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Speaker Biographies

Richard S. Armstrong, Seaport Advisory Council

Twelve years ago Rick was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to head the state’s Seaport Redevelopment Initiative as Executive Secretary of the newly created Seaport Advisory Council. Rick continues in that role having served under five Governors and additionally acts as advisor to the Governor and Lt. Governor on maritime policy and as Director of Port Development. His office manages the $300 million Seaport Bond Fund for Port infrastructure and oversees Port security policy and practice in the state’s next tier ports. He is chair of the North Atlantic Ports Association’s standing Committee on Short Sea Shipping, is on the Executive Committee of the I-95 Corridor Coalition and charter member of the Maritime Administration’s Short Sea Cooperative Program (SCOOP), and travels extensively on Short Sea issues. He also is a member of the Dept. of Homeland Security Area Maritime Security Executive Committee. As time allows, he teaches Small Business Administration and Marina Management at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

Rick has two degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a Bachelor’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering with a focus on transportation systems. He has a degree in Theology from the Episcopal Divinity School and is an Ordained Priest of the Episcopal Church. He worked on systems analysis and undersea instrumentation at both the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Michigan and on submarine propulsion systems. Rick then turned to recreational boating: developing, owning and operating one of the largest marinas on Cape Cod; a business he sold some years ago. Until recently, he also owned the local hardware store and associated marine supply and boat hauling/mooring business. In the course of his career, he has held many local, county, and state offices, including being a candidate for Lt. Governor.

Debbi Edelstein, Manager of the Northeast Diesel Collaborative

Debbi Edelstein is the Manager of the Northeast Diesel Collaborative, which is an initiative of U.S. EPA, the eight Northeastern states, and the regional clean air association, Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), to reduce diesel emissions from existing fleets in five key sectors: municipal, transit, freight, construction, and ports. She is also the Director of NESCAUM's Clean Air Communities program, which seeks to constructively address environmental justice by implementing projects to improve air quality and energy efficiency in urban areas disproportionately affected by air pollution.

Paul H. Bea Jr., Principal, PHB Public Affairs

Paul Bea is a government relations advisor specializing in transportation, particularly the marine transportation system. In 2006 he formed PHB Public Affairs after 25 years as Washington Representative of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and manager of its multimodal Federal agenda. His policy and program experience includes infrastructure and finance, port gateways, freight system improvement, environment, navigation safety, and homeland security.

He was appointed by Secretary Norman Mineta to the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council and participates in the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Legislative Advisors group. He chairs the Coastwise Coalition to advocate the expansion of U.S. surface transportation capacity through waterborne transportation. Paul’s professional background in Washington includes serving as legislative aide to New Jersey Governor Brendan T. Byrne and to the late U.S. Rep Edward J. Patten. He earned his B.S. in 1971 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas S. Cahir, Deputy Secretary, Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works

Thomas S. Cahir was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1985 to represent the 3rd Barnstable District. He served as State Representative for 14 years completing his service on January 3, 1999. During his tenure, Representative Cahir was appointed to several leadership positions. He has an extensive history in transportation issues serving on the Joint Committee on Transportation throughout his entire legislative career and most notably serving as its Chairman. While serving as Chairman, Representative Cahir was actively involved in such issues as commuter rail expansion, the Sagamore Rotary grade separation and many other road and bridge projects across the Commonwealth. He was also the primary sponsor of the 1996 Seaport Bond Bill and various Transportation Bond Bills.

In 1999 Mr. Cahir moved to the Executive Branch of state government and is now Deputy Secretary for Transportation Programs at the Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works (EOTPW). He administers a budget of $140 million dollars, and is responsible for providing oversight, technical and financial assistance to the Commonwealth’s fifteen Regional Transit Authorities. He also oversees administration of EOTPW’s policy and capital improvement programs in the following modal areas: bicyclist, pedestrian, freight rail, intermodal, transit-oriented development and water transportation. Finally, he also oversees management of EOTPW’s rail property portfolio and the provision of freight service on several EOTPW-owned rights-of-way.

Douglas I. Foy, Founding Partner of Serrafix, a company devoted to sustainable business practices and the development of social enterprises

Prior to launching Serrafix in 2006, Mr. Foy served as the first Secretary of Commonwealth Development in the administration of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. In leading this “super-Secretariat”, Mr. Foy oversaw the agencies of Transportation, Housing, Environment, and Energy, with combined annual capital budgets of $5 billion, operating budgets of $500 million, and a total workforce of more than 11,000. These four agencies are responsible for all infrastructure (other than schools) in the Commonwealth, including roads, bridges, transit, parks, sewers, water supply, energy, and housing. During his government service, Foy’s agencies developed Massachusetts’ first comprehensive transportation plan (with an emphasis on transit and fix-it-first); the nation’s most comprehensive climate action plan; and numerous programs, policies, and investments to promote sustainable development and smart growth throughout Massachusetts.

Before his service in the Romney administration, Mr. Foy served for 25 years as the President of the Conservation Law Foundation, New England’s premier environmental advocacy organization. Among its hundreds of prominent cases, CLF lawsuits forced the cleanup of Boston Harbor, prevented offshore oil drilling on the prime fishing grounds of Georges Bank, banned off-road vehicles from the beaches and dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore, prevented the construction of the Seabrook 2 nuclear power plant, and dramatically reduced childhood lead poisoning throughout the region. CLF had offices in all six New England states.

Among other awards, Mr. Foy has received the President’s Environmental and Conservation Challenge Award, the country’s highest conservation award, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson Center, the national memorial to President Wilson. Mr. Foy, a member of the 1968 USA Olympic Rowing Team and the 1969 USA National Rowing Team, graduated from Princeton University as a University Scholar in engineering and physics, attended Cambridge University in England as a Churchill Scholar in geophysics, and graduated from Harvard Law School.

Roland J. Hebert, Transportation Planning Manager and Deputy Director, Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SRPEDD)

Roland J. Hebert started his career in public service in 1970 as the Financial Manager for a housing code enforcement program in New Bedford, and moved to the New Bedford Planning Department in 1975 as Assistant City Planner before joining SRPEDD in 1980. In In 1992 Roland was promoted to Transportation Planning Manager, and in 1997 became the Deputy Director of SRPEDD as well. His new responsibilities include transit, intermodal, and highway planning; and in 2004 he was assigned the additional duty of Fiduciary Agent to the Executive Office of Public Safety & Security for the distribution of Homeland Security funds to the Southeast Region.

Roland manages four transportation planning contracts with a staff of 9 transportation planners and 2 Homeland Security Grant Managers. He is involved in coordinating public outreach, preparing the Transportation Improvement Program, periodic Regional Transportation Plans, promoting and studying the commuter rail extension to New Bedford and Fall River, corridor studies and service planning for two Regional Transit Authorities. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from SMTI, the old name for U Mass Dartmouth, and a Masters of Public Administration from Northeastern University.

Charles D. Itz, President of Itz-Ohlson Transport

Charles Itz is the president of Itz-Ohlson Transport. Founded in 1991, Itz-Ohlson Transport operates a fleet of 26 owner operated tractors and is headquartered in Everett, MA. His company specializes in the pickup and delivery of containerized cargo from the piers in the NY/NJ port complex and Boston’s Conley terminal as well as the inland rail terminals, to shippers and consignees in New England. They are either the final link between an importer and their cargo or the lead off trucker for export cargo destined to foreign markets. They also coordinate loading schedules with sailing schedules.

For many years, Mr. Itz has been an active member of the Boston Port Carriers group and he is on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Motor Transportation Association. He also serves on the board of directors of the Boston Seaman’s Friend Society and has been their treasurer since 2003.

Benjamin Mazzotta, Research Fellow at the Fletcher School's Maritime Studies Program, Tufts University

Benjamin Mazzotta has focused on assessing the environmental and economic benefits of American coastal shipping. He holds a M.A.L.D. in International Political Economy and Development Economics from the Fletcher School, with a certificate in International Development Economic Analysis. He is Ph.D. candidate, studying risk management for intergovernmental organizations through the case study of the World Food Program's drought insurance. He is also a research director at the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, a non-profit research institute dedicated to the analysis of cyber risk in national critical infrastructure, with a focus on the private sector. He has volunteered with the Environmental League of Massachusetts, and worked as a research assistant and teaching assistant for numerous Fletcher School professors. He has given guest lectures at the Fletcher School and at Harvard Extension School. He is an alumnus of the Santa Fe Institute, Yale University, and the Peace Corps.

Marygrace M. Parker, Program Coordinator, Freight Mobility, Safety & Security at the I-95 Coalition

Marygrace M. Parker serves as the Program Coordinator, Freight Mobility, Safety & Security, for the I-95 Coalition. In this position, Mrs. Parker provides staff support to Coalition members and agencies participating in the Coalition’s Inter modal Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations Program Tracks, which are engaged in a number of activities focused on enhancing freight mobility, safety and security across a corridor region extending from Maine to Florida. Mrs. Parker provides staff support to facilitate communication and coordination of multi-agency /multi-state activities and initiatives and ITS and technology-related projects related to Intermodal and Commercial Vehicle activities. Mrs. Parker provided oversight of the Coalition’s Short Sea Shipping Phase I Project, Port Access Issues Report, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast Rail projects, and is currently supporting a number of Phase II efforts related to these initiatives, including a follow-on project on Short Sea Shipping in the Coalition region.

Prior to her assignment with the Coalition, Mrs. Parker served as Director of the Office of Traffic Management for the New York State Thruway Authority where her responsibilities included oversight for several bureaus dealing with Traffic Management and Operations, including traffic safety and commercial vehicle programs, communications and ITS deployment.

Joseph A. Riccio, Jr., Executive Director of the Bridgeport Port Authority

Mr. Riccio was named the Executive Director of the Bridgeport Port Authority in November 1996. Under his direction, the Port Authority has achieved the following accomplishments: the installation of a secondary access road for the Ferry Terminal, the reconfiguration of the Water Street Dock, the development of a 200 car parking garage for the Ferry passengers, the acquisition of the former Carpenter Technology property (Bridgeport Regional Maritime Complex) which includes the development of Derecktor Shipyards who has installed a world-class shipbuilding facility. Mr. Riccio has been successful in obtaining federal and State funds for the dredging of Bridgeport harbor including funding for innovative disposal techniques of sediments in Long Island Sound and the development of a high speed ferry system (proposed) that will connect Bridgeport to Stamford, Conn. and to New York City.

Mr. Riccio has been a leading proponent of Short Sea Shipping (container on barge service) in the State of Connecticut. In May of 2003, the State of Connecticut’s Transportation Strategy Board selected the Bridgeport Port Authority as the port in which to invest its funds for Short Sea Shipping. In September of 2004, the State of Connecticut issued a “Notice to Proceed” to the Bridgeport Port Authority to commence operations of its service with the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey.

Mr. Riccio is an active member of the American Association of Port Authorities serving as a Board Member and is the former Chairman of its Maritime Economic Development Committee. Mr. Riccio is on the Board of Directors of the North Atlantic Ports Association. On the State level, Mr. Riccio was appointed to the newly created Connecticut Maritime Commission by Speaker of the House of Connecticut General Assembly and serves as its Vice Chairman.

Abby Swaine, Assistance and Pollution Prevention Office at EPA New England

Abby Swaine works in the Assistance and Pollution Prevention Office at EPA New England, where over the years she has conducted outreach to a variety of sectors on environmental requirements and opportunities. Abby currently supports EPA NE's diesel initiative, promoting EPA's SmartWay Transport Partnership to the freight sector; working with ports as part of EPA’s Clean Ports USA program; and conducting compliance assistance to reduce truck and bus idling.

Rockford Weitz, Fellow at the Fletcher School's Maritime Studies Program, Tufts University

Rockford Weitz serves as a fellow at the Fletcher School's Maritime Studies Program, where he researches potential benefits of increased coastal shipping, the implications of an opening Arctic Ocean, liquefied natural gas and energy markets, and the geography of global shipping networks. He has taught courses at the Fletcher School on Contemporary Issues in Maritime Affairs and Jurisprudence. He has published articles on maritime topics in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Straits Times (Singapore). His Ph.D. dissertation examines the role of Lloyd's of London as a transnational actor. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.A.L.D. from the Fletcher School, and a B.A. from the College of William and Mary. He also serves as a principal at Rhumb Line LLC, a maritime advisory company. Before co-founding Rhumb Line, he practiced law at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. He is member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Daniel Yuska, Environmental Specialist with the U.S. Maritime Administration

Daniel Yuska is an Environmental Specialist with the Maritime Administration's Office of Environment responsible for managing the Agency's air quality program, performing environmental planning for major port and intermodal infrastructure projects, and serving as the Agency NEPA representative. Before joining the Maritime Administration in 2002, Daniel performed forest ecology research focusing on effects of air pollution to native bioindicator species. Daniel earned a M.S. in Environmental Pollution Control from the Pennsylvania State University and B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Maryland.

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