Focus on Manatee | Manatee County Port Authority charting course for regional economic powerhouse

Port Manatee and the people of the region for which the diverse seaport serves as a leading economic engine benefit from the uniquely advantageous symmetry between the Manatee County Port Authority and the Manatee County Board of Commissioners.

The seven members of the Manatee County Commission also make up the Manatee County Port Authority, a separate governing body that oversees policies, strategic direction and major expenditures for the seaport.

This correlation is unusual if not unique, as port authorities elsewhere in Florida and beyond – whether members are appointed or separately elected – typically are composed of a different group of people than a county’s governing body.

The Manatee County Port Authority, created by the Florida Legislature in 1967 as a dependent special district, annually elects from its membership a separate set of officers from those of the Manatee County Commission while maintaining its own distinct financial accountability as well.

With the port’s board – and county’s commission – welcoming their newest members following the November election, the port administration looks forward to fresh insights for further advancing Southwest Florida’s global gateway and building upon Port Manatee’s impressive contributions to the region’s socioeconomic well-being.

Indeed, Port Manatee already generates impacts of more than $3.9 billion a year while directly and indirectly supporting more than 27,000 jobs. And the self-sustaining port does so without a single penny of county government funding and without the levying of any ad valorem taxes.

The atypical relationship between the two separate governing bodies proves beneficial as the advancement of the port goes hand-in-hand with that of the county as a whole, as opportunities for port-related growth, including global trade and manufacturing activity, extend beyond Port Manatee’s boundaries.

For example, both the Manatee County Commission and the Manatee County Port Authority were integral in bringing the production facility of Air Products, the world’s leader in LNG technology and equipment, to a 32-acre site just across U.S. 41 from port gates through which massive heat exchanger exports have moved since 2016.

The two entities continue to work in concert in making prospective future members of the Manatee County business community aware of significant development incentives available not just on port property itself but throughout the Florida International Gateway Improvement District and the Planned Development Encouragement Zone, as well as Foreign-Trade Zone No. 169, for which Port Manatee is grantee.

The two boards and the constituents they serve look to gain from the expertise offered by three newly elected members – commercial real estate and affordable housing leader George Kruse, pastor and humanitarian James Satcher, and real estate and excursion company executive Kevin Van Ostenbridge – while continuing to benefit from the knowledge of returnees Vanessa Baugh, Reggie Bellamy, Misty Servia and Carol Whitmore. And appreciation for their years of service goes to outgoing members Betsy Benac, Stephen R. Jonsson and Priscilla Whisenant Trace.

Over the coming years, as the Manatee County Port Authority guides the seaport through its multimillion-dollar capital projects initiative, the community can anticipate even more favorable advances, including in creation of additional jobs related both to construction and ongoing operations.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Manatee County Port Authority had generally met on the third Thursday of each month at 9 a.m. in the third-floor meeting room of the Port Manatee Intermodal Center. Most recently, the meetings have shifted to the Bradenton Area Convention Center in Palmetto, with the next one set for Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 9 a.m.

The public is welcomed at these monthly meetings. Meeting agendas normally are posted on the port’s website – www.portmanatee.com – three business days in the advance of meeting dates. We look forward to seeing you soon.

May your holidays abound with blessings.

Carlos Buqueras is executive director of Port Manatee.

This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 9:53 AM.