Crowley opens new Guatemala City office

Photo (from left to right): Jorge Villela, sales manager, Guatemala; Neil Perlmutter, vice president, planning and strategy; Ned LaGoy, vice president, business development; Jorge Campabadal, vice president, Costa Rica; Carlos Beltrán, general manager, Latin America liner services and logistics; Jorge Estevez, vice president, national accounts; Frank Larkin, senior vice president and general manager, logistics; Claudia Kattan, vice president, northern zone, Latin America liner services; Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America liner services; Miguel Ariga, vice president, Central America; Zoraida Jirau, director, international human resources

JANUARY 29, 2014 — Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Guatemala-based liner and logistics teams have moved into a new office space in the heart of Guatemala City, the country’s bustling metropolis and most populous city in Central America.

Modeled after Crowley’s Jacksonville, FL, headquarters, the office’s open layout maximizes the workspace while promoting a collaborative environment and synergy between the two business units, which were previously housed in separate buildings.

Combining the liner and logistics teams under one roof allows Crowley to better streamline services between departments, maximizing interdepartmental efficiency.

This means that customers can now reach both the liner and logistics teams via a single phone number, (502) 2326-5511.  

“The open office workspace is still a novel concept in Central America, but it continues to work remarkably well for us as a company,” said Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America liner services. “Moving into our new office in Guatemala allows us to more closely align the liner and logistics business units and better serve the needs of our customers.”

Centrally located in the financial district of Zone 4, Crowley’s new main Guatemalan office occupies 572.25 square meters (6,159.65 square feet) on the seventh floor of Financial Center Tower 3, a 12-story, state-of-the-art building outfitted with sophisticated security, emergency management and earthquake proofing technologies, among other advancements.

“Safety is paramount at Crowley,” said Frank Larkin, senior vice president and general manager, logistics, who lauded the building’s technologically advanced design. Both he and Mr. Collar attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of the new office earlier this month. “It was important that our new office feature the latest technology to ensure the well-being of our employees, business partners and guests.”

Crowley will continue to operate a nearby warehouse, located at El Naranjo, Zona 4 de Mixco, however, customer support and sales functions will be performed exclusively out of the new office. In addition to regular liner shipping services to and from Guatemala City (via Santo Tomás), customers can also take full advantage of Crowley’s extensive service options, like trucking, air shipments, Customs house brokerage and warehousing.

The new office facility is located at Via 5, 5-34 Zona 4, Centro Financiero Torre 3 Nivel 7 Oficina 701.