Happy Thursday!
We went to the Greater Houston Port Bureau’s (GHPB) Commerce
Club Luncheon at the Houston Marriot South at Hobby Airport today.
The speaker was Brooke Millard,
the CEO of Coast Guard Mutual Assistance. Ms. Brooke was in the Coast Guard for over 20
years. She spent 12 years at sea during
her tenure on a cutter vessel. Now she
has returned to school to receive her master’s while she advocates for Coast Guard
members and their families.
Ms. Millard gave a quick talk on
Coast Guard Mutual Assistance (CGMA) and what they do. CGMA
is nonprofit which has been around for over a hundred years, and they help Coast
Guard members or as she pleasantly referred to as “Coasties” and their families. CGMA’s Board is made up on Coast Guard members
and military members past and present as well as other federal employees. She spoke of the many Coasties and their families
the nonprofit has helped over the years and how the organization is supported
by 100% donations. CGMA is the “Rainy Day
Fund” especially for the E-5s and E-6s because they only make approximately $45K
a year base pay, and they are the ones who are most likely maintaining all of
the Coast Guards assets. They are the
reason engines of vessels might last 40 years or more because of the care they
give them. CGMA is there by giving grants and interest-free loans as well as other services to the Coast
Guard community.
She spoke of the last government shutdown
in 2019. Initially everyone was ok, nonetheless
as the days turned into weeks the Coast Guard and their families started to feel
the heat toward the end of the month. They
turned to CGMA to help with keeping a roof over their heads and food on the table.
CGMA helped 6,200 Coasties and their
families and spent $8.5 million which $3 million were for grants. The Coasties’ supervisors researched and gave
daily freebees and other information to help them and their families with food
and other necessities during the shutdown.
The Coast Guard teaches “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs” theory because a
distracted worked isn’t a productive worker and them worrying on how to help
their families was on their minds during the shutdown. Maslow’s
theory is to be a thriving member of a team certain things have to be achieved
for success. First basic needs of shelter
and food must be met. Then, a person
needs a safe environment once this is met then you may move to the next level
or tier. The next tier, a person needs
to feel they belong to the team. The fourth
level is a person needs to achieve self-esteem.
The top tier is self-actualization.
All these things need to be met to have a successful and productive team
and the Coast Guard firmly believes in helping their people attain the highest
tier.
Ms. Millard briefly spoke on how
they received additional funds from the Big, Beautiful Bill (BBB) signed into
law in July. A normal Coast Guard budget
is approximately $14 billion. The BBB
gave them an additional $25 billion over five years to be spent on modernizing
the Coast Guard and to help recruit an additional 30% or approximately 15,000
people. Some of the modernization
includes systems which communicate with each other and more efficient operations. This will be money which helps bring them to
the next level so they may protect our shores and waterways!
Lastly, she invited everyone out
to “CGMA’s Coastal Grit” event on March 27, 2026. The event is to celebrate strength and resiliency
of the Coast Guard and their community. Please see their website for details.
Thank you, Brooke Millard! You are an interesting and informative
speaker, and we wish your organization luck helping Coast Guard members and
their families during the current government shutdown.
As you see the speakers at the GHPB’s
Commerce Club Luncheons bring an informative talk to all that
attend. The next Commerce Club
Luncheon is November 13, 2025, at 11 a.m.
The guest speaker at the next luncheon is Commissioner Christi Craddrick
of the Texas Railroad Commission. She
should give us a good talk on issues affecting the Houston and Gulf Coast oil
and gas community and how Texas’ Railroad Commission has modernized to help
them. Please check out the website, if
you would like to learn more. November 2025 GHPB Commerce Club Luncheon - Greater Houston Port Bureau.
If you would like help in
figuring out how to get your product moving with less of a carbon footprint,
contact us via the email on the Blog or give us a call: 281-901-5554. Check out our ESC website!
We hope you have a great and
productive rest your week!
