Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the following executive appointments:

Georgia Ports Authority

Clinton M. Day, 46, St. Simons Island, GA - Day is a Norcross businessman, serving as owner and president of Day Retail. He has worked in the real estate business for over twenty years and has served as a Georgia State Senator. He is chairman of the board for Integrity Bank and serves on the board of the Cecil B. Day Foundation, the Florida State University Foundation and is a former deacon at Peachtree Corners Baptist Church. In addition, he is a member of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce and the Council for Quality Growth. He has also served as a district governor for Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Day earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Florida State University. He and his wife, Lori, have four children.

Rutledge A. “Rusty” Griffin, Jr., 60, Valdosta, GA - Griffin is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Griffin L.L.C., a manufacturer of crop protection and specialty chemicals founded in 1935 as a joint venture with DuPont. He is a past director of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Council on Economic Education, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education and the Chemical Producers and Distributors Association. He was previously honored as the Outstanding Member of the Valdosta and Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce and as the Man of the Year by Valdosta-Lowndes County Agribusiness. Griffin is a trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation and a graduate of Leadership Georgia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Barbara, have three children, five grandchildren and one on the way.

Maxine H. Burton, 54, Athens, GA, REAPPOINTMENT - Burton is the founder and president of Flowers, Inc. Balloons, the largest supplier of balloons and related gift items in the United States. She was honored as Star Group’s 2002 Leading Woman Entrepreneur of the World and as Ernst & Young’s 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year (Retail Wholesale Category, Southeast Division). Burton serves as a member of the board of directors for the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, First American Bank and Trust and the Color Marketing Group. She is a graduate of Leadership Athens and Leadership Georgia. Burton earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in education from the University of Georgia and has completed executive courses at Harvard Business School. She and her husband, Richard, have two children and one grandchild.