State Ports Authority chief Bernard S. Groseclose Jr.
has been elected chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities.
The organization is made up of executives from more than 150 ports across the
country and in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. It's the lead lobbying
group for the U.S. port industry and helps shape national policies on federal
funding, security and trade laws.
Groseclose, who's been president and chief executive officer of the SPA since
1997, said his new role in the association will allow him to raise lawmakers'
awareness of successful projects as well as problems at South Carolina's ports.
"It will probably mean a couple more trips to Washington, (D.C.)," Groseclose
said Wednesday.
The position eventually might require Groseclose to testify before Congress
on maritime issues. The association has been fighting with lawmakers over the
past few years about what it calls a critical lack of federal port security
funds.
Groseclose said the group will keep working on that issue but that other
funding needs also have to be addressed.
"We can't understand how there's no money for harbor dredging when there's a
surplus of $2.6 billion in Washington," he said, referring to the federal Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund. "We find it hard to fathom why, if the federal
government is collecting these fees from shippers of cargo, why are we not able
to get those monies for what they were intended to be used for."
Groseclose also plans to promote some of the groundbreaking maritime projects
going on in the Palmetto State, including Charleston's Project Seahawk, the
first homeland security project focused on harbor protection.
"If we can become the pilot project site for some other homeland security
projects, it will be a big benefit," Groseclose said.
A former financial analyst, Groseclose began work with the SPA in 1985 as
director of planning and development. He has been chairman-elect of the port
association for the past year, and his tenure as chairman will begin officially
in October. He replaces current chairman Gary LaGrange, chief executive of the
Port of New Orleans.
Kris Wise covers ports and trade. Contact her at kwise@ postandcourier.com or
937-5496.
