News Release
FOR RELEASE - December 3, 2020
Contact: Aaron Ellis, Public Affairs Director, aellis@aapa-ports.org
(703) 254-7098
American Association of Port Authorities
Phone: (202) 792-4033
www.aapa-ports.org
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| Christopher J. Connor, AAPA President & CEO |
The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas—has announced completion of its operating departments and key personnel reorganization, part of a top-to-bottom “modernization” of the hemispheric trade association that began late last year after the installation of Christopher J. Connor as AAPA’s president and CEO.
“I’m pleased to report that AAPA has completed a realignment of the roles and responsibilities of its senior staff to help the association better serve its member ports, industry service providers, and supply chain, workforce development and academia partners well into the foreseeable future,” said Mr. Connor. “The realignment of AAPA’s senior staff eliminates overlapping responsibilities, improves accountability and strengthens financial oversight, including oversight of our grant administration capacities, in line with the association’s new role as an administrator of federal Department of Labor apprenticeship training grants.”
Earlier this year, AAPA announced it had been chosen by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) as among 28 U.S. entities to administer nearly $100 million being awarded through the Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. The association is currently managing its first USDOL grant, totaling $5.89 million, and is in the process of applying for another.
Reworking AAPA’s staff and organizational structure follows on the heels of recent adjustments to its governance model and membership classifications, education and training program offerings and its professional and workforce development credentialing programs.
Senior staff positions now reporting directly to Mr. Connor are: Membership and Sponsorship Vice President Meredith Martino; Marketing and Workforce Development Vice President Mary Beth Long; Senior Director of Government Relations and General Counsel Cary Davis; and Finance and Grant Administration Director Maranda Jones-Anderson.
As part of the realignment, AAPA also changed the roles and/or responsibilities of several other staff, including naming one to coordinate the association’s current and future apprenticeship grants, and altering another’s to focus on membership retention and experience. Two long-time employees will be retiring on Dec. 31, 2020; Membership Director Ed O’Connell, and Public Affairs Director Aaron Ellis.
About AAPA
Founded in 1912 and recognized as the unified voice of seaports in the Americas, AAPA today represents 130 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 200 industry solution providers, supply chain partners and academia with an interest in seaports.
According to IHS Markit’s GTA Forecasting, combined international sea trade moving through Western Hemisphere seaports in 2018 totaled nearly 4.2 billion metric tons in volume and US$3.7 trillion in value. Of that combined total, seaports in Central and South America handled 1.86 billion metric tons of cargo valued at US$1.17 trillion, while North American seaports handled 2.34 billion metric tons of goods, valued at US$2.53 trillion. Within North America, U.S. seaports handled 1.01 billion metric tons of international trade valued at US$1.95 trillion, while Canada’s seaports handled 380.53 million metric tons of goods valued at US$266.67 billion, and Mexico’s seaports handled 352.53 million metric tons of cargo valued at US$312.91 billion.
To meet the growing demand for trade, AAPA and its members are committed to keeping seaports navigable, secure and sustainable. For more information, visit www.aapa-ports.org. On Twitter: http://twitter.com/AAPA_Seaports
