More than 300 ports are eligible to apply for grants through U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) discretionary grant programs including the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP), Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant Program, and Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Grant Program. While funding is at an all-time high, less than 50 percent of ports submit applications, including eligible small- and medium-sized ports. In this edition, we highlight the Port Professional Manager (PPMÒ) capstone project completed by Sadé Chick, Shannon McLeod, and Lindsay Young, who have worked together to provide U.S. ports with a USDOT Grant Application Toolkit.

Sadé Chick is the director of corporate affairs for the Port of Beaumont, where she has worked since 2016. In this capacity, she oversees state and federal legislative affairs, workforce development, community outreach, and grant-writing efforts.

Shannon McLeod is vice president of member services at AAPA and oversees the professional and workforce development programs, research and data initiatives, awards programs, and the Foundation for Seaports of the Americas. She was previously a maritime consultant for more than 20 years and assisted numerous ports with their federal grant applications.

Linsday Young is the manager of business development and planning at PhilaPort. She is responsible for grant development for infrastructure and environmental grant programs and provides planning, project management, development, and execution for a variety of transportation and port projects.

For their PPM capstone, Sadé, Shannon, and Lindsay decided to provide ports that have limited experience or resources in applying for a USDOT grant with templates, supporting resources, and examples that will help them effectively prepare and complete a grant application package. The toolkit includes Microsoft Word templates (PIDP, RAISE, and INFRA) that will include sections based on each notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) to assist ports in addressing the specific criteria, a User Guide, examples of successful grant applications, and boilerplate letters of support, letters of commitment, and letters of intent to comply with the Build America, Buy America Act (BABAA).

These PPM candidates recognized the vital need within the industry for this toolkit and are truly excited to offer this resource to help the ports that need it most. Port professionals interested in exploring the opportunities provided by AAPA's professional development programs and initiatives can contact Shannon McLeod.