Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> December 19, 2011

Rand Logistics, Inc. – Laurence S. Levy

Laurence S. Levy is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rand Logistics, Inc., originally known as Rand Acquisition Corporation. In March 2006, Rand Acquisition acquired the outstanding stock of Lower Lakes Towing Ltd., a company that provides bulk freight shipping services in the Great Lakes region. Since 1986, Mr. Levy also has served as Founder and Chairman of Hyde Park Holdings LLC, a private investment firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. He is Chairman of Essex Rental Corp., originally known as Hyde Park Acquisition Corporation. In October 2008, Hyde Park Acquisition acquired the outstanding stock of Essex Crane Rental Corp., an owner and renter of crawler cranes in the United States. Mr. Levy is Chairman and Co-Owner of Derby Industries, LLC, a subassembler. He is also Owner and Chairman of Warehouse Associates LP, a private logistics provider, and Founder and Director of Ozburn-Hessey Logistics LLC, an independent logistics company. Since April 1999, Mr. Levy has been the Founder and Manager of PFI Resource Management LP, an investor in the Private Funding Initiative program in the U.K., which is privatizing state infrastructure assets. He is Chairman, CEO and President of Regency Affiliates, Inc., a holding company with interests in real estate, a power station and other assets. He is Director of Sunbelt Holdings, Inc., a distributor of fine wines and spirits. Mr Levy is Chairman and Co-Owner of Detroit & Canada Tunnel Corporation, the operator of the toll tunnel between Detroit and Windsor in Canada. Mr. Levy privatized this publicly listed company in January 1997 and remained its Chairman until the company was sold in January 2001. He was CEO and a Member of the board of directors of High Voltage Engineering Corporation, a diversified industrial manufacturing company. Mr. Levy has a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Accountancy degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in South Africa. He is a Chartered Accountant in South Africa. Mr. Levy earned an MBA from Harvard University as a Baker Scholar. Profile
TWST: Would you please start by giving us a history and general overview of Rand Logistics?

Mr. Levy: Rand Logistics' operating subsidiary is named Lower Lakes. Lower Lakes was started in the