Apprenticeship Programs: Tried, True and Effective A centuries-old method of training skilled workers could help supply ports and their maritime partners with the modern workforce they need. * By Mary Lou Jay * Apprenticeships have long been a well-established and well-respected route to good jobs, but for a time they fell out of favor because of the perception that college ...
Read More »Workforce
The ‘Trick’ to Training a Competent Workforce
Defining where worker training and development should start and where it should end may be the answer. * By Lori Musser * Ports generate plenty of jobs. In the United States, alone, there were 31 million at last count – 2.3 million within the port sector and the remainder in related industries. Filling all these positions with top-notch talent and ...
Read More »Bustling Ports Strain Security Staffing
Ports seek skilled, experienced workers to tackle security needs, including rising demands on the cybersecurity front. * By Tom Gresham * The growing economy and corresponding increase in activity at the nation’s ports have put pressure on the security side of port operations, officials say. More traffic means more to protect – and to protect against. However, the strength of ...
Read More »AAPA Recognizes Member Seaports for Communication Accomplishments
Twenty-five of AAPA’s member seaports earned awards for exemplary communications projects and programs as part of the 52nd annual AAPA Communications Awards Program. * By Aaron Ellis * APA’s communications competition, which began in 1966, recognizes excellence in the products and services that ports produce to meet their public relations and marketing goals. In mid-June, AAPA announced that 25 of ...
Read More »Strong Safety Practices Require Holistic Approach
Ensuring a safe work environment means far more than creating a plan and practicing it once in a while. It means taking a holistic approach that encompasses everyone. * By Sandy Smith * Natural disasters. Chemical releases. Transport accidents. Most ports have plans in place to deal with these situations. But ensuring a safe work environment means far more than ...
Read More »Certifications: Going Above and Beyond
Seaports and the vehicles and vessels that serve them are embracing the network of overlapping environmental standards that apply to their operations, and some are even voluntarily taking it to the next level. * By Sarah B. Hood * Poised at the intersection of land, sea and sky, seaports touch every aspect of their environment, so it makes sense that ...
Read More »Workforce Diversity
Seaports are diverse by nature, and this applies to their workforces as well. Some ports are finding that this diversity is contributing to more than just their success – it is giving them an inner strength. By Sarah B. Hood Seaports are diverse by nature; they connect continents, companies and individuals around the world. Increasingly, North American ports are harnessing ...
Read More »Bringing the Outside In: Professionals Come to Ports with Experience, Inspiration from Non-Maritime Industries
In the last decade or so, more and more port executives have come from major shipping lines. But tapping into human capital from outside the port or shipping industry requires flexibility, openness and creativity. By Meredith Martino The port industry prides itself on its unique nature, and port executives and senior managers from ports throughout the hemisphere proudly state the ...
Read More »The Next Generation of Leaders — Succession Planning Provides Security, Guidance for Future
Mentoring and teaching the next generation of leaders should be a simple progression if you’ve started the process early and have a plan in place. That is where succession planning comes in. By Sandy Smith A decade or so ago, Gary LaGrange was sitting in a long-term strategic planning session, looking around the room of senior managers and assistant senior ...
Read More »GUEST ARTICLE: Tomorrow’s Leaders Need More Than On-the-Job Training
The port industry understands it can’t continue to depend on on-the-job training alone to prepare the next generation of leaders for the significant responsibilities they will assume. By Erik Stromberg, Lamar University Generations of port industry leaders have bemoaned the fact that the only way to learn how to manage a port was to manage a port. However, on-the-job training ...
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