After nearly a quarter century in the executive director seat at the Port of Grays Harbor, Gary Nelson is retiring from the position, with Leonard Barnes, another long-serving part of the port, moving into the seat.

Nelson began his time with the port in 2000, charting a course through tumultuous times as the port made the transition from a lumber port to a diversified, multi-product port that it is today.

“Gary arrived at the Port of Grays Harbor at a really, really critical juncture for them. They had some big decisions to make about the future of the port,” said Eric Johnson, executive director of the Port of Tacoma and contemporary of Nelson’s. “They were a log port. And logs went away. The Port of Grays Harbor was really at a crossroads when they hired Gary.”

The economics that had driven the timber trade in the region had shifted, Nelson said.

“Marine terminals were kind of in a doldrums,” Nelson said. “We were trying to get some steady business.”

Barnes talked about playing basketball with Nelson before he came to the port, where Nelson’s towering stature and aggressive style of play could be intimidating on the court. Barnes was serving as director of operations when Nelson came aboard.

“Gary and I have shared a lot of great moments together,” Barnes said. “There was also some tough times where the port was not very busy.”

If that was true once, it’s not anymore, as plans are laid and executed to nearly double the rail and maritime traffic through the port with the T4 expansion currently underway. But it didn’t get that way without hard work.

Early days

Nelson came from the private side of the timber industry, making his entry to the world of ports as a relative unknown, Johnson said.

“He came out of that business. He was largely unknown in the port business when he was hired,” Johnson said. “He knew a couple of people, but not very many.”

Early days were about learning how the port worked on the public side of the house, Nelson said.

“It was really listening to the staff. We had good staff here. Learning about what ports can and can’t do, learning about public access, transparency kind of things,” Nelson said. “That was different, coming from the private sector.”

While the staff levels at the port were about the same, Nelson said, the situation on the water was a lot different.

“The barge traffic and the vessel traffic in Grays Harbor when I started was four or five times what it is now,” Nelson said. “The vessels were a little smaller but there was a lot of them.”

Taking the port from a timber port to a multifaceted and modernized establishment was Nelson’s move, Johnson said.

“We were interested to see how Gary was going to lead them forward. He did an astonishing job of leading them over the last 24 years,” Johnson said. “He diversified the cargo mix in a very strategic way.”

It wasn’t an effortless transition, Barnes said, but it has been a successful one.

“It’s gone from a port that was forest products to a port that’s been very diversified in our product line. It’s been fun. It’s been rewarding,” Barnes said. “Not all the decisions we’ve made have been easy. We’ve had good and we’ve had bad.”

Long-lasting partnerships

A major partner in that process of moving on from the timber trade was the partnership with Ag Processing Inc., a Midwest agribusiness co-op that’s invested tens of millions of dollars into the port.

“In June of 2000, Leonard and I went back to Omaha to meet with AGP. They needed rail-served deepwater. We had that,” Nelson said. “In 2002, 2003, we had their first ship. We used our existing dock and rail infrastructure to leverage their investment.”

Now, AGP is the port’s biggest partner, helping to finance the massive Terminal 4 expansion project as they ship soymeal across the vast Pacific to countries around the world.

“Our real advantage was rail-dependent cargo coming for going from the Midwest for maritime export. We’re mostly all export,” Nelson said. “Our niche is maritime traffic coming or going from the Midwest. That’s where we add a lot of value.”

That partnership with AGP was a masterstroke, Johnson said.

“Getting (AGP) to come to the harbor and keeping them … they’re an anchor tenant,” Johnson said. “I would say from my perspective that’s one of his biggest accomplishments.”

Solidifying that relationship and effectively investing in it is part of the job, Nelson said.

“You look at a more opportunities than you actually complete. I’ve always thought my job is to bring opportunities to the table,” Nelson said. “The commissioners, the community, they need to weigh in on whether that’s something they want.”

Not every opportunity gets capitalized, Nelson said.

“We kind of missed the boat on imported windmills, for a couple reasons. I wasn’t so sure how it was going to take off. It took a pretty large capital investment in the port to get the business. And it kind of puts all your eggs in one basket,” Nelson said. “I would chalk that up as a missed opportunity.”

But moving into the future, Nelson said the port is in a good place.

“We’re at a great juncture. We have a potential community transformational expansion with AGP. We’re starting to find a different niche with the autos,” Nelson said. “That’s exciting. I feel really good about the future.”

Not a star but a constellation

The port is more than just riverside terminals, though.

“He was also there when the port took over the Satsop property. It’s a huge boon for the county. I would give my left arm to have that property in Pierce County,” Johnson said. “He’s also done a good job of supporting and fostering the continued success of Westport as a fish landing spot. They understand the importance of keeping people invested in that space.”

The development of the Satsop Business Park and the Westport Marina is ongoing, but headed in the right direction, Nelson said, praising the management of both of those districts.

“Westport’s the same way. We’ve got a big job ahead of us replacing the floats. But in the meantime, we’ve rebuilt the infrastructure. The bank lines. We’ve worked with the (Army Corps of Engineers) on the seawall and the jetties,” he said. “Strengthening the backbone of the marina district for the future, it’s stuff that people can see. I have a lot of faith that Molly (Bold) — she’s a great a leader, she’ll figure it out. But it takes time.”

Nelson parlayed the geography and assets of the port and made it work, Johnson said, finding a niche where they could remain relevant and profitable.

“They very easily could have been a former log port that’s now nothing,” Johnson said. “They’re not. They’re a former log port that’s now a successful seaport.”

Into the sunset

Nelson said it’s going to be hard to leave the port, with many long-service staff that he’s worked with for decades.

“It’s tough to leave the people I work with. When I came to the port, I had my visions of public employees, which I found to be at the port, to completely fallacious,” Nelson said. “I guess I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be here at the right time. I don’t believe it’s as much me as pointing people in the right direction, give ‘em the tools, and let them perform.”

Grays Harbor’s residents are a big part of the success of the port, Nelson said.

“One of the things that surprises me is the generosity of the community. I’ve been to other smaller towns and they’re not all like that,” Nelson said. “We’re not that big a community. But people continue to step up and contribute. And I think that’s kind of motivational to continue to do that on the job creation front. There was a big concern about losing a lot of our workforce because of lack of opportunities. Generosity and resiliency in our community has been incredibly motivational for me.”

Nelson’s reputation in the industry couldn’t be bought, only earned through character and integrity, Johnson said.

“Gary has been a visionary, to be honest. One of the things everyone likes is he’s honest with everybody. He doesn’t pull any punches. He’s a straight shooter and everybody knows it. He’s leaving with his reputation completely stellar. He was the president of American Association of Port Authorities,” Johnson said. “Grays Harbor punched way above its weight with the AAPA.”

Nelson reflects on his ancestors who came to what would become the east side of Grays Harbor County, years before Washington even attained statehood.

“I read about how they got here, traveling cross-country by rail and then vessel and then wagon. It puts it in perspective,” Nelson said. “I wonder if they ever thought their great-grandson would be running the port.”

Barnes said he’s ready to step up, but that Nelson is irreplaceable.

“God made one Gary Nelson. I got chosen to walk into that role. No two people walk the same way,” Barnes said. “The keys are, we both have passion. We have integrity. We have character. We’re both hard workers.”

Nelson said that at the end of his time, he’s most grateful for the workers who labored to make the port a success story for the county.

“Gratitude for the opportunity and the dedication of the port employees and the longshoremen and the people I work with,” Nelson said. “At the end of the day that’s what makes the difference.”

Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.