4 MARCH 2018 • FOGHORN I am honored to represent PVA as its 2018 President My Story My wife Tammy and I are the owners of Padelford Packet Boat Company in Saint Paul, MN. We operate three Subchapter K vessels on the Mississippi River. Padelford was founded in 1969 by Capt. Bill Bowell and his wife Lillian. Our journey on the river has been a remarkable one. For me it started in 1984, looking for a summer job while I was attending college. Most of my friends had been hired as seasonal help; they told me what a great place it was to work and how much fun they were having. Being a little late to the party required me to call and pester the company daily for two weeks straight before I wore them down and was finally hired.  My first day on the job was June 6, 1984.  I was assigned to the paint crew and sent to the shop to find the Port Engineer who promptly looked at me and said, “Oh Hell, another college kid.” That’s the sanitized version. Over the course of the next 34 years, I would become a senior deckhand, captain, operations manager, general manager, vice president and finally president.    In 1989, Tammy was hired as a deckhand and a river romance blossomed. Like me, she has worked her way up the ranks from deckhand to sales manager and vice president. In short, she is the real boss. Tammy and I have been married for 25 years and are the proud parents of Samantha and James. Over the course of 30 years, the Bowell family practically adopted us, and we purchased the company from them in 2016. PVA in 2018 Thanks to the perseverance, forethought and diligence of all of the PVA Past Presidents, and other leaders, our association has continued to grow and evolve into a well- respected national association representing more than 550 members with ridership in excess of 200 million pas- sengers annually. We accomplish this with a safety record that is second-to-none, thanks to the hard work of the pro- fessional mariners that strive daily to provide a safe envi- ronment for their passengers and crew. PVA is a member-driven association. I cannot imagine trying to keep up with future and pending legisla- tion, rulemaking, security requirements and regulatory changes without the assistance of the hard-working PVA staff.  PVA advocates on Capitol Hill on legislative issues, speaks up for members to regulatory agencies, produces safety and security tools, and provides legal help. Our membership continues to grow, signaling an economi- cally healthy passenger vessel industry. I have been truly amazed at the entrepreneurial spirit of the members of PVA and the deep roots of the many multi-generational companies that date back decades and in some cases centuries.  This year’s convention in Savannah was chock full of educational seminars, round tables and featured speakers. At the leader- ship dinner we were fortunate to witness our longtime and beloved Regulatory Affairs Consultant Pete Lauridsen receive the Coast Guard’s Distinguished Public Service award for his many years of service that have helped shape our industry. It was a great honor for me to help induct Capt. Bob Lumpp into the PVA Hall of Fame. Finally, I was amazed and inspired to watch the next gen- eration participating and actively discussing shared issues as they plot our course for the future. I would like to thank Jeff Whitaker for his leadership as our 2017 President. During Jeff’s term, we have seen a measurable increase in the U.S. Coast Guard’s enforce- ment again of illegal charters. We will continue our work on illegal charters by seeking a consistent Coast Guard enforcement policy nationwide. Primarily this will be done through our efforts with the Coast Guard through the PVA/Coast Guard Quality Partnership meetings that give us a forum to solve existing problems in a non-regu- latory environment with senior Coast Guard leadership. In order to continue to grow and evolve, we need to increase member participation in committees, region meetings and Coast Guard Industry Days. We see par- ticipating in Industry Days as an important way to communicate PVA priorities and positions to the Coast Guard as well as our industry stakeholders. PVA has seen an increase in invitations to speak at a growing list of Industry Day events. This is a result of our positive working relationships with the Coast Guard. We have several committees that work hard for the industry to develop tools, best practices, training materials and our voluntary safety management system (Flagship). One of the best opportunities for participation is the PVA Congressional Fly-In coming up on May 8. The fly-in provides a unique opportunity for members to inform our elected officials about our industry. The more members who attend this important event, the more we prove to our congressional leaders that the passenger vessel industry is one that deserves their recognition and gives us the opportunity to spread our message to lawmakers. I encourage you all to consider coming out in numbers this year to the PVA Congressional Fly-In. You’ll find more in- formation on the PVA website’s calendar www.passenger vessel.com/SitePages/congressional-fly-in.html. Again, I am proud and honored to represent PVA as the 2018 President. Thank you, Gus Guspardo, President n LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Gus Guspardo