OUR TEAM

OUR TEAM

John Cuttino

CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT &. CEO

John Cuttino is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of the Portal Commerce & Logistics, LLC and Portal Consultoria em Logistica Empresarial Ltda. U.S. and Brazilian consulting firms, respectively.  Mr. Cuttino is a recognized subject matter expert in the areas of international trade and logistics and has more than 20 years’ experience in Brazil-U.S. international relations.

Mr. Cuttino began his career in international trade during his graduate studies at the prestigious world-renowned University of Texas Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs and Lozano Long Institute of Latin America Studies where he earned dual master’s degrees in Public Affairs and Brazilian Studies.  During that period, he won a scholarship from the Ford Foundation to work on a joint project with th a leading multidisciplinary research and development institute based in São Paulo. He worked directly with numerous business and trade initiatives,and forged relationships with key thought leaders.

In 2003, together with colleagues Kevin Schroeder and Gerardo Lapetina, founded Portal Commerce & Logistics and began to work with Brazilian clients to develop companies, market access, and sales strategies in the export of granite and green coffee from Brazil to Central Texas and U.S. Southwest.

Since that time, Mr. Cuttino, has built Portal-Commerce into a leading strategic consulting firm assisting public and private sector clients in multimodal trade and transportation logistics, project consulting, business development, and expert analysis of regulatory and government affairs in Brazil.  Among  the myriad of innovative business activities include representing major US organizations such as the first Port of Houston Authority [POHA: https://porthouston.com/] and Greater Houston Partnership [GHP: https://www.houston.org/] offices in Brazil;  and establishing partnerships with Nigeria.

In February 2019, he teamed up with the Prosyon Group [http://prosyon.com], a middle-market investment advisory group focused on M&A in Brazil for foreign investors.  In June 2019, John was named Director of International Business for the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services (Câmara de Comércio Indústria e Serviço Brasil, CISBRA) and the Rio de Janeiro Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Cãmara de Comércio e Indústria do Estado Rio de Janeiro, CAERJ).  He is also an active member of the Integrated Logistics Chamber of the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association (Associação de Comércio Exterior do Brasil, AEB).

Mr. Cuttino is originally from North Carolina and currently resides in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fred Bulah

CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER

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Fred Bulah is the Chief Technical Officer of Portal Commerce & Logistics US and Brazilian companies and joined Portal Commerce in late 2018. Mr. Bulah is a Computer Scientist, Software Engineer and a career advanced technology specialist. He has over 40 years international industry experience with specializations in digital transformation, internet applications, web services and mobile apps.

Throughout his career he has spearheaded the adoption of new technologies such as Home Automation, Object Oriented Development, Network Messaging, and Distributed Systems.  Over the last ten years his focus has been on building enterprise systems for international clients using Complex Event Processing, Business Process and Rules, and Event Driven Architecture, Microservices, Cloud, AI, and IoT.

Fred is a hand-on subject matter expert in the development, architecture, design, and programming of enterprise software systems.  His expertise spans the entire SDLC from analysis, design, prototyping, deployment, performance, and quality assurance. 

Fred began his career with XEROX in California as part of the team that developed the STAR 8010 workstation which was the precursor and model for the Apple MacIntosh. He served as a consultant developing telecommunications applications to support the AT&T breakup in the mid 80s.  Following that he spent 20 years developing trading and related support systems for Wall Street firms including Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bankers Trust and Credit Suisse.

Fred has been the technology lead on a number of entrepreneurial initiatives, notably as CTO of The Employment Channel, a cable TV service that broadcast employment information in the New York City Metro area during the 90s. He was responsible for the production and delivery of on-air content as well as the technical infrastructure and direction. He also served as Director of Internet Technology for Xanboo, a pioneer in home automation and now available commercially as AT&T Digital Life.

Mr. Bulah has done work for a wide range of firms across key industry verticals and operating environments including Citigroup, Red Hat, Software AG Apama, TeleAtlas, Giorgio Armani, Barclays Capital, and Grupo Xango, a Brazilian cloud services company.

Mr. Bulah holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Columbia University Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and is an alumni of the AT&T Bell Laboratories Engineering Scholarship Program.

Mr. Bulah is originally from New York City, is based in Rio de Janeiro, and splits time in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.

Carlos Pires

SENIOR LOGISTICS CONSULTANT

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European Partner

Carlos Pires is an experienced executive with a diverse blend of expertise in international business, maritime, inland waterway, energy and human resources sectors. 

Mr. Pires is a subject matter expert in maritime and inland waterway transportation, specifically barging and movement of bulk liquids bringing specific management and operational experience in North and South America markets working at multinationals American Commercial Barge Lines and BP.

Mr. Pires possesses skills in financial modeling and auditing, compliance, due diligence, and economic-financial-environmental feasibility studies.  While directing human resource development in Manaus, Brazil, Carlos was responsible for training and placing more than 35,000 people in the workforce. 

Mr. Pires earned his MBA from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management and his bachelor’s degree from the Brazilian Merchant Marine Academy at Belém, Pará State, Brazil (Centro de Instrução Almirante Braz de Aguiar). 

Mr. Pires has excelled as motivational and technical speaker on maritime and job training issues.  Currently residing in U.K., Carlos is Portal Commerce’ European Partner and Head of Office.