Contact:
Kristin Meira, Executive Director
Pacific Northwest Waterways Association
503-234-8556 direct
503-757-8716 mobile
kristin.meira@pnwa.net
Thursday, October 3, 2013
** For Immediate Release **
Port of Umatilla General Manager elected PNWA President
Kim B. Puzey, Port of Umatilla General Manager, has been elected President of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA). Puzey has been General Manager of the Port of Umatilla and a member of PNWA for nineteen years. Puzey previously served as Senior Vice President of PNWA for the past two years. In his current role as President, Puzey will assist PNWA staff in their work to advocate for federal funding of navigation infrastructure and policies that support navigation, hydropower, irrigation, and recreational use of the waterways in the Northwest.
Elections for the PNWA Executive Committee and Board of Directors were held October 3rd at the PNWA Annual Convention in Portland, OR. The current Board of Directors consists of 39 leaders from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Northern California.
Puzey joined the Port of Umatilla staff in 1994. During this time he has raised over 25 million dollars for capital construction and infrastructure projects.
Puzey's diverse work experience spans over 35 years from steel fabrication, high rise construction, and farm management to university educator and port manager. Before becoming General Manager of the Port he was Executive Director of the Roosevelt County Board of Economic Development in New Mexico. As a university educator, he was on the faculty of Eastern New Mexico University in the Department of Business Administration and Economics. He was Adjunct Assistant professor of Human Resource Management and Development at Chapman University in California.
He has been on the Blue Mountain Community College Board of Trustees for sixteen years, serving as Chairman of the Board on four separate occasions, overseeing the largest expansion of the college since the original inception more than fifty years ago.
Kim has a MA in Religion from Eastern New Mexico University, and a Masters of Organizational Behavior from the Graduate School of Management at Brigham Young University. Kim lives in Hermiston, Oregon with his wife Julie. They are the parents of six adult children and grandparents of eight.
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PNWA is a non-profit trade association that advocates for federal policies and funding in support of regional economic development. PNWA represents over 130 public and private sector member organizations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California. Members include public ports, navigation, transportation, trade, tourism, agriculture, forest products, energy and local government interests. Since the group's founding in 1934, PNWA has led the way for development of infrastructure for navigation, electric power and irrigated agriculture on the Columbia and Snake River System. In 1971, the group expanded, adding Oregon and Washington coastal port members to provide a comprehensive regional perspective. Today, PNWA works with the U.S. Congress, federal agencies and regional decision leaders on transportation, trade, energy and environmental policies and projects to enhance economic vitality in the Pacific Northwest.
