The Port of Seattle Commission today elected officers for 2017. Commissioner Tom Albro will serve as president, while Commissioner Courtney Gregoire will serve as vice president. Commissioner Stephanie Bowman will serve as secretary, Commissioner Fred Felleman will serve as assistant secretary, and Commissioner John Creighton will be commissioner-at-large.
“It’s my privilege to serve as commission president,” said Albro. “I believe in servant leadership - the call of a leader to serve those who elected them. So my approach will be to help us all do our best and work effectively together. I look forward to the year ahead, which I’m sure will be busy.”
Commissioners also thanked outgoing president John Creighton for his community-oriented approach and long-term vision for better serving economic and community needs in King County. In 2016 the Port of Seattle launched progressively innovative programs aimed at directly improving opportunities for industries and communities, while improving regional quality of life for travelers and residents. Key accomplishments in 2016 include:
- Authorized $2 billion in capital improvement projects aimed at reducing congestion and expanding quality service at Sea-Tac Airport;
- Provided more than $1 million in Economic Development Partnership and Tourism Development awards to help 31 King County cities and 13 Washington State tourism groups;
- Launched two studies to examine the feasibility of aviation-biofuel infrastructure and commercialization of aviation biofuels in the Northwest;
- Funded assistance for state and local roads that ease congestion and improve freight movement;
- Conducted multiple community engagement roundtables on Sea-Tac ground transportation in advance of finalizing TNC pilot program and issuing on-demand taxi contract request for proposals;
- Tripled the number of internships offered at the Port and via partnerships with related employers; and,
- Completed the environmental review to redevelop Terminal 5 and make it big-ship ready in partnership with the Northwest Seaport Alliance.
In 2017 the Port of Seattle will continue that work with additional environmental and economic development initiatives, particularly those focused on reducing carbon emissions, improving quality of life in communities near the airport, and connecting more people to Port-related careers.
In its 2017 budget, the Commission authorized more than $45 million in environmental initiatives and projects aimed at making the Port of Seattle the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America, $3.9 million in workforce development programs to provide more internships and job-training programs, $1.7 million to promote, support and expand a number of tourism initiatives for the region, and $1 million in grants to cities in King County to support their economic development initiatives.
