If a genie gave you three wishes …
Our newest Duluth Seaway Port Authority commissioners are Cal Larson [North Star Port Fall 2003] and Ray Klosowski [North Star Port Fall 2004]. After giving them time to settle in to their new roles, we asked them about their views of the Port. Excerpts from our exchange follow.

Cal Larson	Ray Klosowski

Question: Since joining the board, what have you learned that most surprised you about the Port?
Klosowski: I was not aware of the extent of the close inter-relationships, dependency and cooperation of each of the of the various Canadian and U.S. Great Lakes ports neccessary to keep the St. Lawerance Seaway system competitive with U.S. and Canadian coastal ports.
Larson: Having served in the Navy in my younger years, I became very comfortable around the water. As a legislator, I have served on the Great Lakes Commission since 1993. I have been in and out of the Port of Duluth many times and have always enjoyed the terrific publications and other articles about the Great Lakes that they produce.
Question: What do you see as the Port’s greatest immediate challenge, and its greatest long-range challenge?
Larson: I believe the Port’s greatest immediate challenge is the continuation of the fine marketing job they have been doing. It’s all about higher utilization of the port facilities. The Port’s great long-range challenge, in my opinion, is to continue to service the needs of the Upper Midwest and its connection to the rest of the world.
Klosowski: I believe the greatest immediate challenge is the unresolved freshwater corrosion to the sheet steel pilings used in dock facilities in the harbor along with the steel support columns in bridges spanning the harbor. I believe there are two key long range challenges. One is to remain continually and actively involved in state, regional and national policy decisions that maintain a fair competitive market for the Seaway system and the Port of Duluth-Superior. The other is to seek and develop new/additional cargo (both outgoing and incoming) to expand the economic impact of the Port and supplement iron ore and grain in the event those two commodities change.
Question: If a genie gave you three wishes for the Port, what would they be?
Klosowski:
1: A no-cost, quick solution to the freshwater corrosion problem in the Duluth-Superior Port.
2: A state of the art Great Lakes lock system that would accommodate any ocean going or lakes vessel.
3: One or more unique cargoes that could be shipped only through Duluth-Superior that would increase the local, regional and national economic impact of our harbor. (You said there would be a genie available !!)
Larson:
1. To continue to improve the Port’s marketing tools.
2. To continue to develop the Port as a travel destination for recreational use.
3. To keep the Port and the Lakes area environmentally sound for both commercial and recreational use.
Question: If you could talk personally about the Port to every resident of the Twin Ports and Minnesota (and Wisconsin), what would your message be?
Klosowski: I would try to impress on [them] that the current success and future success and regional economic impact of the Duluth Superior Port is tied to international and national decisions and policies that may seen distant but in reality have an almost immediate impact on our area. A recent example is a federal judge’s issuing a decision on the management of ballast water on ships entering the Great Lakes in an attempt to control the introduction of foreign species into the Lakes. This decision, based on incomplete and probably erroneous information, could result in restrictive and costly procedures that would force foreign shipping to coastal ports. Another example are the proposed changes in toll structure for the Seaway contained in the president’s budget proposal, which will lead to increased costs for Seaway shipping, again leading to the diversion of shipping to coastal ports.
Larson: With the Great Lakes containing 25 percent of the world’s fresh water, it is one of our greatest assets. I would hope that every resident of the Twin Ports, as well as the folks who visit the ports, would keep that in mind so that we can sustain the great quality of life that we all enjoy in the Port area.