Port’s new strategic plan outlines goals

The Port of Camas-Washougal’s new strategic plan calls for the agency to continue with current development and growth goals while charting a course for the future.

“My goal is to build on the port’s strong foundation and double down on what we do best: providing economic opportunity, strengthening community throughout east Clark County, and serving our region with integrity, innovation and environmental stewardship,” port CEO Trang Lam wrote in a letter included in the plan. “At the same time, we are evolving — investing in our team, enhancing our agility, modernizing our assets, developing our properties responsibly, and reducing our environmental footprint.”

The port unveiled the 2026-30 plan during a July 2 workshop session. Port commissioners will vote on the plan July 16.

The plan, which was compiled by Vancouver-based Maul Foster & Alongi with assistance from port employees and commissioners, features the same mission and vision statements that were included in the current plan, which will sunset at the end of 2025.

The new plan establishes a series of goals for the port’s work over the next five years. The goals are organized in three areas:

Culture and community: “Fostering and leveraging an inclusive, vibrant environment where shared knowledge, diverse perspectives, and common values empower collective growth and success.”

Organizational resilience: “Building and maintaining the ability to effectively navigate opportunities and disruptions, adapt to change, and sustain long-term success through proactive planning and continuous improvement.”

Economic development: “Cultivating a dynamic, inclusive, and resilient local economy that promotes sustainable growth, fuels innovation and enhances quality of life in our communities.”

“It’s great to have such a clear, simplified document,” Commissioner Cassi Marshall said. “Having the three focus areas is really nice and easy to point to when things arise.”

The plan states the port will “regularly report on its progress toward goals and strategies to promote transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in implementing the strategic plan” and “must strike a careful balance between executing planned strategies and remaining agile enough to seize unexpected opportunities.”

“I think in the past we have in the past limited ourselves. ‘Is that a project that we can do? No,’ and then it’s just gone,” Marshall said. “I think that is huge for our community, looking outside of just projects that we can do alone.”

Maul Foster & Alongi developed the plan with input from interviews, focus groups, an online survey, and port staff and commission workshops, along with an open house April 30.

Doug Flanagan: 360-735-4669; doug.flanagan@columbian.com