West Coast Seaport Influencers

As chair of AAPA, Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme Director and CEO welcomed Port infrastructure stakeholders and members of the media today to an ‘Influencer Roundtable’ and media tour at the Long Beach Hyatt. The two day event, hosted by the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and facilitated by the Journal of Commerce focused on some of the critical infrastructure issues facing U.S. ports over the next several decades.

The roundtable sponsor, AAPA, is a unified and collective voice of more than 140 public port authorities in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America. The Association also includes more than 340 partner organizations, firms and individuals sharing an interest in the seaports of the Western Hemisphere. AAPA President Kurt Nagle remarked,”While Ports are a critical part of the supply chain they are only one piece of a much more integrated and complex system and the challenges and opportunities faced by seaports will demand collaboration, vision and leadership, not to mention unwavering public and private commitment.”

Media present included the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The Hill, the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, NPR, and various other local news agencies.

Kristin Decas speaking to the value of the nation’s seaports said,”Infrastructure delivers more than you think and investments in our nation’s seaports related infrastructure pay enormous dividends. Ports are gateways to our regional and national economies. Last year alone, more than 1.257 million metric tons of foreign trade worth nearly $1.75 trillion move through America’s seaports.”

Following the roundtable, attendees were provided tours of the Port of Long Beach’s automated, Middle Harbor, the Port of Los Angeles’ West Basin, the Berth 200 rail facility, and the recently completed Terminal Island. A tour of the Alameda Corridor rail project was also included accompanied by representatives from BNSF and Union Pacific railroads.