By Emma James

POSITION: Chairman/Chief executive officer

COMPANY: The Celtic Group

WHAT THEY DO: Run several companies, including maritime transportation and logistics business Celtic Marine Corporation and movie studio facility Celtic Media Centre

REVENUE: $140,246,395 in 2008

NEXT GOAL: To achieve 100% occupancy on the Celtic Media Centre campus

Michael O’Connor can describe his business in two words: maritime and movies.

When O’Connor became chief executive officer of The Celtic Group upon the death of his father Brendan in January, he decided to narrow the scope of the business to Celtic Marine Corporation and the Celtic Media Centre, two industries that are completely different in scope and profile.

O’Connor, formerly president and chief operating officer of Celtic Marine Corporation, had no problem transitioning into the maritime aspect. But the movies were a whole different business, literally.

“The maritime side is 365 days a year and very low-key,” he says. “The movie industry is very public. People tend to flock to it.”

O’Connor wanted to focus on those two industries because of their past success and potential for the future. To that end, The Celtic Group sold archiving, moving and storage company Celtic Commercial Services and relocated the company’s real estate division to Celtic Financial Services.

“We’ve been successful in the maritime for 25 years next year,” O’Connor says. “Movies are a relatively new business, but I want to carry out my father’s vision and his legacy by making that business successful.”

With the completion of Celtic Media Centre’s $27 million first phase last month and a slowdown in tenants because of a strike staged by the Writer’s Guild of America from late 2007 into early 2008 and a labor dispute by the Screen Actors Guild that stretched from mid-2008 into early 2009, O’Connor inherited several challenges.

Without specifying the projects, O’Connor says interest in Celtic Media Centre has increased so much in the past month, he no longer has concerns about fully occupying the campus, which is located just south of Interstate 12 and just west of Airline Highway.

“The media side of our business has so much potential and so much growth,” O’Connor says. “Literally, California, New York and Louisiana [are] as far as it goes with productions being shot [and] ranked. I feel that we have the opportunity to maybe become No. 2 in the nation.”

O’Connor says he’s more conservative than his father, who had a risk-taking business style, but exhibits the same kind of drive, energy and commitment as his father. O’Connor also is more analytical, though he suspects that’s a matter of experience that will come with time.

“His experience told him this is something I want to do and I’m doing to go for it,” he says, “while my experience might be to look at it closer and in a little more detail.”

O’Connor says his legacy is putting faith and family first and counting on the many other companies and individuals that make each day’s business possible.

“We commit 30% to 40% of our lives to working,” O’Connor says. “I can wake up in the morning and say I love what I do with a smile.”