Eija Rossi, new Commercial Director of Port of HaminaKotka Ltd, started in her new position at the beginning of December 2017. Eija Rossi (46) moved to the new position from the globally-operating German logistics company DHL. At DHL, she served as the head of warehousing and forwarding operations and as the head of customer experience. Eija Rossi worked mainly both in Hamina and Vantaa, but she also travelled much to DHL’s various offices in Finland and also in Germany and elsewhere in Continental Europe.
The leap from a global transport company to a port is long, and the perspective into logistics is different. However, Eija Rossi is not unfamiliar with the port environment. Prior to DHL, she worked at HMT, a stevedoring company that used to operate at the Port of Hamina and that was later merged into Steveco. Eija Rossi finished in the employment of HMT about seven years ago at a stage where the port companies of Hamina and Kotka were merging into one.
Although Eija Rossi left HMT, she did not leave Hamina. She and her family have lived in Hamina for 20 years, and she still likes the town very much. A home in a milieu filled with old wooden houses in the heart of Hamina has brought along an interest into history relating to the houses. There is currently a traditional Christmas calendar event going on: it is turn for the Rossi house to open its window in the calendar on 23 December.
Eija Rossi liked to work for DHL, too, and tears were inevitable when she left the company. Still, the prospect of being involved in developing the diverse and constantly growing biggest universal port in Finland outweighed that. Eija Rossi is especially fascinated by the fact that the port company has such a great role in the well-being and vitality of its region.
With a work experience of a few days, Eija Rossi does not yet know exactly into which direction she is starting to develop the sales and marketing of the port company. “First I want to see where we are now.“
Eija Rossi says that she is a very dynamic leader, but she does not want or intend to make changes just for changes’ sake. There must first exist a need for development.
Eija Rossi is originally from Maaninka near Kuopio. The country girl who likes animals was first supposed to become a veterinary surgeon, but foreign trade became her choice. After graduating from college, she took a Master’s degree in Economics at the Lappeenranta University of Technology.
Eija Rossi’s family includes her husband and children aged 21 and 17 plus a Chinese crested dog. If the Rossis lived anywhere else than in the town centre, there would also be other domestic animals such as sheep and chickens, and why not a cow.
Eija Rossi’s hobbies also include spending time at the family’s summer house at Saaramaa, reading, Star Wars movies and circus.
“The circus enchants me with its magic. When the circus is in town, children and I always sit in the front row.”
