Page 95 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

PART II BRINGING THE WORLD TO BALTIMORE
and Inventory, the Crane Department, and the Mechanic Shop. Shaun and Andy were also trained in sales and marketing as well as accounting and corporate administration. Shaun and Andy called this training program their “doctorate” in Rukert Terminals. As intended, the cousins were trained, supervised and evaluated not by Norm and Bud, but by non-family personnel. Even after completing the program, promotion to a management position was not guaranteed. Steering the company into the 21st century would have to be earned.
Meanwhile, a simple newspaper ad in The Baltimore Sun brought Rukert Terminals two very promising Management Trainees. Jason Loveland joined the company in 1997, after earning a degree in business from the State University of New York at Cortland. Frank Olszewski followed one year later, shortly after graduating from Frostburg State University. After interviewing Jason and Frank, Norm, Bud and John were hopeful they had found the future executives of Rukert Terminals. They were right. Nonetheless, Jason and Frank’s first few years of management training took place in a warehouse or ship, not in the office.
In 1997, the main office, which had been built in 1981, was expanded. The 2,600-square-foot addi- tion included a meeting room and several individual offices. The growing Shipping and Receiving Office was also relocated from Pier 5 to this new space. In 1998, Rukert Terminals completed a new state-of-the art warehouse on the former Exxon property. This 50,000-square-foot warehouse, named Building #23, had a corrosion-resistant stainless steel roof.
At the other end of South Clinton Street, Rukert Terminals purchased 11 acres of property from the Agrico Corporation in 1998. Once the buildings were removed, this property would be used for outside storage space, essentially expanding the Lazaretto
Terminal. Acquiring this contiguous waterfront property with a desirable view of Fort McHenry was another key step in shoring up the Clinton Street waterfront as the industrial anchor of Canton and preventing redevelopment for non-maritime use.
As the 20th century came to a close, new technology was bursting onto the scene and bringing Rukert Terminals further into the global marketplace. In 1996, company management received their first emails. In 1998, Rukert Terminals debuted its corporate website, www. rukert.com. In 1999, a Y2K team was formed to prepare for potential technology errors brought about by the new millennium. Management was particularly worried that the computerized inventory system could crash, causing a disaster for business. Though none of these problems materialized, the preparation for the year 2000 demonstrates Rukert Terminals’ increasing reliance on technology for daily operations. The 21st century would bring more technology and a new pace to international trade.
FACING PAGE:
Andy Nixon, Frank Olszewski, Bud Nixon, Steve Landess, Shaun Rukert and Jason Loveland give a tour of the terminal to then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich (center).
BELOW:
Frank Olszewski, Ron Shaney and Jason Loveland
87