Port of LA executive director receives top shipping award

14 December 2021

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The Containerization & Intermodal Institute (CII) has awarded its top honor — the Connie Award — to Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka.


The award honors outstanding leadership and achievements as well as advancing the industry and its priorities.

“Gene is a world-renowned supply chain expert and a seasoned industry leader,” said Los Angeles Harbor Commission President Jaime Lee.

“He is unrelenting in his passion for the maritime industry, in his ethics, integrity and transparency … and in his desire to bolster supply chain resiliency, workforce training, student scholarships, new technology and cargo throughput.

“Everyone at the Port of Los Angeles is so grateful to work with you,” she told Seroka. “The global shipping industry is lucky to have you among its most esteemed leaders, and this Connie Award from CII is very just in honoring you today.”

At the awards ceremony in New Jersey, USA, Seroka took the opportunity to thank and acknowledge his industry colleagues, City of Los Angeles leaders and the nearly 900 employees at the Los Angeles Harbor Department.

“It is on their behalf that this award is humbly accepted,” said Seroka. “Today is more than just about one individual. Today is about how our industry supports the United States of America and beyond. How we serve this country has never been more apparent in this consequential moment in time … countless American families rely on the global trade that we facilitate.”

In Seroka’s name, CII awarded a $1,500 student scholarship to EXP, a non-profit organization that works closely with the Port of Los Angeles on maritime-related educational and employment opportunities. Seroka also took the opportunity to announce his own personal $1,500 donation to Juneteenth 400, a San Pedro-based non-profit organization that commemorates the Juneteenth holiday and end of slavery with an annual event. This year it was held at the Port of Los Angeles for the first time.

Founded in 1960, CII’s mission is to promote and support the business of international trade and the intermodal container transportation community. As a non-profit organization, CII promotes industry awareness, preserves the history of intermodalism, and engages scholarly interest in the field by organizing educational conferences and seminars, arranging internships and facilitating scholarships, among other activities.

North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, the Port of Los Angeles facilitated $259 billion in trade during 2020. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs across the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.