As your new local President of the Propeller Club of Los Angeles & Long Beach, I am committed to providing our members with a Quarterly update about the key activities that the club is involved with. As I prepare my update for the 1st Quarter of 2020, I am hunkered down with my family working remotely from my home office under “shelter in place” orders
as I am sure many of you are. This pandemic has unquestionably become the key event in the first quarter of this year, while perhaps representing one of the greatest challenges for this generation to overcome together.
We had already experienced some early indications of the potential virus impact here in the nation’s largest international gateway based on the significant reductions in cargo volumes we experienced during the first quarter. This directly correlates with the impact on production in China back in January and February when the PRC was suffering from the widespread outbreak of the coronavirus and implemented containment initiatives including widespread factory closures. Fast forward to today where we are now facing the health risks here locally and around the world from a virus that originated in Wuhan China a couple of months ago is a testament to the fact that we truly do live in a global community and a global economy.
In spite of the COVID-19 challenges, the Propeller Club was still very active in Q1:
- 1/15/2020 Luncheon with Lt. Beal, USCG, Commanding Officer, Terrell House
- 1/31/2020 Annual Propeller Club Board of Governors Retreat
Developed our 2020 Business Plan & Club Objectives
- 2/13/2020 Luncheon with Mario Cordero, Exec Director POLB
Future Trends in the Port of Long Beach
- 2/25 2020 Propeller Club Board Meeting
- 3/9/2020 Propeller Club advocacy of POLA & POLB CAAP at Public Workshop
Supported the Ports Proposed Clean Truck Fund Rate of $10/TEU
- 3/13/2020 B-fast with LCDR Anne Besser & Ensign Robert Cunningham
USCG IMO2020 Enforcement Program
- 3/18/2020 Luncheon with Bill Shea, CEO, DCLI (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
The Evolution of Asset Provisioning in the Digital Supply Chain Era
- 3/24/2020 1st virtual Propeller Club Board Meeting – COVID Impact
In the interest of the health and safety of our members and staff, the Propeller Club had to unfortunately cancel our March 18th luncheon and we will continue to comply with local guidelines regarding future club functions that we have on our schedule. Please look for further updates as we will likely be announcing potential changes in dates, venues and
delivery methodologies for some of our future events during these unusual
circumstances.
I am pleased to report another club milestone when we successfully conducted our first virtual Propeller Club Board meeting last week via video conference. While we missed being together, it was a very productive meeting and I am really excited to be working alongside these board members during these challenging times. It is reassuring that we
are finding ways to ensure that the club can be effectively governed remotely as we strive to bring value to our members. We are always seeking ways to add value for our local members, many of whom represent the “essential businesses” (ports, terminals, ocean carriers, motor carriers, railroads, intermodal equipment providers, logistics service providers, government officials and waterfront labor) that are tasked with keeping the
nation’s supply chain fluid in order to deliver the essential supplies required to fight this global pandemic. We are grateful to each and every one of you and appreciate you.
On behalf of the Propeller Club of LA/LB Board of Governors, I would like to extend our best wishes for good health to you and your families as we each do our part to help recover from this pandemic. We look forward to welcoming you to a future Propeller Club event as soon we have the “all clear” and are able to return back to business as usual.
Until then, please be safe.
