Page 10: of Marine News Magazine (November 2010)

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10 MN November 2010

MarineNews spoke with Jennifer Carpenter, Senior Vice

President of National Advocacy for the American

Waterways Operators (AWO), about the organization’s strategic plan, how it is going about increasing public awareness for the industry and what you can do to help.

What is AWO 21? Can you summarize the main objectives of AWO’s strategic plan?

AWO 21 is AWO’s strategic plan, approved by our Board of Directors last October, which lays out AWO’s vision, mission, values, goals, and objectives. In other words, it describes why AWO is here, what AWO members care about, and how we’re going to spend our time and our money as a trade association. AWO 21 says that there are seven core things that we will do: promote positive public awareness of the tugboat, towboat and barge industry; lead and support members in continuously improving safety, security and environmental stewardship; promote our industry’s interest with Congress, the Administration and federal agencies; influence state and federally-pro- posed regional initiatives that broadly affect our industry;

INSIGHTS

Jennifer Carpenter

Senior Vice President - National Advocacy, The American Waterways Operators