LAKE CHARLES, La. — The Port of Lake Charles has named staff veterans Nicholas “Nick” Pestello director of engineering and Edwin Manuel “Ed” Manint II safety and security manager.
The promotions were announced by Bill Rase, executive director.
Pestello has been the assistant director of engineering since 2013. He has 15 years of experience in project management, with knowledge of engineering design, collaboration and managing various types of projects.
Manint has 24 years of law enforcement and security experience, nearly a decade of it with the Port’s Harbor Police.
About Nick Pestello
Pestello has been responsible for the project management of all construction and large maintenance projects at the Port. He has assisted in the administration of a capital improvement program with an average annual budget a $50 million.
He has managed design, contract negotiation, scheduling, construction and final turnover. The projects have included marine structures, office buildings, civil site, electrical and railroad.
Pestello was a civil engineer for Recon Engineering of Sulphur, project manager for Stantec WilsonMiller of Florida and an assistant city engineer for Lake Charles.
He is a member of the American Association of Port Authorities, where he serves on the facilities engineering and environmental committees and is part of its 2023 Professional Port Manager class.
Pestello, a McNeese State University graduate, lives in Lake Charles.
About Ed Manint
Manint joined the Port in 2007 as a Harbor Police officer, rising to captain and serving as Taser instructor and facility security officer.
He became security supervisor for Turner Industries in Sulphur in 2017 and returned to the Port in 2018.
Manint is a Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Stark and at the Naval Hospital in Millington, Tennessee.
He also was corpsman for the Orleans Parish prison system, a sergeant in the Louisiana Superdome’s security department and a truck scales manager for the Department of Transportation and Development.
Manint attended LSU and Northwestern State University. He and his wife, Jane, have three children and live in Lake Charles.
