The Connecticut Port Authority has named John Henshaw as its new executive director, effective Sept. 8 with a $200,000 salary.
Henshaw was executive director of the Maine Port Authority and served as chairman of the International Association of Maritime and Port Executives. He is current chief operating officer for the University of Maine Graduate & Professional Center, and earlier in his career was director of eBusiness for Fairchild Semiconductor.
Henshaw”™s new job will involve coordinating the economic development of Connecticut”™s maritime economy, including the ports in Bridgeport, New Haven and New London.
Henshaw is inheriting an agency that has been pockmarked with turmoil: his predecessor, Evan Matthews, resigned last October after criticizing Gov. Ned Lamont”™s decision to take charge of the agency amid reports of financial discrepancies and Chairwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder resigned in July 2019 following reports of inappropriately using $3,250 from the agency”™s budget to decorate her office with artwork from her daughter, a professional photographer.
“Major investments to support port infrastructure and port operations are happening in all three of Connecticut”™s deep-water ports, all while there is a consistent interest in further investing in the small harbors and marinas that form the foundation of Connecticut”™s coastal culture,” Henshaw said in a statement.
