John Wolfe's appointment as CEO of the Port of Tacoma became official last week as commissioners approved a $220,000 annual salary for the 45-year old former deputy executive director who recently celebrated his fifth anniversary at the port. As Wolfe moves into the top slot, he faces considerable challenges that he prefers to term "opportunities."
One of his biggest "opportunities" will be cargo growth. Last year, the port's container volumes dropped 16.9 percent due in part to the economy and in part to Tacoma's loss of Maersk Line to the Port of Seattle. Through May of this year, container volumes were down 14.5 percent.
Wolfe said that one way he intends to tackle cargo volumes is through the retention of the port's existing customers. Just last week Wolfe won approval to spend $2 million on facility improvements at the APM Terminal used by Horizon Lines in return for the line's commitment to remain in Tacoma for another six years. Horizon's existing agreement with APMT was scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
Under the new agreement, the port will re-roof and remodel buildings within the terminal, remove an outdated transload area, replace heating and air conditioning systems, and install security cameras and signage. Horizon will continue to operate twice-weekly Alaska service and weekly Hawaiian service through the terminal for at least five years, guarantee a minimum of 2,750 intermodal lifts per year, and agree to participate in the port's Truck Emissions Improvement Program.
Wolfe termed the agreement, which is expected to preserve 150 direct terminal-related jobs in Tacoma, an example of the "robust outreach" effort he is making to port customers. In addition, Wolfe has brought key logistics companies into Tacoma to tell customers what they are doing well and how they can better work together in the future.
A similar outreach effort will be used to attract new customers to the port. While Wolfe acknowledges that he cannot control what Canadian or East Coast ports do to compete with the Pacific Northwest, he can work on ways to increase efficiencies of Tacoma terminals and reduce costs to customers. In doing so, Wolfe expects to perform an analysis of Tacoma's rail infrastructure and determine what railroads, labor, distribution and warehouse facilities need to improve services to shipping lines.
"When we do that, we will compete well in the market place," he said. "There are certain markets that I think we can serve very, very well."
During his stint as interim executive director earlier this year, Wolfe oversaw Tacoma's re-entry into the breakbulk log market after a lengthy hiatus. Between January and May, nearly 23,000 tons of logs were exported through the port's breakbulk log facility on the Hylebos Waterway. By the end of the year, Wolfe expects the port will handle about 70 million board feet of logs.
While working to increase cargo volumes, Wolfe also will face challenges related to environmental improvements at the port. Earlier this spring, port environmental officials projected that they would spend as much as $73 million on environmental programs within the next five years. A $20 million portion of those funds will be used for programs on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula, where the port spent some $140 million for land purchases in anticipation of the construction of a 168-acre terminal for NYK Line.
Even though NYK has since decided to move to the APM Terminal in 2012, instead of constructing a dedicated facility, the port has a legal obligation to clear the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula of contaminants before the land can be developed for other customers.
Despite the hefty price tag, Wolfe said he is proud of the port's environmental programs.
"We have spent more than a hundred million dollars over the years cleaning up propertiesthat would otherwise lie fallow because the cost of putting them back into productive use would be too expensive for the private sector," he said.
Wolfe asserts that such environmental improvements will allow the port to maintain a positive relationship with its surrounding community, where residents pay a portion of their property taxes toward the port's capital improvements, infrastructure enhancements and environmental programs.
"The general public really wants the port to be successful and wants to help," Wolfe said.
That "help" may translate into involvement from the business community in marketing the port in the future, he said. When new customers are being wooed, they may be introduced to officials from local warehouses, transload and distribution facilities, as well as leaders from the local economic development board and chamber of commerce.
"That creates a unique opportunity for us, to bring them (the community) into the fold and ask them to help," he said. "Then it will really be a shared success. We need to continue to earn the public's trust, and earning the trust of the community is a journey, not a destination."
Wolfe joined the Port of Tacoma in June 2005 and served as deputy executive director until the end of 2009, when he took over as interim executive director. Before moving to the Port of Tacoma, Wolfe served for two years as the executive director of the Port of Olympia, where he previously worked as director of operations and marine terminal general manager.
Wolfe also spent 10 years with Maersk/Sealand at the APM Terminal in Tacoma, where he eventually rose to operations manager.
-- The Cunningham Report
