American Association of Port Authorities taps Port of Corpus Christi CEO as chairman

The American Association of Port Authorities during its annual convention last week tapped Port of Corpus Christi CEO Sean Strawbridge to serve as chairman of its board of directors.

Strawbridge, 56, was elected to the two-year role during the association’s ​​111th Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Florida, according to a news release from the association, which has a membership of more than 130 public port authorities in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America.

“I am deeply honored that the board of my peers at AAPA has named me Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 2023-2024 term,” Strawbridge said in the news release. “I look forward to serving all AAPA members and working with the Association’s highly competent staff on the complex issues our industry faces in this modern era.”

The 11-member AAPA board of directors consists of elected representatives from each of the association's U.S. and Canadian regions. Sitting members are Lisa Lefeber of the Port of Everett, U.S. at-large director; Vanta Coda of Ports of Indiana, U.S. Great Lakes Ports; Richard Hendrick of Albany Port District Commission, U.S. North Atlantic Ports; and Julianna Marler of Port of Vancouver USA, U.S. North Pacific Ports.

The board holds a legislative summit in Washington in the spring and an annual convention in the fall, and also at regular intervals throughout the year for a total of six meetings per year. The Port of Corpus Christi “believes in the mission of the American Association of Port Authorities and AAPA’s advocacy for cogent public policy and funding for critical maritime and supporting transportation infrastructure in goods movement and commerce,” Strawbridge said in the news release.

The port hired Strawbridge as its chief operations officer in 2015, and he succeeded former executive director John LaRue as the port’s chief executive after LaRue's retirement in 2018.

During Strawbridge's tenure, the port has risen to become the third-largest U.S. port in terms of total tonnage and the largest in terms of total revenue tonnage. It's also made headway on long-standing projects, including implementing an updated environmental policy, receiving funding for the Corpus Christi Ship Improvement Project to widen and dredge the channel to a depth of 54 feet and environmental permitting for a controversial seawater desalination facility on Port Aransas' Harbor Island.

He came to the Corpus Christi port from Florida, where he worked with international asset development for Oxbow Corp. Two years prior, he worked as the managing director for the Port of Long Beach in California.

The outgoing chairman is Mario Cordero of the Port of Long Beach.

Port commissioners, during the seven-member body’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, praised Strawbridge for the result and remarked on what they saw as the port’s growing prominence on the world stage.

This year, the Caller-Times obtained copies of Strawbridge's employment contracts and similar records for all Texas seaport executives through multiple open records requests. An analysis of those records found Strawbridge’s salary had increased nearly 85% since he became CEO in 2018, making him the second-highest paid seaport executive in the state — only second to the Port of Houston's chief executive.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: National port association taps Port of Corpus Christi CEO as chairman