Page 25 - Port of Baltimore - Issue 4 - 2024

Ancora or any available aid programs for a startup trying to hire people. No matter what, we focused on our priorities and hard work and became who we wanted to be.”
The founders focused on the potential rewards of filling a vacancy at the Port of Baltimore and rode out the virus until business returned to normal.
“We were not afraid,” Zwanenburg said. “We just had to make decisions. We had a business plan, but a lot of things happened that nobody [expected] and the container business was becoming very difficult.”
Haines was fresh from high school when she began work at the Port of Baltimore five decades ago. The idea of forming a company with Zwanenburg — her co-worker and a former supervisor — was discussed before launching. Their previous employer helped prompt the decision by shutting down its warehouse operations in Baltimore.
The business partners launched their operation with about 100 years of combined experience in warehousing and logistics, including many U.S. and global relationships that new companies would have to pay for.
We don't get very nervous when things
happen. It’s about finding the solution
for the problem and we're kind of good at that. With the extensive knowledge we have and our extensive network around the U.S. and globally, we’re good at thinking outside the box.”
– Frans Zwanenburg, Co-Founder, Ancora Warehousing & Logistics
“We have many customers that have followed both of us for a number of years,” Haines said. “We have many vendors that have worked with us for years. Warehousemen, truckers, logistics people, management people, equipment people ... being in this industry has its ripple effects.”
Finding Solutions
Is No Problem
Zwanenburg said the two of them thought about going into business for themselves in part due to the climate at their former employer. “It wasn’t
going all that well,” he said. “It was very corporate, huge overhead, a lot of red tape and very spreadsheet- oriented. We also wanted to make a basic change in our life and control our own destiny.”
COVID-19 changed life in unex- pected ways, including disruptions
in maritime transport. Container shipping firms canceled more
than 1,000 voyages in the first six months of 2020. Zwanenburg said Ancora, which has a 250,000 square- foot warehouse and a 7-acre yard, responded with a smooth pivot.
“We got involved with a lot of the breakbulk cargoes,” he said. “We did
Kathy Haines
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