Thrust into the role about a month ago, the interim CEO for one of South Carolina’s most powerful economic engines isn’t looking to simply steady the ship and steer it gently through an abrupt leadership shakeup.
“No,” said Phil Padgett of the S.C. State Ports Authority.
“We’re marching full steam ahead,” he added.
Padgett, a finance guy from the Grand Strand who played college baseball in the Pee Dee, has been juggling two high-level positions since Aug. 21, when Barbara Melvin unexpectedly resigned as president and CEO of the maritime agency without explanation.
He plans to continue his waterfront balancing act until a replacement is named.
Padgett said the SPA board didn’t suggest he take a custodian role until the next full-time skipper takes the helm. The marching orders were to move on and conduct business as usual.
“The board is familiar with … all of the things that we have going on,” Padgett said last week. “I think we have … historically … charged ahead any chance we get, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised and pleased that they have given the directive, like, ‘Hey that is exactly what we don’t want to do.’ We don’t want to just sit and wait because obviously … we’re in an extremely competitive region, and anytime we sit still creates an opportunity for Savannah or any other competing port.”
In the wake of Melvin’s departure, he and other senior managers have been meeting with employees at the SPA’s terminals and its Mount Pleasant headquarters to reassure them that “everything is going to be OK, the board is working strong and we’re going to continue to move things forward in the interim.”
“Overall, we strive to have people here that are business-minded and I think that any business-minded individual understands that sometimes these things happen,” he said.
The effort has been mostly “well-received,” according to Padgett.
“There’s a little bit of shock to it, but I think that, overall, people said, ‘Well, while it’s a hiccup, we have to move forward,’ ” he said.
At the same time, the SPA has reached out to its vast global customer base, though it was forced to cancel a recently planned business trip to Asia that was to be led by Melvin.
“We made sure and get in front of as many of them as we could, and the readout that I received was that … ‘We understand these things happen,’ ” Padgett said. “The good news is that our sales group remains intact, and obviously those are the relationships that have been built over time.”
Padgett went to Socastee High School in Horry County and studied finance at Francis Marion University in Florence, where he played on the baseball squad. The southpaw hurler from Surfside Beach racked up a 17-8 record between 2001-2004, according to the school’s sports information office. He later earned a master’s degree in accountancy from the College of Charleston.
Padgett had no prior maritime experience when he joined the SPA as controller in 2016 from the insurance industry. He was promoted to chief financial officer and senior vice president of administration three years later — and then to interim CEO last month, the day he signed off on a nearly $1 million severance package for his former boss.
Padgett said he’s had “zero concern” about the SPA’s financial oversight since the shakeup. He credited a deep bench of experienced work colleagues for jumping in to fill the void while he’s “wearing two hats.”
“They know what to do, they know how to do it and, obviously, you don’t have to ask them twice,” he said.
The SPA’s next move has been kept under tight wraps. Columbia real estate developer Bill Stern, the longtime chairman of the recently reshuffled port board and a close ally of Gov. Henry McMaster, has called two closed-door meetings since Melvin submitted her brief resignation letter a month ago.
Stern declined to comment about the CEO succession strategy last week.
S.C. Sen. Larry Grooms, chairman of the General Assembly’s port oversight and review panel, waited outside the room while the board met behind in private for about two hours Tuesday afternoon. The veteran Berkeley County Republican said he favors a proper search for the SPA’s next leader, echoing comments the governor made on Aug. 26.
Grooms chuckled as he dismissed as “zero truth” recent speculation that he’s after the high-profile port job.
“I think this position deserves a thorough search,” Grooms said. “But that’s up the board, and I try to stick within my lane — oversight.”
Padgett made it clear he won’t be a candidate for the opening.
“I know that there is a sense of urgency to get this done,” the interim CEO said. “I just think that everyone wants to make sure that it’s done appropriately and that we find the right person.”