Washington Public Ports Association

10/30/2026

Fall in the Palouse! Earlier this week WPPA joined our friends at the Port of Whitman County at their Accelerating Innovation Forum to celebrate the port's federal grant award that will see an exciting idea come to fruition: a new tech transfer and commercialization facility, where research done at Washington State University will become businesses that grow the Pullman area economy! Congressman Michael Baumgartner said it best - this is the type of federal investment that will generate economic activity in the region and grow the pie. And Azotera, an innovative fertilizer and energy company, was clear in talking about their development from an idea into a company: "This only happened because the port took a chance on us." Thanks for hosting another great event and for showing leadership in this exciting space!

10/28/2026

🌊 Big things are happening on the Foss Waterway! ⚓

We recently had the opportunity to visit the Port of Tacoma and get an updated look at some pretty incredible projects that are transforming the waterfront! Especially after being here for the groundbreak last year, the work that has been done is unbelievable.

The highlight was seeing the amazing transformation of a former contaminated industrial site into the new Maritime 253 Skills Center! What was once a challenging environmental cleanup is now a state-of-the-art facility (with the first semester already underway) helping prepare the next generation for careers in maritime and skilled trades. 👷‍♀️⚓ A fantastic example of what can happen when ports, local schools, and community partners work together.

We also got a sneak peek inside the new Port of Tacoma and Northwest Seaport Alliance building, another exciting investment in the future of the Tacoma waterfront.

A huge thank you to the incredible Port of Tacoma staff and Executive Director Eric Johnson for showing us around and sharing the years of hard work, planning, environmental stewardship, and community coordination behind these projects. There was even a Jimothy siting!

10/28/2026

Today, at the Port of Edmonds commission meeting, we were honored to recognize Sen. Marko Liias with the WPPA Compass Award for his outstanding leadership during the 2026 legislative session! As Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator Liias has been a longtime champion of not just the two Snohomish County ports in his district, but for the entirety of Washington’s port industry.

Full Press Release here: https://www.washingtonports.org/2026-compass-award-2/

Thank you to Chair Liias for your outstanding leadership, vision, and partnership! A well-deserved recognition. We appreciate your continued collaboration and diligence in strengthening Washington's public ports and the communities they serve!

10/27/2026

The October Manifest is now available!

Grab a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes catching up on the latest from WPPA. This month's issue features a Port Spotlight on the Port of Klickitat, updates from your WPPA staff, legislative news, member highlights, and more.

Take a look and let us know what stands out to you!

Download the October 2026 Manifest Here Manifest 10.26.2026Download

10/26/2026

⚓ Small ports, BIG passion! One of the best things about our Small Ports Seminar is seeing just how much heart our members put into their communities! 💙

From supporting local businesses and creating economic opportunities to maintaining essential community assets, these ports wear a lot of hats, and do it all with incredible dedication.

This seminar is always a great reminder of how special our port family is. Our members show up ready to share ideas, learn from one another, tackle challenges together, and celebrate each other’s successes.

A huge thank you to our speakers and everyone who joined us in Chelan for the thoughtful conversations, laughs, and connections. There’s a lot of passion packed into our small ports, and we’re lucky to work with such an engaged group!

10/22/2026

Exciting day yesterday at One Ocean Week, with the Port of Pasco and the Port of Seattle joining Governor Bob Ferguson as he signed an MOU with the Danish government. This advances some of the Industrial Symbiosis work that WPPA and our member ports are working on with the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure. Partnerships support progress, and yesterday celebrated a budding partnership that we are happy to be a part of - thanks for the invite!

10/16/2026

We had a great time at the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) Annual Convention in Vancouver this week! More than 200 attendees from across the Pacific Northwest gathered for excellent presentations, valuable conversations, and plenty of networking. WPPA was well represented, with half our staff in attendance!

A special shoutout to our own Carly Michiels, who kicked off the speaker program with a Washington legislative update and did a fantastic job representing WPPA.

Congratulations to this year's award winners, and thank you to PNWA for putting together another successful convention. It was a great way to wrap up 2026, and we look forward to continuing the conversations and partnerships into the new year.

10/13/2026

WPPA staff is in Vancouver, Washington for a full week of maritime focused events!

The busy week kicked off with the Marine Highway 5 & 84 Annual Roundtable. This two-day event, sponsored by multiple member ports and partners, convenes participants from across North America to build regional maritime connections from the Snake River to Canada, and everywhere in between.

We were lucky to hear from state legislators, the Army Corps of Engineers, agency staff from both Washington and Oregon, ports, terminal operators, businesses, vessel owners and operators, and more! This was a fantastic opportunity to promote maritime innovation, share industry insights, and develop the connections that drive the state’s maritime system.

A special thanks to MARAD’s Pacific Northwest & Alaska Gateway Office for bringing together this robust group of individuals, and to Representative Jake Fey for his fantastic remarks on the state of maritime transportation in Washington. WPPA looks forward to advancing the mission of all Washington ports using what we learned from this collaborative effort!

10/08/2026

Strong partnerships make stronger waterfront communities.

WPPA is proud to partner with the Northwest Marine Trade Association (NMTA) on the 2026 NW Marina & Boatyard Conference in La Conner, bringing together public ports, marina operators, and marine industry leaders to tackle shared challenges and strengthen Washington’s waterfront economy.

Held just steps from the Port of Skagit’s La Conner Marina, this year’s conference creates valuable opportunities to exchange ideas, build relationships, and explore practical solutions to shared challenges, from marina infrastructure and insurance to environmental regulations and workforce development.

We value our continued partnership with NMTA and the opportunity to work together in support of Washington’s ports, marinas, and broader marine industry.

10/05/2026

Holy Industrial Symbiosis! We are just back from a week in Denmark, where WPPA joined a group of visionary leaders from Washington on our second Ports Industrial Symbiosis Study Tour with our partners at the Center for Sustainable Infrastructure. We toured THREE ports, met with national leaders in sustainable industrial development (including GreenLab, State of Green, and the Esbjerg Municipality), and managed to fit in some castles, moats, parks, canals, and ancient squares and churches.

In addition to port leaders from the Port of Pasco, the Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority, the Port of Moses Lake and the Port of Sunnyside, the tour featured a bipartisan group of Washington State Legislators, elected county commissioners and staff, dynamic leadership from Washington’s utilities and energy providers, tribal representatives, economic development groups, and more – it was a true testament to cross-sector collaboration.

Many thanks to CSI and all the Danish organizations who hosted us. We return with a sense of momentum and purpose, and we will surely be back to learn more!