Letter from the President, June 4, 2018

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As my term as president is coming to a close in a couple of weeks, I wanted to thank you for your membership, and, thank our Corporate Members for your generosity and support.Our club has enjoyed many successes this year, and I’ll review a few in this message, so I can spend my time at Change of Command noting the contributions of our members. It’s going to be a special evening, and I hope you can join us on June 14 at River City Brewing Company. Tickets are on sale through the week.This year, the club completed funding of an endowed scholarship in transportation and logistics at the University of North Florida (UNF), 10 months ahead of schedule. The returns from those invested funds will generate a scholarship each year for students in the UNF Transportation and Logistics Flagship Program. This achievement is the result of five years of commitment by club leaders and our Corporate Members. In addition, our club has continued to invest this year in the annual scholarship – a separate program at UNF – and you’ll be able to meet one of our recent Propeller Club scholars at Change of Command.Our club is finalizing steps to initiate a new Student Port at Keiser University Jacksonville Campus. KU’s Transportation and Logistics program serves a unique niche with their port curriculum, partnership with USO Jax to serve the military, and APICS certifications. There are only about two dozen Student Ports around the world, and this new Student Port will be Jacksonville’s second. I’m aware of one other Propeller Club who sponsors two Student Ports, so our club in Jacksonville is joining an elite group with this new addition.This year our club’s Board of Governors passed three resolutions: one to support Jacksonville Harbor Deepening, one to support the Jones Act, and one to support the PORTS system of sensors in the St. Johns River. Adopting these formal statements shows the community where we stand on important maritime issues.This past year I helped forge a partnership between six organizations, including our Propeller Club and:

  • Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, COMTO
  • Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, CSCMP 
  • JAX Chamber Transportation & Logistics Council
  • Transportation Club of Jacksonville, TCJAX  
  • Women’s Transportation Seminar, WTS Northeast Florida Chapter 

Our working group, known as the Transportation and Logistics Network or TALON, held an event in April – a sold out business summit – and signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding. I’m looking forward to seeing this partnership grow in the years ahead with input from future club leaders.Lastly, we launched a campaign this spring to support the American Merchant Marine and the Jones Act, working in accordance with our club’s mission statement and building on the resolution that our Board had passed. The overall result was an increase in awareness of the U.S. Merchant Marine and the Jones Act, measured by an increase in website traffic during the campaign period, including visits to our new web page about the Jones Act, as well as increases in engagement with our campaign content on social media. This is the first time that our club has engaged in an integrated campaign, and we are making progress advancing the issues that are important to our maritime partners.It has been an honor to serve as club president. In the months and years ahead, you have a strong leadership team ready to work on your behalf, and I’m very excited about the club’s future.Sincerely,Jeff PricePresident, 2017-2018Propeller Club of Jacksonville