Page 10: of Marine News Magazine (March 2021)

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Insights

Jennifer

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Carpenter

President & CEO,

The American Waterways Operators ennifer Carpenter joined The American Waterways Operators (AWO), the national trade association representing the inland and coastal tugboat, towboat

J and barge industry, in August 1990 and became its president and CEO in January 2020. This month, she weighs in on the unprecedented challenges encountered over the past year and addresses top priorities along the uncertain path ahead.

op resources that they can use to meet the health and safety

The world has changed drastically in the and operational challenges. And it has challenged us to ? nd year since you took the helm at AWO. How new ways of staying connected and in constant commu- have priorities shifted, both for AWO as an nication with our members. It’s more important than ever organization and for you as its leader?

JC: COVID-19 has impacted our agenda and our lives in that we know what is on their minds, what their concerns ways that we just couldn’t have predicted at the beginning are, but we’ve had to do that differently, largely virtually.

Bigger picture, this whole experience reinforces the im- of 2020. And it has become a top priority to help our mem- bers navigate all of the dimensions of this challenge, the portance of deep listening to members, which was some- thing that I talked about at the beginning of 2020 as a real health and safety aspects, the operational aspects, the eco- nomic implications. And helping them do that has become focus. I have seen again and again throughout the last year a big part of our advocacy agenda with Congress and with how important it is to be listening to what members are experiencing. Nimbleness, the ability to quickly pivot to ad- the federal agencies. It has impacted our safety agenda be- dress changing and emerging circumstances. I said when I cause we’ve worked very hard to provide forums and devel- 10 | MN March 2021