You may not find Patty Turner working the dock, but she nonetheless plays a pivotal role in keeping Cooper/Ports America running smoothly.

Joining Cooper/T. Smith’s Houston gear room as a temporary Accounts Payable Clerk and Administrative Assistant in 2004, Patty was quickly hired on full-time. When Cooper/T. Smith merged its breakbulk operations with Ports America to form C/PA, she stayed on as an Accounts Payable Clerk for the new joint-venture, a role she still holds.

Part of Patty’s job is ensuring vendors and company partners are paid correctly and on time, thereby building and maintaining professional relationships and guaranteeing uninterrupted operations.

“After doing this job for the past 17 years,” she said, “it’s always changing and evolving as new programs and procedures are implemented.”

Some of her responsibilities include processing payable invoices for all of C/PA’s locations, as well as auto debits and wires in OnBase, processing forms for setting up vendors in the company system, and processing end-of-month leases and end-of-month Accounts Payable closing.

“Some people were destined to do certain jobs and I feel like that’s what I’ve done,” Patty explained. “I love my job as I get to deal with vendors, our AP team and the AP team at the corporate office.” Patty is grateful for the wisdom and guidance she receives from C/PA’s Controller and CFO who help to determine how certain projects and invoices are handled.

Her work is detail oriented and challenging, from meeting tight deadlines to working with carriers to obtain missing or incomplete paperwork. Though Patty admits that each day brings its own set of challenges, those challenges also bring about personal growth.

“We’re never too old to learn something new!”