A U.S. Navy veteran who leads international relations and once headed up Asia operations at private jet maker Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. has joined Georgia Ports Authority board of directors as its only Asian American and sole female member.
Leda Chong, senior vice president of government programs and sales for the Savannah-based company, Georgia’s largest manufacturer, was sworn in by Gov. Brian Kemp at his ceremonial office Sept. 22.
Ms. Chong joined General Dynamics, Gulfstream’s parent company, in 2007 as director of government relations before becoming staff vice president in the same area in 2009. After that, she became head of Asia for the aerospace division of General Dynamics, which includes Gulfstream and Jet Aviation, a service provider, before taking up her current role.
A native of Hong Kong, Ms. Chong speaks Chinese and graduated magna cum lauded from the University of California San Diego with degrees in applied mathematics and French literature. She served in the U.S. Navy, retiring with the rank of commander before joining the company.
Gulfstream saw revenues fall by 19 percent to $6.1 billion in 2020, with orders picking up in the second half of the year, according to its annual investor report. About 17 percent of its manufacturing backlog is reserved for customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The majority of Gulfstream’s orders in recent years have come from overseas, with China among the leading markets, though 2020 reversed that trend as 55 percent of orders originated domestically.
Mr. Kemp also announced that he had reappointed James Allgood and Douglas Hertz to the ports authority’s board.
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