Jonathan Daniels
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Director, Port Everglades,
Chair, Florida Ports Council
Jonathan Daniels is the Chief Executive and Port Director for Port Everglades, a self-supporting enterprise fund of Broward County, FL, that typically generates more than $30 billion in economic activity and supports 10,000 direct jobs annually. Port Everglades is the world’s third busiest cruise homeport and is ranked among the nation’s leading container ports. It is also South Florida’s main seaport for receiving energy products including gasoline, jet fuel and alternative fuels. The Port’s diverse business mix – cruise, cargo, petroleum, real estate – helps the Port maintain financial stability during economic downturns. Port Everglades is currently undergoing a $3 billion expansion program to expand berth and crane capacity, deepen and widen channels and modernize cruise facilities.
Mr. Daniels comes to Port Everglades from the Port of Gulfport, Mississippi, where he was the Executive Director from 2013 until 2020. During his time in Gulfport, he led a $570 million restoration and expansion project and created a business development program that allowed the Port Authority to successfully fulfill a federal job creation mandate to generate at least 1,300 new jobs. Under his leadership, Gulfport became the first “green” Port in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico by joining the Green Marine environmental program.
In addition to his time in Gulfport, Mr. Daniels gained valuable maritime experience as the Executive Director of Port of Oswego Authority in New York, Managing Director for the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and as Port Director of the Eastport Port Authority in Maine.
Mr. Daniels is a proponent of regional economic development having served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Eastern Maine Development Corporation and as the Director of the City of Bangor, Maine, Office of Economic and Business Development. He also served as Senior Trade Advisor and Director, Maine International Trade Center.
Mr. Daniels is the Chair of the Florida Ports Council, representing Florida’s 15 public seaports. He also serves on the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) Board of Directors and is Chair of the National Defense Committee and is currently serving a two-year term as the AAPA U.S. South Atlantic Ports Representative. He sits on the Boards of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, and is an active member of the Alliance Partner Council.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science – International Politics and Foreign Affairs from The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina, and continued his education at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine. He has a son in the U.S. Air Force and three daughters living in Florida.