Juerg Gege began his career as an International Forwarding Apprentice at Nord Transport AG in 1969 in Basel, Switzerland and brings 50+ years of Global Freight Forwarding experience to the Academy.

After 3 years as an International Forwarding Apprentice and one year in the Export Department at Nord Transport, he moved to Panalpina AG Basel (Hans Im Obersteg at that time). At Panalpina, he became the youngest Department Head – leading the Road Department with 15+ Agents for several years.

He would spend the next 42+ years at three different locations within their global network; Basel, Switzerland, New York, NY and Charleston, SC, working as an Agent, Department and eventually running the Branch in Charleston. By the time he left the Company in 2015 as Vice President and Business Unit Manager CHS, the Charleston location was the strongest Ocean Import Department in the country.

In December of 2016 he found an opportunity at DBW Fiber Industries and became a Logistics Analyst until he retired in June 2019.

It was a few years later, that his best friend and fellow industry leader Frank Szewczyk came to him with an idea. Szewczyk realized there was a great need for training within the International Transportation Community, especially for entry and mid-level members, to re-energize the Transportation community and secure its future. Gege decided to come out of retirement and help his friend make his dream a reality. Soon after, the International Forwarding Academy was born.

Gege loves to travel in his spare time and is a self-proclaimed foodie. He is also an avid sports enthusiast and has won multiple Championships with a local soccer team and remains very active, doing CrossFit and taking long walks every day. He was also one of the founders and co-owners of the Charleston Battery professional soccer team for 20+ years.

Gege attributes his success to his hands-on management style with an open-door policy and his relationship building strengths.