OCEAN CITY – Phillips Foods President and CEO Steve Phillips has been awarded Maryland’s 2011 Governor’s International Leadership Award.
The award is the highest honor given in the Maryland business community, according to a press release. Those honored with this award demonstrate creativity and innovative strategies to drive industry leadership and world-class results while positively impacting Maryland’s place on the global stage.
Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Miami. Besides his thriving business, he also serves on the board for the National Fisheries Institute, World Trade Center Institute and the University of Maryland Medical Systems Hospital.
According to Governor Martin O’Malley, “For more than 50 years, the name Phillips has meant something quite special here in Maryland. Today with Phillips’ impressive global footprint, it is an honor to award Steve Phillips with the 2011 Governor’s International Leadership Award. Long before international trade was the norm, Steve was a pioneer in Asia developing crab facilities to supplement the U.S. supply, providing jobs for thousands of Marylanders in manufacturing, hospitality/restaurants, and headquarter operations.”
AE Phillips and Son seafood processing plant was established on the Chesapeake Bay in 1914. Phillips’ parents founded the family’s first restaurant here in Ocean City in 1956. He expanded the company by opening the waterfront location in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor over 30 years ago. The Phillips brand is now recognized nationwide for its Maryland style cuisine.
Phillips led the formation of Phillips Foods, Inc. in 1990. He established the blue crab swimming industry across Southeast Asia as the supply of blue crabs faded away in the Chesapeake Bay. The facilities in Asia ensure a year-round source for the family’s restaurants and retail, as well as thousands of other restaurants and grocery stores across the country.
Philips initiatives of sustainability and aquaculture have become part of the family’s company mission. The company has begun a global program to reduce energy, water use, minimize processing waste, and pressed for the formation of “Seafood Sustainability Directors”, a program to coordinate broader industry efforts in the United States.
“I am honored and humbled to be recognized for my work in the global seafood industry, which is truly my passion,” said Phillips.