Port People: Port Arthur, Port Manatee, Seattle, Tacoma

 

Larry A. Kelley, Jr., PPM®, took the helm January 1 as executive director and CEO the Port of Port Arthur.  He succeeds Floyd Gaspard, the port’s CEO since 2001.

 

Mr. Kelley had served as the port’s deputy port director since 2008 and before that oversaw operations of a large third-party logistics company. 

 

Over the years he served on various boards in a range of capacities including: Sabine District Transportation Club, Lamar Institute of Technology -Management Development & Office Technology Curriculum Advisory Committees. He served on the International Warehouse and Logistics Association, IWLA Board of Directors and has been recognized as a Certified Logistics Professional, CLP. He has also served as Board Chairman and past President of the Texas Warehouse Association, TWA. 

 

Mr. Kelley Larry is an alumnus of Lamar University, where he earned an undergraduate degree in business and a master’s in public administration.  He completed AAPA’s Professional Port Management (PPM®) program in 2014.  His PPM® report,

Valuation of Public Ports – Communities Context and Public Policy Perspective, is posted on the AAPA website.

 

For 10 years he served as Adjunct Instructor, Lamar Institute of Technology, Management Development Degree Program. 

 

 

 

 

 

Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh has been elected to a second consecutive one-year term as chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, the governing board of Port Manatee.

 

Ms. Baugh, who also was elected in mid-December to a one-year term as chairwoman of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, has served on the Manatee County Port Authority board since 2012.

 

Also elected to one-year terms as officers at the December 21 meeting of the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners were: Stephen Jonsson, first vice chairman; Betsy Benac, second vice chairwoman; and Robin DiSabatino, third vice chairwoman.

 

The other members of the seven-person port authority board are Priscilla Whisenant Trace, Carol Whitmore and Charles B. Smith.

 

The authority board consists of the seven members of the elected Manatee County Commission, but with distinctively separate officers and financial accountability. The authority sets policy and oversees major expenditures for Port Manatee.

 

Members of the authority board serve four-year staggered terms. Officers are elected annually.

 

 

 

 

The Port of Seattle Commission has selected retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Stephen P. Metruck to be the port’s next executive director. The appointment fills a vacancy created last February of Ted Frick. Dave Soike has been serving as interim chief executive.

 

Mr. Metruck brings 34 years of executive experience in maritime, security and financial leadership to his new role. Most recently, as Commander of the Mid-Atlantic Region, he oversaw 3,600 military and civilian personnel, and before that, was responsible for planning and execution of the $10 billion U.S. Coast Guard budget.

He also served as Commander of Sector Puget Sound from 2005 to 2008. In this capacity, he was responsible for enforcing complex national and international safety, security and environmental laws. He supervised creation of the Puget Sound Joint Harbor Operations Center, which brings numerous government jurisdictions and stakeholders under a unified command in the event of a natural disaster or other major incident in response to which the port will likely play a key role.

 

As a member of the Coast Guard Academy Board of Trustees, he oversaw increased diversity for incoming Academy Classes. He also served on a task force developing policies preventing and responding to sexual assault in the Coast Guard.

 

His degrees include a BS in Ocean Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. He is a senior fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber and Homeland Security. He has also served as a Congressional Fellow to U.S. Senator John F. Kerry and U.S. Coast Guard Liaison to the United Nations

 

Mr. Metruck starts work on February 1, 2018. He will be paid $350,000 a year.

 

 

 

 

Port of Tacoma commissioners on December 21 selected Don Meyer as commission president for 2018.  Mr. Meyer, who was first elected to the commission in November 2010, succeeds Dick Marzano as president.

 

Pierce County voters re-elected Commissioners Meyer and Marzano this past November.

 

John McCarthy, who also was elected in November, will be sworn in at the January meeting, replacing longtime Commissioner Connie Bacon, who chose not to run for re-election.

 

The Port’s five commissioners serve four-year terms. Officer positions rotate yearly. The other officers are Clare Petrich, vice president; Don Johnson, secretary; John McCarthy, first assistant secretary; and Dick Marzano, second assistant secretary.

 

Don Meyer is the former executive director of the Foss Waterway Development Authority and a former deputy executive director of the Port of Tacoma.

 

He currently serves on the Pierce County Regional Council, South King County Transportation Board, Tacoma Waterfront Association and Tacoma-Pierce County Economic Development Board. He is a member of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, the Fife/Milton/Edgewood Area Chamber of Commerce and the Transportation Club of Tacoma.

 

Born and raised on a South Dakota farm, Commissioner Meyer holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Pacific Lutheran University and a master’s in business administration from the University of South Dakota.