Tidewater Holdings CEO & President Bob Curcio was the featured guest at our April 1, 2015 Boardroom Breakfast, held at the Fort Vancouver Artillery Barracks. Here are 10 things we learned about him and his business during the discussion:
- Curcio paid for his education at the University of Connecticut by playing the drums on the weekends.
- A steady employee base is especially important for Tidewater. “It takes a year for a deckhand to really know his job,” and becoming a captain takes much longer, Curcio said. The marine transportation company spends millions of dollars on training and offers its employees high salaries as incentive to stay long-term.
- Curcio said spills have gone down in the last five years – so much so that they are now measured in ounces instead of gallons.
- Besides grains, petroleum, waste and export containers, the company will on certain occasions transport baby salmon fish.
- When asked about competition, Curcio mentioned pipeline companies, trucking and rail. He said that railroads can get clogged up, making river transport a more reliable option.
- Curcio isn’t looking to take over other markets in which competitors are already established. “If I try to compete with five guys who already know what they’re doing they will kick my butt,” he said.
- Tidewater Holdings local market share in barge shipping liquids is 100 percent, according to Curcio.
- A captain falling asleep is what keeps Curcio up at night, he said. To prevent this from happening, motion detectors are installed on ships. If there is no movement for a set amount of time the system will shut down automatically.
- Switching your insurance pays off. Curcio said he sought out more competitive quotes from insurance companies after Tidewater had the same agent for 17 years. The switch saved the company a lot of money.
- Happy faces seen on the sides of Tidewater ships started as a way to save money; purchased ships had a logo on it and modifying it was more cost-effective than removing it completely. Curcio said the happy faces are often the first thing people bring up when he tells them he works for the company. “Some of our employees are very passionate about it too,” he added.
Join us for our next Boardroom Breakfast event on Wednesday June 3, 2015, featuring Papa Murphy’s CEO Ken Calwell.
