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Port Houston Chairman Ric Campo has a simple explanation for all the port’s recent success.
"Lead, follow or get out of the way – that's how Houston gets it done," Campo told Businesswire of the billion-dollar expansion and widening of the Houston Ship Channel now underway. “Ultimately, it's about taking care of people working every day, making sure they have the support and resources to feed their families.”
Sold out crowds were recently on hand for the 2021 State of the Port event, which came as the Greater Houston Partnership's first in-person event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. During his address, Campo said the port's top ranking among busiest ports in the country can be traced to a diversity of cargoes and balance of imports and exports.
"This is the fastest a project of this magnitude has ever moved in America, and it's because of the people and partners who are getting it done, by working and doing the heavy lifting together," he said of the waterway expansion and deepening effort called Project 11.
Campo further highlighted how port officials have made it a point of doing everything they can to avoid pandemic-induced strains on the global supply chain.
“Ultimately, people make the difference in the success of the Port of Houston,” he added, alluding to what he sees as the “remarkable spirit of collaboration and cooperation” among people working on the people working together on the frontlines and behind the scenes.
Campos also points to the Port’s Commission commitment to a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) Statement and Business Equity Program as aiding in its growth.
"Building capacity is also about diversity," he said. "If we do well, our community should do well too."
Port Houston has now been in operation for more than a century, now accounting for the creation of nearly 1.35 million jobs in Texas and 3.2 million across the country with economic activity in the neighborhood of $339 billion in Texas and $801.9 billion in economic impact across the nation.