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2013 MED Workshop Focused On Infrastructure Development, Funding

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AAPA's 2013 Maritime Economic Development Workshop, held June 27-28 in downtown Chicago and hosted by the Port of Chicago, drew more than 60 participants from three of AAPA’s four geographic delegations. They came to discuss and explore port business and marketing opportunities, non-traditional funding sources for infrastructure development, and the dynamics of strengthening relationships with port customers.  

The Chicago venue also provided a great opportunity to hear from local transportation experts specializing in railroads and supply chain logistics, two of the Windy City’s business hallmarks.  

Rapt audience during the workshop’s first day.
Photo/AAPA

Paul Bloom, vice president of Goldman Sachs & Co., Seattle, delivered the keynote address, focusing on alternatives for financing infrastructure development. Key government presenters included Randy Blankenhorn, executive director for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning; Jeff Sriver, CREATE Program director with the Chicago Department of Transportation; and Sam Tuck, the Freight Rail and CREATE Programs’ bureau chief at the Illinois Department of Transportation. From the academic community, Dr. Mary Brooks, the William A. Black Chair of Commerce at Dalhousie University in Halifax, discussed her research on the benefits of better understanding port customers, while Dr. Richard Stewart, the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Transportation and Logistics Research Center director, shared his thoughts on the benefits and challenges to ports from providing liquefied natural gas facilities for ship bunkering.

Workshop keynoter Paul Bloom of Goldman Sachs & Co.
Photo/AAPA

Among the most lively sessions was one on creation and development of Chicago’s multi-billion dollar CREATE Program – a first-of-its-kind partnership between U.S. DOT, the State of Illinois, City of Chicago, Metra, Amtrak and the nation's freight railroads. A discussion on sparking investments in industrial and commercial properties led by Port of Los Angeles Deputy Executive Director Kathryn McDermott featured intriguing presentations by Cushman & Wakefield’s industrial services lead for the Americas John Morris and Rachel Vandenberg, vice president of Los Angeles’ AECOM.

After the workshop concluded there ensued an approximately three-hour Maritime Economic Development Committee meeting that included a discussion on approaches and topics for the 2014 Maritime Economic Development Workshop, to be held February 20-21 in San Diego.
 

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