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“Joe Balzano was a tireless and brilliant port operator who guided the expansion of the South Jersey Port Corporation from a modest public port operation handling 500,000 tons of cargo in 1968 into a significant, regional port authority moving more than 4 million tons of cargo and generating vital economic impacts to the South Jersey region during his tenure,” says SJPC Board Chairman Dick Alaimo.

“Joe is South Jersey Port and there has never been and will never be another advocate for the South Jersey ports and the City of Camden who is as dedicated, passionate and uniquely qualified to work to improve the quality of life for so many people,” commented Kevin Castagnola, SJPC’s Acting Executive Director. He added, “This represents an end to an era and anyone who knew Joe knows how special a person he was and what he meant to each of us professionally and personally. There will simply never be another leader and friend like Joe Balzano....he will be sorely missed.”

Joe’s legacy of hands on, passionate port operations and his vision that the Delaware River is a highway to the world to foster economic growth for the port’s host communities is indelibly woven into South Jersey’s port and intermodal infrastructure. Mr. Balzano’s impact on the maritime industry and the residents of the State of New Jersey will continue on with plans he has helped forged, including the construction of the new Paulsboro Marine Terminal, as well as many other intermodal transportation projects soon to be realized.

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About Joseph A. Balzano

Joseph Balzano began his career at the Port of Camden in 1951 as an office clerk and equipment operator and in 1988 was appointed as the South Jersey Port Corporation’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Director for the South Jersey Port Corporation. For over five decades, Joe has been a major force in the City of Camden spearheading port expansion and economic development coupled with his untiring philanthropy for Camden’s less fortunate residents in a city he was born and raised. Joe has received countless awards and recognition for his legendary port operations expertise and his contributions to the community at large and he is a member of many civic and professional organizations. The New York Times called Joe, “...one of the best port operators in the world.”

The South Jersey Port Corporation, a quasi-state agency with the authority with a mission to build and operate marine terminals in the seven southern counties of New Jersey, became a major destination for breakbulk and dry bulk cargoes at the two deepwater marine terminals in the City of Camden on the Delaware River and a facility on the Salem River, in the City of Salem. SJPC grew to become the nation’s number one plywood port in the United States, so chances are the plywood in your houses crossed the docks at the Beckett Street Terminal or Broadway Terminal. Similarly, the cocoa in your chocolate bar, the pineapples you had for breakfast or the steel in your American-made car, came across these docks. From steel coils to cocoa beans, When many ports focusing on automated, container operations, Joe’s vision grew SJPC to be a leader in handling, labor-intensive cargoes.

2003 through 2006 marked four consecutive annual tonnage records in the Port’s 80 plus year history, handling 4 million tons of cargo and seeing record import cocoa beans and wood products, of which Camden is a U.S. leader. With a significant need on the Delaware River to expand the port, Joe Balzano has undertaken a major redevelopment of a former tank farm in Paulsboro, New Jersey into a modern 190-acre state-of-the-art marine terminal. This port expansion will significantly increase the vital economic impacts and job opportunities, which the port is well known to provide to the City of Camden and the South Jersey region. With the Paulsboro Marine Terminal project in progress and schedule to be completed in 2013, two additional port expansion projects are under consideration in East Greenwich Township and in Deepwater, NJ. As a result of Joe’s oversight, this vital port activity translates into significant economic impacts for the Delaware Valley region. Namely, well over 20,000 related jobs, $161 million in business revenue and $20 million in State and local taxes, as determined in a 2002 economic impact study, prior to the record activities achieved over the past several years, commissioned by the Delaware River Port Authority.

Since the introduction of the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, Joe Balzano served as the agency’s Facility Security Officer, insuring federal port security mandates and compliances are given top priority. He also considered one of the highest priorities for both personal and corporate citizenship is protecting and enhancing the quality of our environment. As such, he is guiding the agency’s Green Port Initiative focused to dramatically reduce port- related environmental impacts while maintaining the economic benefits of port activity in the community.

Whether serving as a charter Board member of the Home Port Alliance for the U.S.S. New Jersey Museum and Memorial, as the president of the Board for the upstart Camden Shipyard & Maritime Museum or a member of the Seamen’s Church Institute board, Joe truly served the people of our region by fostering economic growth and providing meaningful employment.