Executive Director, Michael J. O’Connor
Michael J. O’Connor is the Executive Director of the Connecticut Port Authority. The authority is a quasi-public agency that is responsible for marketing and coordinating the development of the state’s ports with a mission to grow the maritime economy on Connecticut’s coastline.
Prior to joining the Connecticut Port Authority Mike completed a 32-year career in commercial nuclear power, most recently as the vice president at Dominion Energy’s Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of New Haven and a master’s in business management from the University of Connecticut. Mike’s work in nuclear started in the United States Navy where he completed at 10-year enlistment and attained the rank of chief petty officer.
Mike is an elected member of the Town of Bozrah’s Board of Finance and has been the chairman for 26 years. He is vice chair of the Mitchell College Board of Trustees and is a past member of the Southeastern Connecticut Water Authority.
Board of Directors
Paul Whitescarver, Chairman
Paul is a retired U.S. Navy Captain with 39 years of maritime experience. His tours of duty include Commanding Officer of U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London – in Groton (Submarine Capital of the World), Commanding Officer of the USS SCRANTON (SSN 756) and Operations Officer for all U.S. Navy submarines operating in the Atlantic, and.
Paul is the Executive Director of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region, known as seCTer, the federally designated Economic Development District for eastern Connecticut. seCTer oversees the development of regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, provides grant funding and low-interest, non-traditional loans to help entrepreneurs and established businesses expand.
Paul is the Chairman of the Connecticut Port Authority, President of the Thames River Heritage Park Board of Directors, member of the Eastern Workforce Investment Board BOD and a member of newly formed Connecticut Wind Collaborative BOD.
Paul was appointed to the Port Authority Board by Gov. Ned Lamont in 2023, but his affiliation with the CPA dates to 2019 when he was asked to serve as senior executive consultant in charge of daily operations and management during a vacancy in CPA leadership.
Paul earned a master’s degree in National Security Affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School and a bachelor’s in Economics from the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. He lives with his wife Katie in the Ledyard village of Gales Ferry.
Grant W. Westerson, Vice-Chair
Yacht Safety, LLC
Grant Westerson has been on the Connecticut waterfront and active in the Recreational Marine Industry since his family started a premium yacht dealership in the late 1950’s. Working full time when the business relocated to Old Saybrook he also served with the Connecticut National Guard as a Recruiter. He earned a Coast Guard Master’s License and later his pilot’s license. His company eventually purchased and renovated a local boatyard and café until the property was used for a new I-95 bridge. He returned to and graduated from the University of Connecticut while continuing to oversee client’s vessels. He also worked with a Marine Surveying business throughout New England, inspecting vessels for prepurchase and investigating insurance claims for many leading underwriters.
Elected in 1983, Grant served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Marine Trades Association, being voted in as Chairman and then President. For the next 33 years he served on numerous state, regional, and national organizations affiliated with the recreational boating industry, many as Chairman. Eventually hired as CMTA’s Executive Director he served there for the next 18 years, managing staff, membership, organizing and producing the Annual Hartford Boat and Fishing Shows and worked on many legislative issues in Hartford. During his tenure, the Association grew in membership and recognition as a leading marine trade association. He now works part time for himself as an Accredited Marine Surveyor.
Active in Old Saybrook, he has operated the town Marine Patrol vessel for over 40 years, served on the Board of Finance, Harbor Management and as an Election Moderator. He was appointed by three Connecticut Governors as Old Saybrook’s Harbormaster, to the Long Island Sound LPG Terminal Task Force, and as a Commissioner on the Connecticut Maritime Commission. He was appointed to the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors by Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano. Grant is licensed on land, sea and air.
Treasurer Erick Russell
The Office of the Treasurer
Erick Russell was sworn in as Connecticut’s 84th State Treasurer on January 4, 2023. He is currently serving his first term.
Born and raised in New Haven, Russell adopted the worth ethic and financial responsibility of his parents by working in the family’s small convenience store. He would become the first in his family to graduate college, earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Haven.
Russell continued his education at the University of Connecticut School of Law. As a law student, he began to merge his talents with the values instilled by his parents. He volunteered to help low-income taxpayers navigate the complexities of federal and state tax law as part of UConn’s Low-Income Tax Clinic. He also interned with the Connecticut Legal Rights Project and the administration of Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy.
After law school, Russell joined the prestigious Connecticut law firm of Pullman & Comley where he was a partner in the firm’s Public and Private Finance Group. Russell represented towns, cities and the state in financing infrastructure projects, managing debt and restructuring pension obligations. In that work, Russell often interfaced directly with the Office of the Treasurer, gaining firsthand insight into how the agency operates and its potential to shape the financial future of Connecticut.
As treasurer, Russell administers Connecticut’s pension funds holding over $50 billion in assets, oversees the state’s debt and cash management, collects and returns unclaimed property, and manages the Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET), a 529 plan that helps students and families save for higher education. In his first term, Russell successfully secured funding to launch CT Baby Bonds, a first-in-the-nation program to combat generational poverty. The program saw its first eligible participants born on July 1, 2023.
Russell continues to advocate for people traditionally left out of the political process and denied economic opportunity. He is prioritizing financial literacy, sound fiscal policy and necessary statewide investments that maximize resources while growing the economy and combating systemic inequities.
In addition to his professional responsibilities, Russell has embraced the role of mentor, particularly for young Black and LGBTQ people. In 2022, he became the first Black out LGBTQ person in American history to win an election for statewide office.
Russell continues to live in New Haven with his husband, Christopher Lyddy.
Jeffrey R. Beckham, Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management (OPM)
Jeffrey Beckham was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont to serve as the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), effective March 11, 2022. He is stepping up from his role as Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs, a position to which he was appointed in April 2019.
Beckham has over thirty years’ experience in state policy development and administration, including service in all three branches of the state government. He previously served in the Department of Administrative Services as a staff counsel and director of communications (2011-2019), and in the former Department of Public Works as managing attorney (2005-2007). He is currently serving his second stint at OPM, having served before as Undersecretary for Legislative Affairs in the Rell Administration (2007-2010).
Prior to service in the Executive Branch, Beckham was an attorney in the Legislative Commissioners’ Office, the General Assembly’s nonpartisan staff for bill-drafting and legal counsel, for fourteen years (1991-2005). He worked on legislation for the legislative committees on the environment, energy, commerce, and later, finance, revenue, and bonding. His first job in Connecticut state government was as temporary assistant clerk in the Superior Court.
Beckham holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Florida State University (FSU) and a law degree from the FSU College of Law. He is admitted to practice law in the states of Connecticut and California.
Commissioner Daniel H. O’Keefe
Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), Chief Innovation Officer, State of CT
Dan was nominated by Governor Ned Lamont as Commissioner of DECD in November 2023. He has served as the State’s of Connecticut’s first Chief Innovation Officer since July 2023, and will continue in this additional role until a successor is found. Dan serves as a passionate advocate for the economy and communities throughout Connecticut, focusing on economic growth, workforce development, vibrant communities and job creation.
Prior to entering public service, Dan was a technology investor for 25 years, investing in high growth, innovative companies in the software, consumer and fintech markets, companies that went on to create tens of thousands of jobs.
Dan also serves as a Board Member and Chairperson Emeritus of The Opportunity Network (www.OppNet.org), an education and career-skills focused non-profit reaching over 40,000 high-potential students from historically marginalized communities.
Dan holds an MBA with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School, where he served as President of its Alumni Board, and an AB from Brown University, where he serves on its President’s Leadership Council.
Commissioner Katie S. Dykes
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)
Katie Dykes is the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP). She has served since 2019, when she was first nominated by Governor Ned Lamont, and was re-confirmed in February 2023 to serve in Governor Lamont’s second term. Katie previously served as Chair of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) from 2015-2018, and as Deputy Commissioner for Energy at Connecticut DEEP from 2012-2015. Katie also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. (RGGI). Katie joined CT DEEP in March 2012 after prior service in the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Energy. She is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale Law School.
Commissioner Garrett T. Eucalitto
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Garrett T. Eucalitto was nominated by Governor Ned Lamont and confirmed by the legislature as Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) in January 2023. From January 2020 until January 2023, Eucalitto served as the Deputy Commissioner of CTDOT. In this role, he oversaw CTDOT’s Bureaus of Finance & Administration, Policy & Planning, and Public Transportation.
Prior to joining CTDOT, Eucalitto was the Transportation Program Director for the National Governors Association (NGA) in Washington, DC. In this capacity, he was responsible for assisting the nation’s 55 governors in advancing their policy objectives in transportation, including combating impaired driving and improving safety on the roadways, the implementation of innovative financing tools, transit-oriented development, and accelerating electrification of the transportation sector.
Before joining the NGA, Eucalitto was the Undersecretary for Comprehensive Planning and Intergovernmental Policy for the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management during the administration of Governor Dannel P. Malloy. In this position, he researched, evaluated, and developed transportation, environmental, and regional planning initiatives.
Eucalitto began his career working in Washington, DC, for six years on the staff of former Senator Joe Lieberman as his legislative assistant, covering appropriations, transportation, and infrastructure. In this role, Eucalitto advocated for Connecticut’s transportation needs at the federal level and led efforts to protect Long Island Sound and improve the state’s air quality and environmental assets. He also secured federal protections to allow continued dredging of the state’s ports and harbors, worked to secure the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and collaborated with CTDOT to secure annual appropriations and discretionary funding and in the consideration and passage of MAP-21.
Eucalitto earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of the Holy Cross and a master’s degree from Boston University. He is a native of Torrington and currently lives in New Haven.
Mayor Justin Elicker
City of New Haven
Justin M. Elicker is the 51st elected mayor of New Haven and committed to building a city where every New Haven resident has the opportunity to thrive.
First sworn into office in January 2020, Elicker has served as mayor for the last four years and was recently re-elected to a third term in 2023 with over 70 percent of the vote in the primary election and nearly 80 percent of the vote in the general election.
Weeks into his first year in office, Mayor Elicker led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic and has worked in partnership with the New Haven Board of Alders and New Haven residents to confront many of the city’s long-term, systemic challenges, with a particular focus on advancing inclusive economic growth; stabilizing our city’s finances and long-term financial health; tackling gun violence and reimagining our approach to public safety; building more affordable housing; and supporting our children, youth and families with stronger schools and new programs.
A lifelong public servant, prior to being elected mayor, Elicker served on the New Haven Board of Alders, as executive director of the New Haven Land Trust, in the U.S. Foreign Services, and as a teacher for elementary and high school students and an adjunct professor of education policy at Southern Connecticut State University.
A public school graduate, Elicker went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College in Vermont as well as a Master’s in Business Administration from the Yale School of Management and a Master’s in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Environment.
Above all, he is the proud husband to his wife Natalie, and they are the proud parents of their two daughters, Molly and April.
Mayor Joe Ganim
City of Bridgeport
Joseph P. Ganim is now in his 8th term as Mayor of Bridgeport, including five terms from 1991 to 2003. After more than a decade of bringing fiscal responsibility to city government and holding the line on taxes, Ganim was re-elected in 2015 to address a rising mill rate and a significant budget deficit. Since 2015, the City of Bridgeport has experienced budget surpluses every fiscal year and an increase in the city’s bond rating. Ganim has overseen the largest growth in the grand list in the city’s history and a historic cut to the mill rate, which is now lower than most similarly sized cities in Connecticut.
Economic development has been a cornerstone of Mayor Ganim’s mayoralty both in the 90’s and today, including over a billion dollars of private investment in economic development projects that are now completed or underway. Building on previous successes of building the Harbor Yard arena and ballpark, Ganim led the effort to build a new $35 million outdoor amphitheater in Bridgeport. The Harbor Yard Amphitheater, the inaugural two-day Soundside (formally known as “Sound on the Sound”) music festival was held in Bridgeport and featured amazing artists for the second year in a row. This music festival hosted over 70,000 attendees over the two days.
Under Ganim’s leadership, the city is seeing the development of Bridgeport’s waterfront, including a new marina, housing, retail, and hotel at Steelepointe Harbor, the development of new community grocery store and library on Stratford Avenue, the Wakeman Boys and Girls Club in the lower north end, and several transformative housing developments in Downtown Bridgeport, Black Rock, the south end, and west end.
The City put millions of American Rescue Plan dollars into supporting local businesses coming out of the pandemic and conducting storefront improvement. The City all invested tens of millions of dollars to expand youth and educational opportunities and address important social issues around housing security, healthcare, and workforce development.
Mayor Ganim’s goal has been to make the city more livable by aggressively pursuing blight and illegal dumping and increasing the budget for street paving. The Mayor has focused on beautification by planting 10,000 trees in parks and esplanades throughout the city, as well as planting over 250,000 flower bulbs to beautify public spaces.
Mayor Ganim has also made it imperative that Bridgeport creates a pathway toward being a sustainable city. He has attracted companies committed to developing high-performing, low-cost batteries, that will develop a facility in Bridgeport that will assist with the City’s initiative to provide and utilize clean energy while creating 200 new jobs within Bridgeport. Mayor Ganim has also welcomed the usage of innovative battery technology inside the Fire Department Headquarters in Bridgeport, making this one of the country’s first deployments inside a fire station and the first public demonstration this type of battery technology in Connecticut. The battery will showcase Bridgeport’s ability to lower energy costs while addressing and managing energy challenges.
He has also won national recognition for his efforts to strengthen Bridgeport’s status as a second-chance city by creating the Mayor’s Office for Re-Entry Affairs and helping citizens from Bridgeport returning from incarceration gain employment, housing, and other services.
Mayor Ganim is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and the University of Bridgeport Law School and has three adult children.
Michael E. Passero
Mayor, City of New London
Michael Passero has served as Mayor of the City of New London since December 7, 2015. He previously served three terms, from 2009-2015, on the New London City Council, including serving as the first City Council President from 2011-2013. He earned a B.A. and Master’s degree in English literature from Connecticut College. He earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. Prior to becoming Mayor he served 31 years as a member of the New London Fire Department and practiced law with the Law Firm of John M. Creane in Milford for 25 years. He is the former chair of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Goverments. He currently serves as the First Vice President of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and on the Board of the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency. He serves on the advisory board of the James and Mary Shea Perpetual Trust, was a founder and former director of New London Community Boating, was the former Chairman of the Dr. Carl Wies Scholarship Fund, serves on the board of directors of the New London Fire Fighters Burn Foundation, a former member of the board of directors of United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, is a member of the New London Democratic Town Committee, and is a former member of the executive committee of the Thames Yacht Club. He is the son of Ernest and Eileen Passero, growing up in New London with his six siblings. He attended St. Joseph School in New London and St. Bernard High School. He has been married to Mary Dyer Passero for 45 years and they have two children, Thomas and Elizabeth and four grandchildren, all residing in New London.
Gaffney J. Feskoe, Halifax Associates, LLC
Gaffney Feskoe is a graduate of the Rye Country Day School, Boston College, with a degree in economics and finance, and holds an MBA from Fordham University.
For many years he was engaged in international corporate banking, trade finance and foreign exchange capital markets in New York with such banks as Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co., European-American Banking Corp., Citibank and The Bank of New York.
Further, he was an assistant corporate treasurer of United States Filter Corp., then a Fortune 500 corporation, and as such was the assistant treasurer of the Maine Central Railroad.
He then became a management consultant with Arthur D. Little before forming his own management consulting and executive search firm Halifax Associates LLC, based in Connecticut, which was engaged in the financial services and the maritime industries. With respect to the maritime industry, the company was appointed a representative of Halifax Shipyards of Nova Scotia (a J.D.Irving enterprise) to the international shipping companies located in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Additionally the company was appointed an agent of the Port of St. John, New Brunswick to advise on increasing cargo throughput at that facility.
Apart from his business activities, he was a Trustee of the Yale Library Associates and was a member of the steering committee of The Friends of The Yale Center for British Art. He is a Proprietor of the Boston Athenaeum and is a member of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Mr. Feskoe resides in Woodbury, CT where he is a Trustee of the Woodbury Public Library and is the founder and president of the Woodbury Library Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation.
Mr. Feskoe was appointed to the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors by Governor Ned Lamont.
John S. Johnson, Thames River Properties, LLC
John has spent his spent his lifetime on or near the sea. A native of Mamaroneck, New York, John has lived in Connecticut for over 45 years. A graduate of Tufts University with a B.A. in Economics, he started his professional life in the international banking world. Johnson soon gravitated to his family’s marine hardware business and ultimately became a founding partner in Brewer Yacht Yards based out of Mamaroneck. A born entrepreneur, John’s long list of companies has a common underlying theme: the coastal waters. His most recent businesses include the Thames River Gallery, a maritime art gallery located in New London, Thames River Properties, the Allen Spool Mill Building in Mystic, and JBG Ventures in Stonington. Former businesses include Newport Marine Products based in Guilford, Sono Square based in Norwalk, CT, Woodworker’s Store at South Norwalk, and Machine Works at Essex.
John’s civic responsibilities are also numerous. He has sat on the Planning and Zoning Commissions of both Wilton and Old Lyme for 35years, served as Chair of OPSAIL CT, founding board member National Coast Guard Museum Association, Vice President Coast Guard Foundation, and past Vice Chair New London Port Authority. He was also the founding Chairman of the CT Maritime Coalition.
John was appointed to the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors by Governor Dannel P. Malloy.
David Kooris
David Kooris was Chair of the Board from July 2019 through August 2024. During that tenure, he oversaw the updating of the Authority’s policies and procedures and hiring a full complement of experienced and dedicated staff. Concurrent to those internal operations improvements, the Authority entered into a transformative partnership with the private sector to rebuild State Pier in New London, the Authority’s sole asset, for heavy lift cargo. This partnership has resulted in the port’s utilization for offshore wind as the premier staging hub on the eastern seaboard.
Mr. Kooris has nearly twenty-years of experience in urban and regional planning, economic development, sustainability, resilience, and urban design in the public, private and civic sectors. He is currently Executive Director of the Connecticut Municipal Redevelopment Authority. Launched by Governor Lamont in 2024, The Municipal Redevelopment Authority supports towns and cities with technical capacity and financial resources to realize their local vision for increased housing development in their downtowns and near their train and bus rapid transit stations.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Kooris was President of Stamford Downtown, a business improvement district representing the major property owners, companies, and residents of that neighborhood. There he produced concerts, parades, public art exhibits, and a multitude of smaller events and was responsible for cleaning and greening downtown’s streetscape. Prior to January of 2020, Mr. Kooris was Deputy Commissioner at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. He was responsible for orchestrating the placed-based components of the state’s economic development strategy including transit-oriented development, brownfields, capital projects, waterfront, historic preservation, the arts, tourism, and opportunity zones. He focused there on coordinating public sector infrastructure investment to best prepare communities for private sector growth while enhancing environmental sustainability and quality of life for all. Before DECD, Mr. Kooris was Director of Resilience for Connecticut’s Department of Housing. There, he managed two federal grants totaling nearly $65 million for coastal resilience planning across Fairfield and New Haven Counties and the design and construction of several pilot projects for green infrastructure, raised mobility corridors, distributed energy generation, and 21st century flood protection in the City of Bridgeport.
Before state service, Mr. Kooris was the Director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development and Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency for the City of Bridgeport. There, he oversaw ten departments in the creation of the city’s revitalization strategy and its execution in tangible public and private investments. Mr. Kooris began his career at Regional Plan Association where he held several positions, most notably Vice President and Connecticut Director. His work there focused on helping individuals, communities, and agencies better understand the link between social, economic, and environmental factors and better position the tri-state region and its neighborhoods for a sustainable future through coordinated land use and transportation planning.
Thomas M. Patton, Vista Advisors, LLC
Thomas Patton is an experienced CEO and Board member with a record of applying good governance and professional management practices to private and public companies in the medical technology field. Tom was appointed as a member of the CPA Board in February 2021 after being nominated by Governor Lamont. Tom currently is an Advisor to SV Health Investors, a private equity group focused on investing in companies in the healthcare market. He also currently serves as an adjunct Professor at Holy Cross College teaching Entrepreneurship to undergraduates.
Mr. Patton also currently is a member of the Board of Directors of ElectroCore (NASD:ECOR) (non-invasive vagal nerve stimulation products) where he serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee, of Robling Medical (contract medical products manufacturing), and of Packaging Compliance Labs (packaging solutions and testing for the medical products field.)
Mr. Patton has served previously as the CEO of Ximedica (contract R&D services), CAS Medical Systems (patient monitoring), and Wright Medical Technology (orthopedic implants), as the President of Novametrix (patient monitoring), and as the President and co-founder of QDx (hematology diagnostics.)
Mr. Patton was previously an advisor to Ferrer Freeman & Company, a healthcare focused private equity fund.
Mr. Patton has extensive Board experience having served on the Board of Directors of four public and eleven private companies. He has significant legal and practical expertise in Compliance, as Audit Chair, as Lead Director and as Chairman.
Mr. Patton started his career as a litigation attorney at the renowned law firm of Williams and Connolly in Washington, DC before joining Wright Medical as its General Counsel in 1993.
Mr. Patton graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1989.
Mr. Patton grew up in Meriden, CT, and attended Xavier High School in Middletown, CT. He graduated from The College of the Holy Cross in 1986 with a major in Economics and Accounting. At Holy Cross he was a Captain of the Football Team his senior year and was recognized as a COSIDA Academic All-American, as the Walter Camp Connecticut Player of the Year, and one of 11 players nationally as a National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete.
Mr. Patton and his family have been residents of Guilford and Branford, CT for the last 23 years and has been active in the local community.
David Pohorylo, New England Shipping Company, Inc.
David E. Pohorylo, a Connecticut native born and raised in Windsor Locks, has resided with his family in Monroe, Connecticut since 1985.
Mr. Pohorylo began his career in the Maritime Industry in 1974, when he joined the Swedish Brostrom Group in New York City, as a staff accountant. Mr. Pohorylo worked with several of the group’s companies in New York and Gothenburg, Sweden, and in 1978 Mr. Pohorylo moved to the position of Manager, Finance & M.I.S. of Brostrom Shipping Company North America, the newly expanded branch office for the Swedish parent overseeing liner, bulker, tanker, trading and pool operations in the Americas. The relocation of Brostrom’s AB Atlanttrafik headquarters to the United States in 1983 allowed Mr. Pohorylo the opportunity to assume the position of Chief Corporate Controller & M.I.S. Director. Mr. Pohorylo later transitioned to the position of Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Pohorylo returned to Connecticut in 1986 to assume the position of Vice President of Tagship Inc., a major steamship agency with 14 offices on the U.S.East Coast and Gulf, and managed their representation of a container/general cargo liner service.
In 1991 Mr. Pohorylo founded New England Shipping Company, Inc., a ship agency and management company, based in New Haven, Connecticut. New England Shipping originally focused on vessels calling Connecticut’s Ports but has expanded over the years into a full-service shipping company handling all types of vessels and cargo, from bulk carriers to reefer ships, tankers to container and passenger vessels, to highly specialized vessels such as fiber optic cable laying vessels and semi-submersibles in all ports of the northeast United States along with Maryland, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. New England Shipping Company, the only Connecticut based ship agency, continues to maintain their headquarters in Milford, Connecticut and also has satellite offices in New London, Albany, and Port Newark.
Mr. Pohorylo is the current Chairman of the Connecticut Maritime Coalition, a Connecticut Cluster Organization, which has been the voice of the maritime to the State of Connecticut since its inception in 1999. He also serves the State of Connecticut as the longest sitting State Pilot Commissioner.
Mr. Pohorylo was appointed to the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors by House Minority Leader, Representative Themis Klaride.
Kristin Urbach, Connecticut Wind Collaborative
Kristin Urbach is the award-winning Executive Director of the Connecticut Wind Collaborative (CWC), a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the offshore wind industry, driving innovation, and fostering partnerships that support the growth of clean energy in Connecticut and beyond. Under her leadership, the CWC is focused on creating sustainable economic opportunities for the region through the development of a robust offshore wind workforce, research and development, supply chain and infrastructure.
With over two decades of experience, Kristin has a proven track record in driving strategic growth, fostering stakeholder collaboration, and promoting innovative programs. Prior to her role in Connecticut, she held executive positions in both nonprofit and for-profit sectors in Washington, D.C. She later served as the Executive Director of the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce in Rhode Island, where she launched WindWinRI, an offshore wind career pathway training system recognized by Fast Company as a “World Changing Idea.”
Kristin is a recognized thought leader in renewable energy and a sought-after speaker at national and international events. She has served as a panelist and keynote speaker at key forums such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s Annual Energy Leaders Conference, the Business Network for Offshore Wind’s International Partnering Forum, the Global Transmission Report’s Offshore Wind Transmission US Conference, and other global leadership roundtables. In 2023, she was selected as one of thirty-four nationwide leaders—and the first from Rhode Island—to become a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Business Leads Fellow.
Kristin Urbach was appointed to the Connecticut Port Authority Board of Directors by Governor Ned Lamont.
