Conference Program

Keep checking back for frequent updates as we confirm speakers, presentations and networking sessions!

January 29, 2025 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Off-site

SOLD OUT!!! Golf: Oahu Country Club

Join your colleagues for an exclusive round of golf at the Oahu Country Club, one of Hawaii’s first and most prestigious member-only golf clubs. Hidden behind the tranquil mists of Nu’uanu valley and beset on all sides with towering and majestic green mountain faces, the property upon which the Club sits, otherwise known as Waolani, […]

January 29, 2025 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Maile Foyer

Registration Desk

Check in, pick up your name tag and delegate bag…Registration opens on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 at 1:00 to 4:00 pm and will be open all day Thursday and Friday.

January 29, 2025 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Kainoa I

Executive Committee Meeting

Association business

January 29, 2025 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Plumeria Ocean Grove

Welcome Reception

Your first opportunity to greet and network with all conference attendees.

January 30, 2025 7:00 am - 9:00 am Maile Foyer

Thursday Breakfast

Buffet breakfast to start the day.

January 30, 2025 8:00 am - 8:05 am Maile Ballroom

Welcome Remarks

January 30, 2025 8:05 am - 8:35 am Maile Ballroom

Keynote Speaker: Mario Cordero, CEO, Port of Long Beach

Mario Cordero Chief Executive Officer / Port of Long Beach
January 30, 2025 8:35 am - 10:00 am Maile Ballroom

Session #1: Pacific Islands Round Table

MARAD’s Gus Hein leads a panel discussion of Pacific Island port representatives to highlight activities, issues, challenges, and opportunities.

DreanaLee Kalili Deputy Director / Hawaii Department of Transportation
Gus Hein Mid-Pacific Gateway Director / U.S. Maritime Administration
Rory Respicio General Manager / Port Authority of Guam
January 30, 2025 10:00 am - 10:20 am Maile Foyer

Networking/Refreshment Break #1

January 30, 2025 10:20 am - 12:00 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #2: Port and Associate Updates

An expanded session to allow both Port and Associate members to provide updates on activities, issues, and trends.

January 30, 2025 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Maile Foyer

Thursday Lunch

January 30, 2025 1:00 pm - 1:40 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #3: The Past, Present and Future of Recreational Marinas

Focus on operation and maintenance, revenue/occupancy and major operational changes coming. Presented by Scott Grindy, President, Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers.

Scott Grindy President / Pacific Coast Congress of Harbormasters and Port Managers
January 30, 2025 1:40 pm - 2:20 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #4: Disaster Resilience and Recovery – Port to Final Destination

Discuss the importance of an integrated plan for “Last Mile Logistics” from ports to consumers post disaster.  Using examples from Hurricanes Maria and Milton we will show the ability to effectively move cargo out of the port is a challenge.  Resilience and Recovery is more than opening the port – it is getting food, water […]

Michael Legler Transportation Planner / Federal Emergency Management Agency
January 30, 2025 2:20 pm - 2:40 pm Maile Foyer

Networking/Refreshment Break #2

January 30, 2025 2:40 pm - 3:20 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #5: Governance 2.0

Following on their very successful and well-received presentation from the 2024 Winter Conference, Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme, and Ruben Duran, BBK Law, carry on the discussion of port governance.

Mary Anne Rooney Commissioner, Oxnard Harbor District/The Port of Hueneme / Port of Hueneme
Ruben Duran Ontario Office Managing Partner / Best Best & Krieger LLP
January 30, 2025 3:20 pm - 4:00 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #6: Modernization in Hawaii Harbors: How to Promote Long-Term Progress in a "Short-term" Policy Environment

Hawaii’s ten commercial ports operate on a hub-and-spoke system with more than 90 percent of all goods coming through Honolulu Harbor. Honolulu’s three-stage modernization plan has been in effect for nearly 20 years, yet 1920s infrastructure built remains pervasive. Viewed as a case study in major long-term transformation when policy leaders operate on short term […]

Melissa Pavlicek Executive Director / Hawaii Public Policy Advocates, LLC
January 30, 2025 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm Koko Head Ocean Lawn

Dinner

January 31, 2025 7:00 am - 9:00 am Maile Foyer

Friday Breakfast

January 31, 2025 9:00 am - 12:00 pm Off-site

Field Trip: To Be Confirmed

January 31, 2025 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Maile Foyer

Friday Lunch

January 31, 2025 1:00 pm - 1:30 am Maile Ballroom

APP Board of Directors Meeting

All are welcome.

January 31, 2025 1:30 pm - 2:10 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #7: Changes to Federal policies and programs under a new Presidential Administration

While it will still be early days into the Trump Administration, this panel will highlight anticipated and speculative changes that could be expected related to grants, electrification and decarbonization, budgets, and priorities, among other key decisions.

Derek Chow Business Development Manager, / Burns & McDonnell
Gus Hein Mid-Pacific Gateway Director / U.S. Maritime Administration
Jeannie Beckett Principal / The Beckett Group
Jeff Wingfield Deputy Port Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs / Port of Stockton
Michael Legler Transportation Planner / Federal Emergency Management Agency
January 31, 2025 2:10 pm - 2:40 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #8: Infrastructure Maintenance with Vector Corrosion Technologies

Details to follow…

Jason Chodachek South East Territory Manager / Vector Corrosion Technologies
January 31, 2025 2:40 pm - 3:00 pm Maile Foyer

Networking/Refreshment Break #3

January 31, 2025 3:00 pm - 3:40 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #9: Facilitation of International Trade: The Importance of Ports

Jason Middleton, PNW Regional Manager, United Grain, speaks from the perspective of a port user on the importance of ports to international trade and its impact on the local economy. Looking specifically at the grain industry, Middleton will highlight how collaboration and close interaction with the Port of Umatilla provides much needed support for both […]

January 31, 2025 3:40 pm - 4:10 pm Maile Ballroom

Session #10: Unrealistic Regulations Coming to a Port Near You!

Over the past few decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District (Corps) has issued hundreds of individual construction permits and numerous programmatic general permits for projects in or over marine waters in the state of Washington. The Corps is required, under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), to consult with National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]

Ryan Pessah Director of Government Relations / Western Wood Preservers Institute
January 31, 2025 4:10 pm - 4:20 pm Maile Ballroom

Closing Session: Preview of 111th Annual Conference

Following closing remarks, attendees will get a preview of the 111th Annual Conference, hosted by the Port of Nanaimo – August 10 to 13, 2025