2026 Finance & Administration Seminar Agenda
Wednesday, June 24th
9:00 am – Optional Tour: Port of Everett Marina/Seaport Tour
Hotel Indigo, Bayside Ballroom
12:30 pm – Registration Opens
Registration & afternoon events take place in the Bayside Ballrooms
1:00 pm – Welcome and Announcements
Scott Goodrich –WPPA Finance and Administration Committee Chair/Chief Financial Officer, Port of Vancouver
Welcome by Port of Everett Commissioner, David Simpson
1:20 pm – What’s On Your Mind?
Conversation prompt: One success and one challenge from the past year or the year ahead. We will ask each port to speak, rather than each person.
1:50 pm – Managing Risk in a Changing Environment: Insurance, Employment Practices, and Cyber Readiness for Ports
Eric Swagerty, Enduris
3:20 pm – Break
3:30 pm – Enhancing Port Decarbonization Models with Real Time Asset Data
Jake Kirschner, Port of Everett and Emily Sanders, Jacobs
Dinner on Your Own
Thursday, June 25th
Breakfast & lunch take place in the Harbor Ballroom
The General Session topics take place in the Bayside Ballroom
7:00 – 7:45 am – Breakfast Buffet
8:00 am – Open Discussion Forum
8:30 am – GASB Update and Financial Reporting Model Improvements
Olivia Crouch, State Auditor’s Office
9:45 am – Port Funding Tools: Industrial Development District Levies and Industrial Development Corporation Tools
Stacey Lewis, Pacifica Law Group
Monique Liard, Port of Everett
10:45 am – Break
11:00 am – Federal Loans vs. Traditional Bonds: Lessons Learned from the Port of Longview’s TIFIA Experience
Duncan Brown and Matt Schoenfield, PFM Financial Advisors and Jennifer Brown, Port of Longview
12:15 pm – 1:30 pm – Lunch Buffet
1:45 pm – In the Know with State Auditor’s Office
Deena Garza, State Auditor’s Office
3:00 pm – Break
3:15 pm – 2026 Legislative Session Updates for Port Finance
James Cockburn, Washington Public Ports Association
5:00 – 7:00 pm – Hosted Reception and Dinner Buffet
The reception is on the banquet patio of Hotel Indigo
Friday, June 26th
Hotel checkout is 12:00 pm, and our program is over at 11:00 am. You are welcome to checkout prior to breakfast if you prefer but you should have time after the meeting.
Breakfast takes place in the Harbor Ballroom
The General Session topics take place in the Bayside Ballroom
7:00 – 7:45 am Breakfast Buffet
8:00 am – Capital Planning and Budgeting
Connie Anderson, Port of Port Townsend, Aaron Schielke, Port of Bremerton, and Donna Watts, Port of Pasco
9:30 am – A Wave is Coming – The Case for Prioritizing Succession Planning in American Port Authorities
Mike Bomar, Port of Vancouver
10:30 am – Prizes and Adjourn