Shortly after receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1976 from McNeese State University, Alan entered the maritime industry with Lake Charles Stevedores Inc. As manager of their Tanker Department, valuable knowledge was gained in the petrochemicals ship agency service covering the Lake Charles area and surrounding ports. Also, additional experience was acquired in the break bulk and dry bulk industry during his 10 years of service with Lake Charles Stevedores.

In 1988, Alan joined Conoco in their maritime shipping division, Conoco Shipping Company. There he started a shipping agency company, Calcasieu Shipping Company, where he served as Manager and Vice-President for 15 years. During this time he guided the company from providing local agency service to becoming Conoco Shipping Company's hub agency that provided support to their commercial and operations groups for their owned and chartered vessels. Calcasieu Shipping served as Conoco's single point of contact concerning agency requirements, warehousing of ship spares, and crew coordination for Conoco vessels in the USA. In doing so, the Conoco Shipping Company's Agency Excellence Award was awarded to Calcasieu Shipping for 3 consecutive years.

On a personal note, Alan attended various leadership workshops that include Principled Centered Leadership and Developing Contemporary Supervisors. Additionally, Alan participated in Port optimization teams that include USCG's Ports and Waterways Assessment and Conoco's Crude Oil Delivery Evaluation. He received Oil Spill Response training from Texas A&M Galveston and served on Conoco Shipping's Oil Spill Response Team. Mr. Courmier's distinguished career in the maritime industry has allowed him to actively serve in various capacities such as, President Lake Charles Maritime Association, Board of Governors Lake Charles Propeller Club, Pilot Fee Commissioner, Member Sabine Users Coalition, and Member Lake Charles Chamber of Commerce.

For his leadership and work in the startup of the first Harbor Safety Committee in Lake Charles, Alan was awarded the 1st Port Person of the Year by the Lake Charles Propeller Club in 2001. He currently serves on the Managing Board of the Harbor Safety Committee and holds the office of Vice-Chair of this organization.

In 2002, Alan joined Moran Shipping Agencies as Vice-President and was instrumental in the startup of two new MSA offices in Lake Charles and Freeport. He continues to provide leadership in actively supporting Moran's business goals and objectives in providing a quality agency service to the company's valued customers throughout the world.