November/December 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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The BPA has served as a model for other
ports, but everyone agrees there is something
a bit magical about the atmosphere here.
“I think it has do with personalities —
getting the right core group of people who
can get along no matter what — to resolve
issues and support the Port of Baltimore,”
said Capt. Eric Nielsen, President of the
Association of Maryland Pilots and a Past
BPA Chair. “We’ve always had people
willing to put aside ‘minor’ differences to
work together.”
The group’s structure is simple: a chair
serves two years, an Executive Committee
of about 25 people meets monthly, and
immediately after that, a general meeting is
held that includes presentations and guest
speakers. Before the general meeting,
members and guests mingle for half an
hour while enjoying pastries and coffee.
Monthly meetings are held at the Pilots
office, and a well-attended annual bull
roast funds the group’s work.
Committee reports are an important
element at the general meeting. In addition
to the Executive Committee, the BPA has
an Environmental Committee, a Legislative
Committee and an Education/Outreach
Committee.
ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Capt. Reagoso, the Environmental Committee
Chair, said, “The environment is ever on the
minds of regulators. I think we all have a
vested interest in making sure we run a
sustainable port.”
The committee educates members
on regulations and has held compliance
assistance workshops, bringing in repre-
sentatives from agencies such as the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, U.S.
Coast Guard and Maryland Department of
the Environment.
Each year, the committee picks a site in
a nearby community for a cleanup, which
not only helps the community but also gives
BPA members exposure to their neighbors.
“They’re not just nameless, faceless
people,” Reagoso said. “They’re good
citizens who want to do the best for the
environment so that we have a business
here for our children. We want to happily
co-exist and make sure the community
knows we’re here to do good things.”
THE LEGISLATORS’ EAR
The Legislative Committee not only keeps
its members apprised of legislation that
might affect Port operations, but also
meets with legislators and organizes water
and landside Port tours annually for elected
officials from around the state.
“We’ve increased our activity in Anna-
polis as we’ve realized that a percentage of
the funding for the Port’s dredging needs
is in the hands of the General Assembly,”
said Capt. Nielsen, committee Co-chair.
The committee must turn to the
Maryland Congressional Delegation for the
additional 75 percent of dredging funds
needed through the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers budget.
“The Port wouldn’t be the economic
engine it is today without the Maryland
congressional team,” said committee Co-
chair Tricia Slawinski, Deputy Director,
MPA Office of Government Affairs and
Business Relations. “From dredging our
channels that allow today’s massive ships
to bring cargo and jobs to our Port, to
bringing home needed federal dollars for
Port security, our congressional team truly
understands what the Port of Baltimore
means to the entire state.”
The BPA also teaches its members how
to effectively lobby legislators.
Slawinski said she doesn’t often call
upon BPA members, but if critical issues
arise, she will. “And when needed, they will
be there — on the federal, state and local
level,” she said.
A LOT OF LEARNING
The Education/Outreach Committee shares
the challenge of making sure people
understand how vital the Port is to both
commerce and employment.
“It’s more of a partnership with the
community; we all have a lot of common
goals,” said Andrew “Andy” Nixon, Co-
chair of the committee and Vice President
of Rukert Terminals Corp. “The community
around us has very little knowledge of the
day-to-day operations of a working port.”
He and Co-chair Katrina Jones of the MPA
educate the community about not just the
Port but also the well-paying jobs available
on the waterfront.
“We have an aging workforce, and it’s
a good opportunity for kids,” noted Nixon,
who is particularly proud of a teacher
externship program that he and Jones
have developed. In the summer, teachers
visit some 30 Port businesses to learn
about their operations and then infuse that
knowledge into a curriculum.
ROOTS OF THE COALITION
The BPA grew out of an informal rela-
tionship between the private sector and
then-Maryland Secretary of Transportation
William “Bill” Hellman back in the early
1980s.
“We would occasionally get together
with Bill and discuss Port matters, and it
was obvious the private sector was not
communicating, so we started the Private
Sector Port Coalition,” recalls George F.
“Bud” Nixon, a former BPA Chair and former
President of Rukert Terminals Corp. Nixon
added that the Coalition met under the
auspices of the MPA.
When he retired from Rukert in 2002,
Bud Nixon assumed an active role as Chair
of the Coalition. “We started building up
a head of steam — we incorporated and
we set up bylaws and we made great
advances,” he said. “We had a good
group of people who were concerned and
involved.”
Bud Nixon served as Chair until 2008,
overseeing the name change to the BPA
— “we thought that was a little more
encompassing,” he said — and inviting the
ILA to join.
“We had grown to quite an interesting
group,” he added. “We just thought it was
a good relationship between the private
sector and the public sector, and that just
grew and grew.”
Reagoso praised the assistance of
the MPA. Deputy Executive Director M.
Kathleen Broadwater and her staff “are
incredibly supportive,” he said. “We’re just
volunteers and we all have day jobs. The
member companies, especially the MPA,
are essential to our success.”
Of the Alliance in general, he added,
“I think we’re definitely a cohesive group
compared to other ports. …We’re very good
at putting our differences aside for the good
of the Port. I don’t know why that dynamic is
or what supports it, but it is.”
LEGISLATIVE RECEPTION
~ Maryland state legislators are invited to an annual Baltimore Port Alliance reception
at the Calvert House in Annapolis. The 2014 reception is scheduled for
JANUARY 23, 5-8 P.M.
