NOLA Propeller Club Selects Landry As Person Of The Year
The Propeller Club, Port of New Orleans, will name Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as the club’s 2025 maritime person of the year. The award will be presented during the club’s 91st Annual Maritime Person of the Year Gala, scheduled for September 17 at the Higgins Hotel in New Orleans.
While in office just over a year and a half, Landry already has led a wide range of efforts to impact the state’s ports and waterways. Landry established the first maritime-focused task force in Louisiana since the early 1990s with the Task Force on Navigation and Safety within the newly founded Louisiana Ports and Waterways Investment Commission (LPWIC).
Through the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD), the state allocated $700,000 to help upgrade the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS) by installing state-of-the-art air gap sensors on all bridges crossing the Mississippi River Ship Channel.
The state is funding an economic impact study to highlight the financial significance of the Mississippi River, which the Propeller Club calls “one of the nation’s greatest resources.” That funding will also be through Louisiana DOTD.
With Landry as governor, the state has provided $600,000 for the first-year budget of the Universities of Louisiana Maritime Academy and $26 million in capital outlay funds to house the new maritime academy at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La.
“These strategic initiatives, among others, underscore Gov. Landry’s dedication to the advancement, safety and economic potential of Louisiana’s ports and waterways,” the New Orleans Propeller Club said in a press release.
The New Orleans Propeller Club noted that Landry “has prioritized pro-growth policies—moving Louisiana’s economic outlook from 31st to 18th in just over a year,” due in part to tax cuts and $50 billion in industrial investments.
“Governor Landry’s leadership is rooted in a deep commitment to Louisiana and a career dedicated to public service,” the New Orleans Propeller Club stated.
The New Orleans club’s Maritime Person of the Year Gala will begin with a cocktail reception, followed by dinner and the award presentation. The event will conclude with a festive after-party. For more information, visit www.propellerclubnola.org.
