Port of Cleveland CEO Begins Term as AAPA Chairman
William D. Friedman, president and chief executive officer for the Port of Cleveland, began his one-year term on October 10 as the 2018-19 chairman of the board for the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).
“AAPA’s new chairman will provide strong leadership as AAPA continues to educate stakeholders, provide services, and advocate policies that strengthen the ability of member seaports to serve their global customers and create economic and social value for their communities,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA president and CEO.
“With his valuable experience as a port director involved with diversified cargo, his background in real estate development, multimodal transportation and the international supply chain, and his longstanding active engagement with AAPA and our member ports throughout the hemisphere, Will Friedman will be of enormous value as our member ports work together to address common challenges and legislative priorities,” said Nagle.
“I look forward to representing the AAPA in our efforts to inform policymakers about the importance of maritime trade in the Western Hemisphere,” said Friedman. “Our ports are the linchpins in the global supply chains that generate jobs and economic prosperity for our regions and our nations. I look forward to working closely with port leaders and stakeholders to strengthen our vital industry.”
Friedman was elected chairman of the board in a March 2018 vote of AAPA's board of directors, representing port officials throughout the Americas. Friedman succeeds Steve Cernak, chief executive and port director for Port Everglades, and he, along with all 2018-19 delegation officers and board of directors, were inducted as part of AAPA's 107th Annual Convention in a membership meeting in Valparaiso, Chile.
As AAPA’s board chairman, Friedman also serves as the association’s U.S. delegation chair, whose other officers include: Chairman-Elect – Gary G. Nelson, Port of Grays Harbor (Wash.); Vice Chairman – Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach (Calif.); and Immediate Past Chair - Steve Cernak, Port Everglades (Fla.).
Canadian delegation officers are: Chairman – Carl Laberge, Saguenay Port Authority (Québec); Chairman-Elect – Sean Hanrahan, St. John’s Port Authority (Newfoundland and Labrador); and Vice Chairman – Denis Caron, Belledune Port Authority (New Brunswick).
Chairing the Caribbean delegation this year is Glenn Roach, Barbados Port Inc. The chairman-elect is John Bishen, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Port Authority; and the vice chairman is Orlando Forbes, Freeport Harbor Company (Bahamas).
Officers of the Latin American delegation are: Chairman – Giovanni Benedetti, Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Cartagena S.A. (Colombia); Chair-Elect – Francisco Javier González Silva, Empresa Portuaria Arica (Chile); and Vice Chairman - Angel Elías, Ente Administrador Puerto Rosario (ENAPRO; Argentina).