News Release
FOR RELEASE - October 2, 2017
Contact: Aaron Ellis, aellis@aapa-ports.org
703-254-7098
American Association of Port Authorities
Phone: (202) 792-4033
www.aapa-ports.org
On the first full day of its annual convention in Long Beach today, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)— the recognized and coordinated voice of seaports in the Americas—installed three new chairpersons to lead their respective technical committees.
Considered the “backbone” of the association, AAPA has 12 technical committees which represent nearly every aspect of port activity, from environment and finance, to economic development and port operations, to security and public relations. These committees help the association set policy, develop new programs and serve as a valuable resource to AAPA members.
Because the length of each technical committee’s chairman’s term varies, only a few of AAPA’s committees experience a leadership change each year. Below are this year’s new leaders:
ENVIRONMENT Committee
Sarah Garza, director of environmental planning and compliance for Texas’ Port Corpus Christi, is now chair of AAPA’s Environment Committee, which facilitates the sharing of best management practices related to enhancing the coastal environment, managing environmental impact and engaging stakeholders and communities. Prior to joining Port Corpus Christi as its environmental compliance manager in 2002, Ms. Garza worked as a scientist for Environmental Resources Management, and as a project manager for Applied Earth Sciences, both in Corpus Christi.
FACILITIES ENGINEERING Committee
Bill Crowe, P.E., senior director of facilities, construction and engineering for the Canaveral Port Authority in Port Canaveral, Fla., is now chair of AAPA’s Facilities Engineering Committee, which addresses and shares information pertaining to planning, design, construction and maintenance of marine terminals and other landside port structures. Mr. Crowe, has managed the construction of liquid bulk, container and cruise facilities at several deep water ports in the southeast in addition to designing numerous commercial and industrial developments over the past 20 years. He has completed graduate-level coursework at Florida Institute of Technology in ocean engineering with a focus on wave theory and marine materials. Mr. Crowe joined the port in April 2015 after serving in a variety of engineering and project management roles since earning a civil engineering degree in 1997 from The University of Kansas.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Committee
Martyn Adamson, senior manager of enterprise applications for the Port of Tacoma, Tacoma, Wash., is now chair of Information Technology (IT) Committee, which collects and shares knowledge regarding the development of information technology, including but not limited to the areas of electronic data interchange, management information systems and other IT automation initiatives undertaken by federal agencies and ports in AAPA member counties, as well as monitoring such initiatives throughout the world. A graduate of Napier University with a bachelor’s in computing, Mr. Adamson was hired by the Port of Tacoma in 2003 as its IT technical services manager, later being promoted to IT director before becoming the port’s enterprise applications senior manager.
