Clare Petrich

Commissioner Clare Petrich currently serves as the Port of Tacoma Secretary, and was initially elected in 1995. Clare Petrich is a small business owner with strong ties to Tacoma’s maritime heritage. She is co-founder and former chair of the Commencement Bay Maritime Fest, an advisor to Tacoma Community Boat Builders and deeply involved in maritime heritage research.

Clare Petrich serves on the Joint Municipal Action Committee, Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, the Youth Marine Foundation, the Flood Control Zone District Committee and the Washington Council on International Trade. She was recently elected to the boards of Sister Cities International and the Washington State Trust for Historic Preservation.

She is a past president of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Economic Development District Board and continues to serve on this board. She is also board secretary for the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle.

Clare Petrich and Commissioner Connie Bacon were co-recipients of the Tacoma Propeller Club’s 2015 Master Mariner Person of the Year award, and she received the Seattle Propeller Club’s 2015 Public Official of the Year award with Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman.

Clare Petrich graduated from Manhattanville College in New York and received her master’s degree from the University of Virginia. She is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum.