Renee Yarmy and Sophie Silvestri
Port of San Diego, The Pasha Group

The Power of P3s

This edition highlights the timely and practical Port Professional Manager (PPM®) capstone completed by Renee Yarmy and Sophie Silvestri. Their capstone, “The Power of P3s,” examines how ports can successfully establish and manage public-private partnerships through a framework designed specifically for the port industry. Renee Yarmy, Maritime Sustainability Manager at the Port of San Diego, and Sophie Silvestri, Director of Commercial and External Affairs at The Pasha Group, brought public- and private-sector perspectives to the project. Their combined experience gave the capstone a strong foundation for examining both sides of the P3 relationship. Drawing on extensive research, stakeholder interviews, survey responses from 23 ports, and case studies from ports throughout North America, the authors identified a clear need for standardized tools to help ports evaluate partnership opportunities and navigate complex negotiations. Their research found that ports are increasingly pursuing P3s to access capital, share risk, accelerate project delivery, and improve operational efficiency. However, many ports continue to face challenges in negotiating complex agreements, balancing public and private interests, and establishing effective governance structures. To address these needs, Renee and Sophie developed an eight-part, Excel-based P3 Toolkit with practical resources for evaluating partnership opportunities, assessing organizational readiness, better understanding private sector needs, allocating risk, and monitoring performance. Organized around four phases: readiness, structuring, execution, and governance, the toolkit is designed to help ports manage the full lifecycle of a partnership. The P3 Toolkit is available here: https://www.ports.org/empowering/PPMDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=23169. Port professionals interested in learning more about AAPA’s PPM® program and professional development opportunities may contact Shannon McLeod at smcleod@ports.org.