MIDDLETOWN, NJ – It was announced via media release on Monday that the Containerization & Intermodal Institute (CII) that Allen Clifford, Executive Vice President, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (USA), will be honored with the 2024 Connie Award. In addition, Cliff Pyron, Advisor, Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), will receive CII’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The prestigious awards will be presented at an industry-wide luncheon to be held on December 9th at the Marriott Newark Liberty Airport Hotel.
“Throughout his remarkable career spanning more than four decades with the world’s largest shipping line, Allen has been a pivotal force in advancing containerization and shaping global trade. Tenacious, entrepreneurial and results oriented, Allen perfectly embodies what the Connie Award is all about,” said CII President, Chris Brooks. “Fortunately, CII had Allen and his passion for growth and advancement on our board for nearly 40 years. He played a critical role in transforming and evolving our organization into what it is today.”
Additionally, CII will recognize Cliff Pyron with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his invaluable contributions to commercial and trade development at GPA. His outstanding accomplishments have established a standard of excellence, reinforcing Georgia’s ports as essential gateways for the global movement of raw materials and finished products.
For more than 50 years, CII has been honoring industry leaders with the prestigious Connie Award to industry professionals who have made major contributions to the advancement of containerization and intermodalism via the spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship, and influential leadership. The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to organizations or individuals who have played a long-standing, substantial, and supportive role in the industry and/or CII.
Connie Award Honoree — Allen Clifford
The 2024 Connie Award recipient, Allen Clifford, is recognized as a visionary leader whose contributions to the industry have shaped its landscape over his distinguished career.
Mr. Clifford began his journey in 1981 after graduating from the University at Buffalo. He started in freight forwarding and the emerging NVOCC sector with Deugo GmbH. He later transitioned to Containership Agency, where he represented a diverse portfolio of ocean carriers, including Italian Lines, Neptune Orient Lines, and Bottachi Lines of Argentina.
Mediterranean Shipping Company was a part of Containership, and Allen began managing it within the trade group. As MSC expanded, it evolved into its own agency, American Container Agency, which later rebranded to MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (USA) and established its current U.S. headquarters in New York City.
Mr. Clifford has steadily advanced from Assistant Vice President of Sales to his current position as Executive Vice President. In 2014, he was appointed USA Ambassador for the MSC Foundation and became a member of the MSC Board of Directors, further solidifying his influence in the industry.
Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree – Cliff Pyron
CII’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Cliff Pyron, has a 40-plus-year career in liner container shipping, global supply chain logistics, trucking, and the port sector, as well as economic and industrial development.
Widely recognized for his entrepreneurial vision, Mr. Pyron recently shifted to the role of Advisor to the GPA after serving as the Chief Commercial Officer for 16 years. In his role as CCO, he provided strategic leadership in commercial business, trade development, and economic initiatives. His efforts were instrumental in driving long-term profitable growth and increasing market share through sales, marketing, customer service, and international partnerships, significantly boosting global trade and commerce across Georgia and the Southeast.
Before joining GPA in 2008, Pyron was Vice President of North America Sales for NYK Line and Vice President of Sales for the Southern Region at Maersk-Sealand. During the 1999 acquisition of Sea-Land by Maersk, he was General Manager of Southeast Sales and also led Buyers Consolidators in Charlotte. Earlier, he worked in Hong Kong as General Manager of Sales and Marketing for Sea-Land, overseeing operations in Hong Kong, Macau, and South China.
“Cliff has been instrumental in GPA’s impressive growth, positioning it as a key player in international trade and investment. His leadership helped lay the groundwork for GPA to serve as a dynamic engine of economic development, benefiting our entire industry,” stated Mr. Brooks.
CII, founded in 1960, has been presenting the Connie Award since 1972 honoring those connected to the field of containerization and its ancillary industries. Among some 70 people and organizations have been honored to date, among the recipients are Gene Seroka, Malcom McLean, James McKenna, Robert McEllrath, Ed DeNike, John Wolfe, Bruce Fenimore, Helen Delich Bentley, Captain S.Y. Kuo, Matthew Cox, Bill Shea, Mike Wilson, Marino. Robert Sappio, Ken Kellaway and Vincent J. Marino.
According to its release, at the event, CII will carry out its industry education mission by presenting scholarships to students studying logistics as well as the institutions that are educating our future leaders. Under its auspices, CII has awarded more than $1 million toward scholarships.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
