The Board of Directors of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has appointed Cary Davis as the organization's next President and CEO, effective October 1, 2023.
Since joining AAPA in November 2019, Cary has served as the determined and energetic face of the association in the public policy realm, in addition to his corporate leadership as General Counsel and Board Secretary.
Cary serves on the board of the Propeller Club of Washington, D.C. and was nominated CEO Update Lobbyist of the Year in 2021 for his work to address supply chain disruptions from the pandemic. He received his J.D. and Masters from the Penn University and Fels Institute and his B.S. from Pitt.
"Cary speaks our business in a way policymakers and international maritime partners can grasp," stated Paul Anderson, AAPA Board Chair and Port Tampa Bay CEO. "With incredible enthusiasm, he creates an understanding that seaports are at the heart of a modern, global economy, and most importantly, he knows how to tell a compelling, collaborative industry story. Cary is the right leader to keep AAPA growing and innovating together now and in the future."
Following the announcement of Chris Connor's pending departure as President and CEO earlier this year, the vetting process considered multiple strong candidates over a period of five months, after which the specially convened selection committee unanimously recommended Cary to the board. The board unanimously adopted that recommendation.
"I am grateful for the Board's confidence in me and want to thank Chris Connor for all of his diligent work leading AAPA, along with the example he has set," said Davis. "We are living in era of great disruption - economic, political, technological, and environmental - and our association serves as a beacon in the midst of the uncertainty. Advancing the cause of America's seaports, dynamic, and often underappreciated, economic assets, is the highest honor."
“Congratulations to Cary Davis on being selected as AAPA’s next President and CEO! I look forward to working with Cary and AAPA members to invest in maritime infrastructure and workforce to create more jobs, drive long-term economic growth, and build cleaner, greener, safer and more accessible ports in the Pacific Northwest and across the United States,” said U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), the Ranking Member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.
“In the midst of the unprecedented pandemic-induced supply chain crisis, Cary and the AAPA team were key in forging an action-oriented industry-government alliance that tackled myriad issues simultaneously," stated John Porcari, Port Envoy to the White House Supply Chain Disruptions Task Force. "As a direct result of Cary and AAPA’s creativity, real-time problem solving and can-do attitude, our nation was able to quickly untangle the most urgent supply chain issues and simultaneously build a foundation for a stronger, more resilient supply chain that will better serve America in the future.”
“Cary has been key in elevating AAPA’s profile, policy and long overdue funding achievements on Capitol Hill and with the Administration," said Peter DeFazio, former House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman. "His promotion to CEO will enhance the Association’s ability to build on their past success. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee I made increasing the share of intermodal funding for our seaports a top priority and worked closely with Cary and the AAPA to achieve that goal. We have created new funding for midsize, small and subsistence ports making Americas maritime supply chain stronger but more needs to be done and Cary will provide the leadership to achieve that goal."
“Supply chain resilience, redundancy, efficiency and security in Canada and the United States relies on cooperation and coordination across our borders," said Louise Yako, former Co-Chair, National Supply Chain Task Force (Canada). "Leaders like Cary Davis recognize this co-dependency and work towards fostering positive and supportive relationships to achieve this mutual aim. AAPA, represented by Cary Davis, provided the (Canadian) National Supply Chain Task Force with thoughtful and insightful input about the issues, goals, and achievements of AAPA members. He did this by highlighting the impact of recent supply chain challenges to the U.S. maritime, providing a catalogue of AAPA policies, describing U.S. operational improvements, and highlighting visibility tools that led to improved supply chain fluidity and resilience. I’m confident Cary will continue to promote our two countries’ shared trading and infrastructure goals in his new role at AAPA."
