Warren County port officials hope to be able to hire a new port director by the end of February, port commission president Margaret Gilmer said Monday.

“That’s when we should be able to make an offer,” she said.

She said commissioners will interview five of six candidates recommended by Jorgenson Consulting, the company hired by the port commission to assist in the search for the new director. She said four candidates will be interviewed Wednesday and one Feb. 16, adding the goal is to narrow the list down to two candidates.

“We thought we were narrowing down to four, but there was one candidate we couldn’t take out of the mix until we met,” Gilmer said. “We have five great candidates.”

She said the group includes one candidate from North Mississippi. The others, she said, are from across the country and include two women.

The commissioners began their search for a new port director after Wayne Mansfield, who served as port director for the Port of Vicksburg for nine years, resigned in July to head the Longview, Texas, Economic Development Corp., which serves as that city’s economic development agency. The new director’s duties will be more focused on economic development, Gilmer said.

The commission hired Greensboro, N.C.-based Jorgenson Consulting in September under a $40,000 contract to assist in the search for a new director, and the Board of Supervisors, which is a co-signer with the commission, approved the contract in October, clearing the way for Jorgenson to start work.

Commissioners met with Jorgenson representative Charles Webb Jan. 19 to review his recommendations.