SAVANNAH — Alec Poitevint has been elected to serve a second year as board chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority.

Poitevint was re-elected by the board Monday after Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to serve another four-year term. The Bainbridge businessman is a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and was first chosen to sit on the Port Authority board in 2007 by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The port board also elected Robert Jepson Jr., CEO of a Savannah private investment firm, to serve as its vice chairman and Macon real-estate developer Roy Fickling as its secretary and treasurer.

The board officers will help lead the state's efforts to win final federal permits and funding to deepen the shipping channel to the Port of Savannah, the fourth busiest U.S. cargo port.