You might think of Port Milwaukee as salt piles and cruise ships, but the person in charge wants you to know it has a lot more to offer.
Jackie Q. Carter is the first woman and Black person to hold the position of Municipal Port Director. She now has one year of service as administrator in Foreign Trade Zone No. 41.
This Black History Month we learn more about the force that drives Carter to increase business along Lake Michigan.
Waves of Opportunity
It's a relatively mild February morning, but Lake Michigan still has that cold look to it.
Jackie Q. Carter doesn't see the cold. She sees an opportunity. Opportunity drives Carter as she oversees the Port's $6.7 million budget and nearly 500 acres.
It's a big piece of land, stretching from the steps of the Milwaukee Art Museum, south past the Lake Express Ferry building, and west underneath I-794 to Jones Island.
The Port operates as a landlord with tenants that include Cargill Salt and Kinder Morgan. Carter says, "It's daunting, but that's where it's important to remember there's a team."
And Carter is all about teamwork. She listens and brainstorms with staff and community leaders to improve and attract more ships, more trucks, and more trains with the backdrop of her historic appointment.
"It's encouraging but also somewhat discouraging, right? Because in 2023 we shouldn't still be having that conversation. But the encouraging part is it allows other young people who look like me who come from the same community that I come from to know that it's possible."
Early Days
This 1995 Marshall High School graduate came from humble beginnings. She grew up in Milwaukee's Washington Park neighborhood, raised mostly by her grandmother Granny Mae. Granny Mae died in 2020 at the age of 96. Carter says she was a great woman who lived a great life.
"I think the greatest gift she gave me, was introducing me to faith, which is the foundation I stand on for everything."
Carter says faith guides her at work in different ways. At times, it's about what she should say in challenging situations. Her path to the port offices on South Lincoln Memorial Drive was not a straight line over the Hoan Bridge.
Carter says she always "laughs because I went to Catholic school, I went to Muslim school, I went to MPS Schools. It was a lot."
College was a lot too. Carter left UW-Milwaukee after just one year because it was overwhelming to her. Carter ended up working for a while. She found her way back, graduating from Alverno College and earning her MBA at Concordia University.
Port of Call
One of the biggest surprises and challenges is getting the word out that Milwaukee has a port, even though the first commercial vessel called on the west shore of Lake Michigan in 1835.
Carter started at the Port in 2017 overseeing finances and became Port Director six years later. Carter says "When I was appointed, when people saw it, they were like 'congratulations, this is great,' but they had no idea we had a Port."
And now, Carter is on a mission to change that by getting the word out about what the Port does and can offer businesses. Cruising has increased the port's profile by breaking records in 2022 with nearly 14,000 visitors.
PortMilwaukee2022AnnualReport (1) by TMJ4 News on Scribd
She also wants to expose young people to the career opportunities available at the Port without a college education.
She envisions Port Days for students to learn about careers working on ships, rails, and maybe even tourism, because "after all, not everyone wants to be a doctor or an athlete."
Not only is Carter the first woman and Black person to be the Port Director, but she is also the first person of color to head up a port authority in Wisconsin.
Carter was appointed to the municipal role by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and the Milwaukee Common Council confirmed her appointment in 2023.
Jackie Q. Carter took her Oath of Office on February 23, 2023.
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