Port receives two AAPA Communications Awards

VANCOUVER, Wash. — The Port of Vancouver USA was notified on May 30 that it received two Awards of Distinction from the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) for its recently completed corporate brochure and an innovative series of magazine advertisements in Fortune China. The communications awards will be presented to the port in October during AAPA’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla.

“When port authorities communicate strategically with their many audiences, including their communities, business leaders and policymakers, they’re better able to show their tremendous value as economic development and jobs drivers,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. “This competition helps our member ports by rewarding effective communications and highlighting best practices and lessons learned.”

The 2013 AAPA Communications Awards Program utilized 36 professional public relations practitioners from the Washington, D.C. area who cumulatively spent more than 144 hours over a period of two weeks judging the 15 classifications of entries, ranging from advertisements and periodicals to videos and websites. Based on the number of points awarded each entry by the judges, 28 submissions from 14 ports received an Award of Excellence, while 52 submissions from 18 ports scored an Award of Distinction, and 19 submissions from seven ports earned an Award of Merit.

“We’re honored to receive these awards,” said Theresa Wagner, the port’s communications manager. “Our goal is to tell the port’s story in a thoughtful and compelling way, and together with our ad agency Grady Britton, we’re making good progress. Being recognized by our peers is icing on the cake.”

The Port of Vancouver USA is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast, and its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community. For more information, please visit us at www.portvanusa.com.

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) is a trade association that represents more than 130 public port authorities in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America. AAPA is dedicated to serving deep draft public ports by enhancing port management professionalism, advocating issues critical to public seaports, promoting the common interests of the port community, and providing leadership on trade and transportation.