GULFPORT — Business and community leader James Estabrook Jr. will become the chairman of the board of Hancock Holding Co. on Monday, succeeding George Schloegel, Gulfport’s incoming mayor.

Estabrook is president of Pascagoula-based Estabrook Motor Co., Estabrook Automotive and several other automotive companies. He was on the board of the Pascagoula Moss Point Bank before joining the Hancock board when PMP merged with Hancock Bank in 1982.

For nearly 30 years, he has worked with the company’s senior staff on numerous corporate management committees.

“Jim Estabrook has played an integral role in Hancock’s growth across the region,” said Hancock Holding President and CEO Carl Chaney. “We believe his business acumen, exemplary community service and devotion to the people of this area will remain invaluable as he guides Hancock into a new era of opportunity.”

Estabrook is past chairman of the Ford Zone Dealer Council and is vice chairman of the Southern Quality Ford Dealer Advertising Fund. He is also the secretary and treasurer and a director of Versant Holding Inc.

He has been a Ford dealer since 1967 and is a past director of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association and past president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association Services.

Estabrook is a former president of the Jackson County New Car Dealers Association and past director of the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, and the Boys and Girls Club.