and Port Construction, as well as the soon-to-be-launched IHS Fairplay daily news website. A career transportation journalist, Peter was a reporter, West Coast Bureau Chief, Editor in Chief and Publisher of The Journal of Commerce in his 20+ year career with the company beginning in 1992. JOC Group was acquired by IHS in December, 2014. Peter is the founder and chairman of the annual TPM conference in Long Beach, Calif., one of the world’s largest shipping events, and led the development of the JOC Port Productivity data, the first global database of container port and marine terminal performance. He writes a regular column in the Journal of Commerce covering a range of international logistics topics, speaks regularly at industry events and has been quoted in mainstream business media including Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and New York Times. He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.

Dean Tracy, Transportation Consultant, Global Integrated Services LLCDean Tracy has been in the international logistics business over 25 years and is currently the Managing Director of Global Integrated Services LLC an international consulting firm working with importers to enhance their supply chain performance and to help clients develop a robust, effective and efficient international supply chain. Prior to that Dean spent 16 ½ years with the 2nd largest home improvement retail organization taking it to the 4th largest importer in north America and the 15th largest in the world as the Director of International Transportation. Dean spent the first half of his career working for the industry’s largest and most effective ocean carrier transportation providers and their 3PL operations which included several tours of New York City and a 5 year tour of Hong Kong and China. Dean currently resides in Winston , North Carolina with his Wife Robin and they have 2 children who are up and out of the house leading productive Lives in NYC and Wilmington NC .

Captain, Domenic Veneziano, Director, Division of Import Operations and Policy 

Captain Veneziano has been with the FDA for over 20 years and has a B.S. degree in Engineering from the University of Maine.  He has been the Director of the Division of Import Operations since March of 2005. He is responsible for providing leadership, guidance, and direction to approximately 1000 field investigators covering over 320 ports of entries across the country.  He provides guidance to all offices within the agency, has briefed Congressional staffers and testified to Congress.  

He is the co-lead in the implementation of many of the Food Safety Modernization Act import provisions and provides guidance on the implementation of the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act and all others that impact imported products.

He began his career in 1992 as a field investigator in the New England District, specializing in Medical Device inspections, where he conducted inspections both in the domestic and international arena.   In 1998, he became a Supervisory Investigator in New England overseeing the Medical Device and import programs.  In August of 2003, CAPT Veneziano established, staffed and directed the Prior Notice Center, FDA’s first 24/7/365 operational office.