Workforce

By Tom Gresham The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans around the world. Ports, for instance, faced an array of challenges in 2020 that tested their resources in ways that were unprecedented – a series of vicious curve balls thrown at every aspect of their operations. However, ports responded with creativity and resolve to excel in the face of the pandemic and ...

If change brings opportunity, then seaports have a remarkable year ahead of them. After adjusting to multiple stressors that marred their carefully conceived strategic plans in 2020, including the worst public health crisis in a century, ports are now deploying and fine-tuning innovative solutions. While the transportation system has been wholly stricken by the pandemic, seaports continue to keep goods ...

By Chris Connor, President & CEO, American Association of Port Authorities As this edition of Seaports Magazine reaches your home or office, I will have reached my one year anniversary at the helm of AAPA. And what a year it has been! It would be natural to launch into a few paragraphs about the magnitude of the coronavirus, and how ...

It is a great time to engage with AAPA and take advantage of one of its newest programs, ACCELerate! As the steward of this brand-new initiative, AAPA is forging career pathways for American workers and building a future-proof workforce for a strong and secure transportation system. There are endless opportunities to get involved whether you are a port, industry solution ...

Seaports need specialized skill sets that vary by port and evolve over time, which means human resource departments are being continually tasked with aligning ports’ needs with skilled candidates.

AAPA was awarded a $5.89 million grant and is among 28 U.S. entities to receive money to administer nearly $100 million over a four-year period through the “Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap: US DOL Apprenticeship Grants.”

The port of the future is one that interlaces logistics needs, community expectations and shipping/cargo demands in addition to planning on terminal growth and change. As ports are modernizing, growing and changing, master planners are coming up with ways to creatively incorporate innovative ideas that wind together and present a user-, community- and business-friendly front.

Sometimes heroes are hidden, but other times their accomplishments even earn recognition from outside organizations. Here are just a few of our 2019 hidden heroes.

When it comes to letting their employees know how important they are, ports are stepping up – way up.

Thirty-one ports earned accolades and three received an Overall Award of Communications Excellence trophy for submitting top-scoring entries in AAPA’s 53rd annual Communications Awards Program. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has notified 31 of its 130-member seaports throughout the Western Hemisphere that they’ve earned one or more awards for exemplary communications projects and programs as part of the ...