MISSION NUMBER ONEEDUCATE THE PUBLIC ON PORT PARAMOUNTCY

Ask just about anyone what an airport is and they’ll easily tell you, but ask what a seaport is and they may struggle. The Federal Highway Administration pegs the average American as traveling 14,623 miles on highways and byways each year. This may be why roads are what the public thinks of when it comes to getting goods from A to B. And yet, the nation’s maritime ports move more international cargo by weight and value than any other mode of transportation.

When we talk about ports, it isn’t just docks, cranes, and big container ships that may come to mind. The BTS defines the Marine Transport System, as it is called, as “all the waterways, ports, terminals, and intermodal landside connections that allow the movement of people, and goods to, from, and on the water.” That means ports play a vital role as a connection point between those highways and byways, as well as pipelines, railroads, and other forms of multi-modal transportation.

Different ports have different capabilities as well. Strawbridge tells me there is a saying in the industry - “if you’ve seen one port, you’ve seen one port”. The commodity composition, infrastructure, workforce, surrounding community, and even culture can be vastly different from port to port. The Port of Corpus Christi, for example, can facilitate dry bulk, breakbulk, liquid bulk and wind energy cargo. They also play critical roles in storage, which is both more complicated and crucial than it sounds. Cargo docks give way to bulk terminals, liquid docks handle crude oil and refined petroleum, and oceanographic studies are conducted and re-conducted all to facilitate multi-modal logistics via the greater port system.

Ports themselves are an interesting quasi-government institution. Most are independently managed but hold a degree of oversight from the municipal government or state in which they find themselves. At the same time, they are relying on the federal government for cooperation with actions like grants used in capital improvement projects (CIPs), harbor deepening with the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, environmental compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), security concerns with the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and even international diplomacy efforts. This means they are simultaneously beholden to local, state, national, and international politics all while trying to accomplish the mission-critical of keeping American ports open for business and competitive on a global scale.

Running a successful port is a lot like running a successful enterprise-level corporation.

In additional to coordinating broad teams and divisions within their port, port executives develop new business opportunities with prospective clients and foreign dignitaries, and ensure that their port’s voice is heard throughout the world. Keep in mind, this is all ontop of the million and one other day-to-day responsibilities. Manning the helm of a U.S. Port Authority operating 24/7 certainly isn’t for the faint of heart, but Sean Strawbridge shows it can be done exceedingly well—and even with a certain level of panache.

WHAT’S GOING ON WITH PORTS?

According to the White House’s Transportation Supply Chain Dashboard, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach process upwards of 40 percent of the nation’s containerized imports. In 2021, these two behemoths in the world of seaports moved more goods than ever before. With ports across the country shattering records, one could hardly imagine any trouble in paradise. And yet, AAPA reports a projected $43 billion investment gap for ports is in store by 2040 if current trends continue.

“If you lift the hood of any economy globally, what you’ll see is ports,” Strawbridge is keen to point out. Simply put, ports drive the economy by providing the ability to move goods to the markets that need them. When ports can’t provide that core functionality, the world sees the widespread implications because it literally hits home with the everyday products our society consumes. In true lemons-to-lemonade fashion, Strawbridge sees this as an opportunity to “use the fragility that’s been highlighted in the supply chain as a launching pad for bipartisan permitting reform and funding.”

There is a bit of duality to Strawbridge’s current roles as both the CEO of a major seaport, as well as Chairman of the Board at AAPA. The balancing act requires finesse, which Strawbridge maintains in abundance. “I’ve been tapped by my peers to lead the association, which means I have to take off my port hat and put on my industry hat.” Someone with so much insight into how vital ports are seems perfectly suited to use the opportunity to catapult ports back into the limelight.

While ambitious, Strawbridge doesn’t think his “areas of focus” during his two-year term at AAPA are far-reaching. A three-pronged approach is his secret sauce for bringing internal and external port stakeholders (which includes all of us) to the table. Strawbridge outlined these as the three focus areas:

1. National Freight Policy Reform: Strawbridge aims to lean into the AAPA membership to develop, and eventually have codified with Congress, a more “cogent national freight policy.” COVID made it plain just how fragile the global supply chain is, and how port and transportation-related infrastructure disruptions have a profoundly negative impact on inflation. Strawbridge believes this to be an imminent risk that could and should be addressed with a robust reform of U.S. national freight policy.

2. Energy Security & Transition: The global energy insecurity has provided ports a chance to prove how valuable they are to the long-term supply of reliable and secure forms of energy. Similarly, the war in Ukraine has highlighted how very real global energy insecurity is for Europe and around the world. While great strides are continuing to be made in sustainability initiatives, “greener, cleaner”, as Strawbridge calls it, fossil fuels still propel the manufacturing economy. European powers that were long dependent on Russian oil and natural gas are looking at more favorable and secure energy climates, even if that means buying off-continent, providing a unique window of opportunity for American energy producers. “We want to protect today’s economy and provide for tomorrow,” Strawbridge reiterates.

3. Permitting Reform: “Mission-critical” is the phrase Strawbridge used when referring to permitting reform. Having long managed seaports, Strawbridge has seen firsthand how developing supporting infrastructure like ports drives the national economy, and yet, it takes twice as long on average to obtain a federal permit for a port infrastructure project as it does to construct the project itself. Permitting reform helps bring certainty to the markets and decision-makers who can truly make national infrastructure reform a reality.