TAMPA - Departing Tampa port director George Williamson will join Rinker Materials Corp. in West Palm Beach, the largest building materials company in Florida and among the top 10 throughout the world.
Williamson will work in the newly created position of business development director, responsible for acquisitions and growth of the company, said Karl Watson, Rinker's president and chief operating officer.
"He knows a lot about logistics," Watson said. "He can deal in very high places. He's dealt with government officials and traveled with the governor."
Williamson was not at his Tampa Port Authority office and unavailable for comment Friday, said spokeswoman Lori Musser. He declined to identify his new employer Thursday when he announced plans to leave the port by April 9.
Williamson, 50, said Thursday he decided to leave the $195,000-a-year job because he had reached the top of the profession locally and couldn't pass up the private sector offer.
He denied that criticism from port commissioners and tenants about how he ran the agency influenced him to leave.
Rinker doesn't do business with the port, Watson said, but a company employee knew Williamson and recruited him for the job.
From its West Palm Beach headquarters, Rinker operates in 38 states, employs more than 11,500 workers and generates $3-billion in annual sales. It is one of the largest U.S. producers of concrete block, aggregates, pipe, ready-mixed concrete and cement.
