Relationships Anchor Leavell’s River Career Success

It was a love of the people and the relationships within the maritime industry that led George Leavell to change careers.

Leavell began his career as a practicing attorney before joining Wepfer Marine full time. He held several job titles at Wepfer along the route to becoming the chief executive officer of Wepfer Marine Group, LLC, based in Memphis, Tenn.

Growing up in Clarksville, Tenn., Leavell spent time water skiing on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and nearby Lake Barkley. He attended Austin Peay State University, majoring in finance, and then went on to the University of Memphis, where he earned his law degree. It was in his last semester of law school that he met the former Janet Wepfer, now his bride of 38 years.

Leavell started representing Wepfer Marine in 1987. With the assistance of Charlie Southern, he developed a marine insurance defense practice. As he spent time around his father-in-law, Bill Wepfer, and with John Wepfer, whom he describes as his business partner, brother-in-law and best friend, Leavell realized he enjoyed the maritime business even more than his other career interests.

“I think the strength of this industry is the people, and I found the towboats and all of the equipment and operations fascinating,” he said.

Leavell wasn’t content to learn about the industry from inside an office, however.

When he made the transition February 1, 1994, to come to work for Wepfer Marine, he carried the title of vice president and was responsible for much of the accounting as well as overseeing the legal work, but he also spent a lot of his time on boats and barges.

“The best advice John Wepfer gave me was not to make any decisions my first year and to learn the business from the people who were doing the work,” he said. “I was wearing out our shipyard people and boat ops people, trying to learn what they did and how they did it.”

He would go out on boats as a deckhand at times, but also spent time learning from those involved in the company’s shipyard and barge-cleaning business.

“Through that you learn what those guys go through to do the work that’s required,” Leavell said. “I think it’s the job of those in the office to make the jobs of our people outside and on boats safer, more efficient and enjoyable. We need to equip them with the tools to do their job well, whether it’s training or having the equipment.”

Wepfer Marine itself was founded in 1972. It started as Murphy Marine, which was co-owned by Bill Wepfer and Capt. Johnny Murphy. In the late 1970s, the business split, with Murphy and his son, also named Johnny, taking over the salvage operations of the company and Wepfer taking over the part of the business dealing with the shipyard, fleeting and harbor services.

In the early 1990s, before Leavell came on board, the company owned facilities in Memphis, Tenn., and Osceola, Ark., along with seven towboats. John Wepfer had decided to broaden the services offered by the company and started refurbishing Coast Guard buoy tenders and work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair and refurbish small dams and flood control facilities. His decisions started the company’s growth, Leavell said. At the same time, Leavell had three young daughters with Janet and was interested in staying closer to home, so it was the right time to change careers.

“Over the years we’ve been able to further grow our business,” Leavell said.

It now includes seven ports on the Lower Mississippi River, one on the Ohio River and one on the Tennessee River. While harbor and fleeting services remains at the core of the company, Wepfer Marine also has a shipyard in Memphis, barge-cleaning operations in Memphis, Greenville, Miss., and Calvert City, Ky., topside barge repairs in Calvert City and does contract towing on the lower Ohio River and in the Paducah, Ky., area. The company’s Okie Moore Diving and Marine Salvage, based in Calvert City, focuses on marine salvage, barge lightering services and dock repairs.

Key opportunities for Wepfer’s growth all were because of relationships “from the bottom up and the top down” that existed within the industry, Leavell said. He recalled being approached while playing golf about acquiring Waterways Marine of Greenville, for example.

Other important moments for the company involved working with Cargill to provide services in Hickman, Ky., entering into an agreement with SCF Marine to manage equipment and fleets SCF acquired as part of the purchase of Memphis Marine, taking over the late W.A. “Peanut” Hollinger’s operations in Calvert City, assisting Custom Fuel with its fueling operations in Memphis, handling fleeting and shifting at Big River Steel in Osceola, first with Watco and now with CGB, handling the fleeting and shifting for Hybar Steel in Osceola, acquiring additional drydocks to expand shipyard operations, including building a drydock for use in its Memphis shipyard and handling the shifting and fleeting operations in Metropolis, Ill.

Through it all, Leavell said he has been guided by his Christian faith.

“I want to treat others like I want to be treated,” he said. “That means I try to be fair and honest with the people I deal with on a daily basis.”

He said he is aware that the decisions those in the offices at Wepfer make affect more than 300 employees and their families, along with Wepfer Marine’s customers and vendors, so it is critical that those within the company exercise good judgment and communicate honestly and effectively.

“Hopefully we’ve developed a reputation of doing good work and being fair with people,” Leavell said.

He said he is glad that John Wepfer gave him the opportunity to work in the industry, something he still enjoys doing daily.

“He’s been a great business partner,” he said. “He’s my best friend, and we have had a lot of fun over the years.”

He also said any accolades should not rest solely on their shoulders.

“The growth we had in the company was because of the team that John Wepfer and I had around us that allowed us to be able to grow,” he said. “It was not John and George doing all this. It was a team effort. It was customers and friends in the industry that also helped us along the way.”

Even at 64, when many people are looking forward to retirement, Leavell is more focused on looking forward than he is looking backward at his or the company’s accomplishments. He enjoys working with a dedicated management team of young men and women he says are well-equipped to move the company forward.

“That’s been a lot of fun to watch, how they have progressed in their careers,” he said.

Leavell said that he is encouraged by the next generation of leaders in the industry.

“We have a lot of smart and talented men and women moving into leadership positions, and I think this will serve our industry well for many years to come,” he said.

Leavell also works to improve the future of the maritime industry through advocacy, serving on boards and committees with organizations like the American Waterways Operators, Waterways Council Inc., the Towing Vessel Inspection Bureau, the Inland Harbor and Fleeting Coalition, the Memphis Area Maritime Security Committee and several Towing Safety Advisory Committee (TSAC) working committees.

“I love this industry, and it’s been very good to me,” he said. “It’s been very good to my family, and the people in the industry are what makes this industry unique. There are a lot of different segments, but because they all interact, we’re able to come together and solve problems. We coalesce around how we’re going to make the industry safer and more efficient while remaining competitive. We have to continue fighting for regulations that will strengthen the industry and against those that are unnecessary and will only drive up costs.”

Leavell has been attending the Seamen’s Church Institute’s River Bell Awards Luncheon since it began 25 years ago, but he said he couldn’t have been more surprised when SCI chose him to receive the River Bell Award, which he accepted in a ceremony December 11 in Paducah.

“I’ve seen a lot of men receive the River Bell that I have had tremendous respect for,” he said. “They’ve built huge companies and made significant contributions to the industry. These were people who took time to mentor me and get me involved in the issues that the industry faces. To be on that list now, it is humbling. It’s something that I don’t take for granted. It’s, frankly, something I don’t feel like I deserve, but it’s a profound honor to be acknowledged by a group of peers that you have tremendous respect for.”

Looking back now on his decision to change careers and make his living in the river industry, Leavell said, “It was the best career decision I could have ever made.”

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Featured photo caption: George Leavell speaks at the annual River Bell Awards Luncheon, held December 11 in Paducah, Ky. Leavell, CEO of Wepfer Marine Group, received the River Bell Award. (Photo courtesy of the Seamen’s Church Institute)