Mount Pleasant Magazine May/June 2018

www.ChsWomenInBusiness.com | www.LCWomenInBusiness.com | www.LCwib.com WIB - 7 played a key role in some of SCPA’s most momentous projects, including the purchase of its cranes and the deepening of Charleston Harbor. Melvin might be the only woman in the United States in such a high position in the shipping industry, traditionally a man’s world. She insisted, however, that her gender really doesn’t matter, though she was cited as the Charleston Women in International Trade’s Woman of the Year in 2014. To her, it’s all about getting the job done. “That’s not important. The team doesn’t look at me that way. My job is to provide the people and resources we need to be successful,” she said. A graduate of Georgia Southern University with a bachelor’s in Political Science and a minor in International Relations, Melvin worked in planning and budgeting for Georgia Gov. Zell Miller for four years. She was a lobbyist for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce before starting her lengthy career with the Ports Authority. SCPA’s first in-house government relations liaison, she also has been in external affairs, public relations and community relations. She joked that her parents were both excited and relieved when she was appointed to her current job in September 2015. She said all those “sexy” terms in her previous job titles – liaison, relations, affairs – “sounded like a spy movie.” As the top dog at Wando Welch, Melvin is responsible for terminal operations, carrier sales, information technology and support services, crane and equipment maintenance, engineering, environmental issues, the port police and cruise operations. All that apparently is not enough to keep her busy. She also serves as the lead project manager for the Ports Authority for the harbor deepening, which is scheduled for completion in 2020 or 2021. She coordinated with the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies on the project, which will take the depth of Charleston Harbor from 45 feet to 52 feet. “It was fun, interesting, difficult and rewarding,” Melvin commented. “And it will have a lasting impact on the state. This could be the last time we have to deepen the harbor.” There’s much more going on at the Wando Welch Terminal. For example, a renovation project that strengthened the wharf – one berth at a time, so the port could continue to set record volume levels even while the work was ongoing – and cranes that now soar 155 feet above the dock permit the port to handle larger ships. “We’re now hosting two 14,000-TEU ships a week. Before, the normal was 8,000, though one 10,000 TEU shop was calling,” Melvin pointed out. A TEU is a twenty-foot equivalent unit, so a 40-foot- long container would be two TEUs. Melvin said that in the fiscal year that ended in June 2017, the port handled a record 2.14 million TEUs, a 10-percent increase over the previous year. Melvin’s fingerprints are all over the port’s new cranes as well; she traveled to Shanghai with two operators to