SAVANNAH, Ga., August 4, 2026 – Georgia Ports Authority Chief Human Resources Officer Lise Altman has announced the promotion of Director of Human Resources Charles Pennington to Vice President of HR.

Pennington began his GPA career in 2019 as a Manager in Human Resources and prior to joining the GPA, was the Human Resources Manager for Coastal Logistics Group. He has 15 years of industry experience with a Master of Business Administration from Georgia Southwestern State University and a Senior Professional Human Resources certification.

“This incredible achievement reflects Charles’ hard work, dedication, and excellent leadership,” said Georgia Ports Chief Human Resources Officer Lise Altman. “During his time at GPA, Charles has consistently demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and a genuine passion for helping others.”                                                 

“I’m grateful to the Georgia Ports leadership team for their confidence in me and for the opportunity to continue serving this outstanding organization,” Pennington said. “As GPA invests in future infrastructure, our greatest asset will continue to be our people who define our company’s service every day.”

Georgia Ports President Kevin Price added “Our business performance is driven by our people. Charles’ leadership and experience ensures our organization will achieve their full potential, build on our company’s culture and help our team compete in the marketplace now and in the future.”   

Over the next decade, GPA’s strategic plan calls for $5 billion in infrastructure, including five big-ship container berths in Savannah and a fourth berth for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo at the Port of Brunswick.  Savannah is the fastest growing port in the Southeast and Brunswick is the largest RoRo port in the nation. 

Charles Pennington

ABOUT GEORGIA PORTS

Georgia’s Ports in Savannah and Brunswick are strategic gateways, creating the most competitive supply chains in the nation with their level of operations, connectivity and supply chain ecosystem. These attributes combined with Georgia’s ranking as the top state to do business for 12 consecutive years create a strong business model for growth. The Port of Savannah is one of the best-connected ports in the U.S. to world markets with 40 ship calls a week, 42 doublestack trains per week and 14,000 truck gate moves daily. The Port of Brunswick is the number 1 ranked U.S. RoRo port by annual volumes for autos and has an increasing amount of machinery cargoes with its expanded high and heavy cargo operating space.  GPA has a self-financed investment plan of nearly $5 billion for the next ten years which will see five big ship container berths added in Savannah (the most of any U.S. container port) and a fourth RoRo berth in Brunswick to meet future growth. Over the past 10 years, the GPA board has approved $4.13 billion in infrastructure improvements. As part of GPA’s community engagement efforts, $6 million is being donated to port communities to support a multi-year, local workforce housing initiative, helping over 200 families repair, buy or build a home in the Savannah area since its start in September 2023. For further information, visit gaports.com or contact Tom Boyd, Chief Communications Officer, at [email protected], 912-964-3884.