WTC’s Inaugural State of the Ports Address

Posted by Shung Li Tan, Intern

February 23, 2015 marked the Inaugural State of the Ports Address hosted by the World Trade Center Harrisburg at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel in Harrisburg, PA. Numerous Pennsylvania elected officials and companies interested in learning new updates about the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and the Harrisburg International Airport attended this event.

Mr. Dominic O'Brien

There were two speakers who presented at this event. The first speaker was Dominic O’Brien, the Senior Marketing Representative for the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. During his presentation, Mr. O’Brien gave a comprehensive update on the Port of Philadelphia, where:

• The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority experienced its fifth year of double digit growth
• The Delaware River Channel Deepening Project is 80% complete
• The world’s largest producer of eucalyptus pulp relocated its business and now ships annually to Philadelphia

Mr. O’Brien also did a comparison between the Philadelphia port and the New York port, showing the advantages and disadvantages of both. His presentation can be viewed through this link for more information.

Mr. Scott Miller

The second speaker of the day was Scott Miller, the Deputy Director of Business Development and Strategic Marketing for the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority. Mr. Miller presented interesting facts about the Harrisburg International Airport, where:

• Nearly 1.3 million passengers connect to the global economy through HIA
• An estimated 60% of total air cargo is outbound
• HIA generates about $991 million in economic output 

Mr. Miller also addressed the challenges of Harrisburg International Airport (HIA) in attracting more airlines to provide a variety of flight options for its customers. More information can be found in his presentation via this link.

Finally, there was a Q & A session at the end of the presentations. The attendees were given the opportunity to interact with the speakers and to get their honest opinions on various issues regarding the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and the Harrisburg International Airport.

Overall, WTC’s Inaugural State of the Ports Address was a success! All of the attendees were not only able to learn more about the developments of the Port of Philadelphia and Harrisburg International Airport; they had a chance to network and form relationships between various companies and the ports.

Thank you to all who attended and we hope that everyone could takeaway something useful from this event.

We would especially like to express gratitude to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and Harrisburg International Airport, the event’s gold sponsors, and to Fulton Bank, MANTEC, and UPS, the event’s silver sponsors for their continued support. The success of this event would not be possible without their partnership and contributions.