Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2016)

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Constantinos Contos revenue and pro? tability. Today the WWM business is swers the phone. Fighting complacency and maintain- still predominantly marine and offshore industry based ing focus; eliminate waste to streamline and simplify (70%), or as Contos de? nes the maritime sector ‘any- the process. The idea of simplicity is not easy. Making thing that ? oats,’ yet there is a critical and growing Fluid things simple and easy for the customer, making it a

Process market and Industrial market that brings in the ‘user friendly’ good experience is probably the hardest additional 30%, serving as a spring board to new op- thing to do.” portunities. Ultimately Contos has broad visions for With the diversity of WWM, Contos is remiss to iden- the company, a U.S. based company providing a global tify one market as more critical than the next. But when reach. In summarizing his vision of the company in 10 pressed he notes that the cruise shipping market is in the years time, he is focused: $50 million in revenues, 80 midst of a major boom that could have strong legs for to 100 employees, six to eight distribution center in decades, courtesy of a large population of Baby Boom-

North America and another overseas, likely in Asia; and ers approaching retirement age with higher amounts of a broader range of product and global customer sup- disposable income. Yet the cruise industry is unique port. All the while, remaining focused on the company’s from, say, a tanker owner, in its supply chain manage- primary mission and equally important, keeping the ment. Traditional ship owners are accustomed to ? eets customer interaction simple and intuitive. “I think the of ships dispersed globally, but the concept of global biggest challenge to running an ef? cient and pro? table ? eet management is still somewhat new in the cruise business is running an ef? cient and pro? table business! sector as it has grown and diversi? ed. This is a good

Our biggest challenge is as we continue to grow is to opportunity for WWM to grow its international roots in maintain that DNA core and family values principle,” tandem, as Contos simply summarizes: “Our job is to said Contos. “When you call our company, a human an- help facilitate our customer’s growth.”

George Contos, CEO, World Wide Metric, Inc.

George Contos is CEO of World Wide

Metric (WWM), a dynamic leader with an infectious optimism in business and in life.

He is an owner of the company along with his brother Theo and his sister Anthee, a second generation that took over the busi- ness in 2000 from his father, Contantinos, who is no longer involved in the company.

George has been in the WWM business nearly his whole life, going on board ships with his dad and meeting captains as a kid, fondly remembering them as always asking him if he wanted a “Coca Cola.”

In high school and college he worked part time, as a warehouse and sales assistant.

In 1991 he moved to California to open

WWM’s new branch full time. George was

Assistant Branch Manager for both the NJ and Texas of? ces and Branch Manager of the California of? ce. He left the company brie? y in 1998, and after a two-year stint at Dale Carnegie, George returned to WWM and has been CEO since the age of 32. Since taking over the business in 2000, George and his brother Theo have grown the business nearly 7x in terms of revenue and 58 employees today. WWM is entering a new phase of it’s development – looking to drive signi? cant growth and get to the next level. Their 10-year goal is $50m. In April of 2015, George began the project of writing his ? rst book. This year long endeavor found its way to print and “Growing Up Metric” was released in June 2016.

36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • AUGUST 2016

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