Port directors from Florida’s 14 deepwater seaports have elected Port Everglades Director Phillip C. Allen as Chairman of the Florida Ports Council (FPC). The FPC, based in Tallahassee, is a nonprofit professional association that provides leadership and information on seaport-related issues before the legislative and executive branches of state and federal government.

“Seaports are the economic backbone of Florida’s international trade, strategically located as a land bridge with direct trade lanes into Latin America and the Caribbean,” Allen says. “However, our state is in danger of lagging behind in the development of critical infrastructure associated with the ever increasing growth in international trade and the accommodation of larger ships and the expansion of the Panama Canal. As an association, the FPC is committed to working with our legislators to better fund and support crucial seaport expansion that will keep Florida’s businesses competitive with other states.”

As the Port Director for Broward County’s Port Everglades, a self-funded Enterprise Fund, one of the world’s busiest cruise ports and a state leader in cargo shipping, Allen manages the seaport’s $109.7 million annual operating budget, all seaport operations and capital development. The Broward County Board of County Commissioners named Allen as Port Director in January 2006 after previously serving as Interim Port Director in 2001/02 and as Broward’s Chief Financial Officer for nearly 20 years.

Allen is a past chair of the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development (FSTED) Council, a public entity charged with implementing Florida’s economic development mission, and has been an elected board member of the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. He is also a member of the American Association of Port Authorities.