Southern Star promotes Patterson to president, CEO

Joseph Russell, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
·2 min read

Jul. 29—Shawn Patterson, the chief operations officer of Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc., has been named the new president and CEO, the company announced Thursday.

Patterson will transition into his new role effective Oct. 1, assuming day-to-day leadership duties while also joining Southern Star's board of directors. Patterson will take over for former president and CEO Jimmy D. Staton, who left the company in February.

"Southern Star is an incredible company with dedicated and talented employees that are focused on safety, customer service and innovation," Patterson said in a statement. "I am humbled and privileged to be appointed as the new CEO of Southern Star and am looking forward to transitioning into this new role and leading the company to continued success."

Patterson, who has served as Southern Star's COO since June 2017, was previously the senior vice president of U.S. operations for TransCanada and the COO and executive vice president of Columbia Pipeline Group, which TransCanada acquired in 2016. He also held roles as general manager of Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania and Maryland, along with other leadership roles at NiSource, another natural gas and electric utility company.

He's an active member of industry organizations like the Interstate Natural Gas Association Foundation, the Southern Gas Association, One Future and the national Cyber Security Task Force, in addition to Owensboro-area endeavors as a board member of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce, Wendell Foster and the Regional Water Resource Agency.

Patterson received an undergraduate degree from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.

"We are truly fortunate to have a talented and experienced leadership team at Southern Star, and the board of directors is pleased that we have an internal candidate that will take the company to the next level," said Julie A. Dill, executive chair, of Patterson. "Shawn has been integral in positioning the company as an industry, market and community leader, and the board is confident he is the right leader to continue to execute our strategic plans."

Southern Star, headquartered in Owensboro, is responsible for providing natural gas transmissions across 5,800 miles of pipeline throughout the midwest and central United States, with facilities and employees in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.