The Center for International Trade & Transportation (CITT) has named Los Angeles Harbor Commission Vice President Diane Middleton as this year’s Domenick Miretti Award winner. Announced today at a town hall at California State University Long Beach, the annual award is conferred by CITT to an individual for his or her passion and dedication to the goods movement industry.
“We are proud to present Diane Middleton the 2023 Domenick Miretti Award,” said CITT Interim Executive Director Tyler Reeb. “Like Domenick throughout his career, Diane has fostered meaningful partnerships along the supply chain and facilitated dialogue among industry participants. Her longstanding dedication to promoting healthier and more humane supply chains has earned respect and goodwill from leaders in industry, government, and labor.”
“I am greatly honored to receive this CITT award, and to be recognized for my work on behalf of our local workforce,” said Middleton. “As I have done throughout my career, I will continue to do whatever I can to help strengthen and build our workforce here at the Port of Los Angeles and across the entire supply chain. I am hopeful that we will become known not just for how many TEU's we move but also for our partnerships and development of the PMA Mechanics Training Center, Alta Sea (the hub of the blue economy) and the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Goods Movement Training Campus. A safe, educated and trained workforce is vital to the success of the goods movement industry.”
The CITT Miretti Award was established in 2017 in honor of the late Domenick Miretti, who served as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Liaison for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as a professor of Earth science at East Los Angeles College. Miretti was a long-time advocate of industry and education collaborations and partnerships, which he believed were essential for the betterment of the trade and transportation workforce. Miretti was also a founding member of the CITT Policy & Steering Committee.
The Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) is dedicated to delivering education programs, innovative research and community outreach in the area of goods movement. CITT is the Long Beach home for four major research centers: METRANS Transportation Center, the U.C. Davis-led National Center for Sustainable Transportation, MetroFreight, and the Federal Highway Administration’s Southwest Transportation Workforce Center (SWTWC) covering eight states—California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.
The busiest seaport in the Western Hemisphere, the Port of Los Angeles is North America’s leading trade gateway and has ranked as the No. 1 container port in the United States for 23 consecutive years. In 2022, the Port facilitated $311 billion in trade and handled a total of 9.9 million container units, the second busiest calendar year in the Port’s 116-year history. San Pedro Bay port complex operations and commerce facilitate one in nine jobs across the Southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura.