Port Director Amy Miller takes the helm of the Gulf Ports Association of the Americas (GPAA), with a two-year term as president beginning January 1.
Miller becomes only the second women president in the history of the organization. Formed in the 1940s as the Gulf Ports Association, GPAA originally was a trade association of only U.S. Gulf of Mexico ports. Mexico’s Gulf Coast ports were welcomed into membership beginning in 1994 and “of the Americas” was added to the association’s name to reflect its new international reach. Today, its membership stretches from Port Manatee, Florida, to the Port of Progreso on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and includes both deepwater and shallow-draft public port facilities.
“The Port of Pensacola is one of our economic drivers and Amy does a fantastic job at continuing to grow our Port,” said Mayor Ashton Hayward. “Amy’s extensive experience will be a valuable asset to the GPAA. The City of Pensacola and the GPAA are fortunate to have a proven industry leader at its helm."
GPAA currently has 49 corporate (port) members, 23 honorary members, and 33 associate members who are dedicated to enhancing economic development and encouraging commerce. The mission of the organization is to promote progress in waterborne commerce through Gulf ports, provide a forum through which members ports can address mutual concerns, and educate the public and elected officials as to the economic impact of the ports of the Gulf of Mexico region.
In addition to her leadership in GPAA, Miller also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Port Authorities, an industry association representing ports throughout the Western Hemisphere; and, as Secretary/Treasurer of the Florida Seaport Transportation Economic Development Council, a statutorily-created public entity which oversees the FSTED Program, a state and local financing program of priority seaport infrastructure and capital improvement projects around the state.