FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 16, 2002

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For further information, contact:
Lawrence Spinelli (202) 336-8690
Timothy Harwood (202) 336-8744

COLLISTER JOHNSON SWORN IN AS OPIC BOARD MEMBER            

OPIC board member Collister Johnson, left, after being sworn in by OPIC President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson.

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Collister Johnson, Jr., a senior consultant at Mercer Management Consulting, Inc, in Washington, D.C. and former chairman of the Virginia Port Authority, was sworn in as the newest member of the board of directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Johnson is one of two OPIC board members designated to represent U.S. small businesses.

OPIC President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson conducted the swearing-in ceremony at OPIC headquarters. Johnson’s nomination had been approved by the full Senate on November 14.

“OPIC is honored to welcome Collister Johnson to its board of directors,” Dr. Watson said. “With a wealth of experience in the private sector, particularly in those infrastructure-related industries central to much of OPIC’s work, we look forward to his valuable contribution to both the board and OPIC as a whole.”

Johnson has served as a senior consultant at Mercer Management Consulting since 1997. Prior to that he was president and CEO of FastShip Atlantic, a company developing a new technology for operating container ships traveling between the northeastern United States and Europe and between the Pacific northwest and Asia. Earlier, Johnson was senior vice president at WFS Financial Corporation and at Presidential Airways, Inc.

Johnson was for eight years (1986-1994) chairman of the Virginia Port Authority, the largest economic development agency in Virginia. During his tenure, the Port of Hampton Roads emerged as the second-largest port on the east coast of the United States, having increased its cargo tonnage by more than 250 percent and generating thousands of new jobs in the process.

In the early 1980s, Johnson was a partner at the Washington law firm of Lockie & Johnson, and an associate and partner at Peabody, Rivlin, Lambert & Meyers, also in Washington. In the 1970s, he served as deputy public counsel of the Rail Services Planning Office in Washington, and from 1973 to 1974 was assistant county attorney in Fairfax County, Virginia.

A New York native, Johnson, 56, received a B.A. degree in American studies from Yale University, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He lives in McLean, Virginia.

Johnson succeeds Lottie Shackelford, executive vice president of Global USA, Inc., on the board. The 15-member OPIC board comprises eight members of the private sector and seven from other government agencies.

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers.

OPIC’s political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency’s 30-year history, OPIC has supported $142 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over $11 billion in host-government revenues and create over 673,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $64 billion in U.S. exports and create more than 253,000 American jobs.