The Harbor Association of Industry and Commerce (HAIC) hosted two engaging and informative Port-related discussions at the Battleship Iowa in the spring of 2024. The Commercial Ports Lunch featured speakers Dr. Noel Hacegaba, Chief Operating Officer at the Port of Long Beach, and Michael DiBernardo, Deputy Executive Director, Marketing & Customs Relations at the Port of Los Angeles.
The two representatives from the number one and two ports in the nation covered topics such as the clean ports initiatives, the green shipping corridor, foreign relations, how the pandemic improved the visibility of the ports, workforce development, advocacy and education in a discussion moderated by Dr. Tom O’Brien, Associate Dean of CSULB’s College of Professional and Continuing Education..
Some topics were especially timely, since the Clean Truck Fund program, a joint effort by both ports, had recently won a sustainability award from Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Plus, Amazon unveiled and rolled out eight heavy-duty electric trucks at an event on Wilmington‘s new Waterfront Promenade the same day as this first HAIC event.
The second discussion focused on the State of Engineering in the Harbor Area with Suzanne Plezia, P.E., Chief Harbor Engineer at the Port of Long Beach, and Chris Brown, P.E., Chief Harbor Engineer at the Port of Los Angeles. A majority of the discussion moderated by Greg Alexander, P.E., Engineering Group Leader at P2S, focused on their efforts to meet the zero emissions goal by 2030, which they said is an “all hands on deck challenge” for both ports, especially since they’re trailblazers in this tremendous effort.
They also spoke about the future Goods Movement Training Center and the partnership opportunities to educate youth, young adults and members of the industry. They highlighted how they are “bringing the next generation along” – especially since both teams brought their summer interns to the event – and Suzanne noted how both she and Chris started as interns at their respective ports. We extend our thanks to Mitsubishi Cement, one of the event sponsors, for having members of our team as their guests for both of these events.