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Don Mann, the Port of Newport’s general manager, said someone could have “knocked him over with a feather” when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced last August that it had selected Newport as the new home of its Pacific Fleet.

“It was exhilarating and awesome all at the same time,” he said. “We knew we were up against some very hard offers, especially in the Seattle area, but we…made sure we dotted all the ‘i’s and crossed all the ‘t’s in our proposal submission.”

That successful proposal launched the future construction of a new, $19 million operations facility for NOAA. Once completed in June 2011, the facility is expected to generate up to 250 local jobs.

Mann said the project – and the potential it represents – is much anticipated in a region that has struggled to keep its head above economic waters as the fishing and forestry sectors declined during the 1990s.

Mann has watched that struggle play out firsthand since he joined the Port of Newport 15 years ago. A Pennsylvania native and former member of the U.S. Coast Guard, Mann began his ports career in 1975 at the Port of Brookings. He worked his way up from a maintenance job and serving as harbormaster to becoming its general manager in 1982.

He left the Port of Brookings in 1985 and, over the next decade, headed the Port of Siuslaw in Florence; provided economic development and technical assistance for the state’s ports division; and oversaw business retention and recruitment for Clackamas and Hood River counties.

While the economic and business development work provided invaluable experience, Mann said, he missed working with ports and living on the coast.

“The opportunity came up to apply here at Newport for the manager position and I did. That was almost 15 years ago. It’s been a great journey,” he said.

Since then, however, the region has seen a steady decline in the wood products and forest industry as well as the commercial fishing sector. Mann said he is continually impressed by the survivor mentality and community support he sees within Newport’s fishing fleet.

“We have a very strong, successful fishing fleet in Newport, especially our distant water fleet that fishes up in Alaska,” he said. “Even though they fish in Alaska, their paychecks for the most part come home and they do all their repairs here. That means a lot to our economy.”

Along with constructing the new NOAA center, Newport is focused on rebuilding its terminal facility. Those two projects represent a big change for the city’s waterfront and its economy, Mann said.

“We need the terminal expansion for our distant water fleet, and that will have a big ripple effect economically. We already have a NOAA presence with the Hatfield Marine Science Center, but this new facility is a big deal for us. This is major growth in the marine science industry for us.”

Mnn said he and the port’s Board of Commissioners put Newport on NOAA’s radar by encouraging the agency to expand its search to smaller ports with deep-draft capability rather than focusing solely on larger contenders like the Port of Portland and Washington ports in Port Angeles and Bellingham.

And, while the Port of Bellingham and Washington’s congressional delegation have loudly protested the choice, Mann said the Port of Newport is preparing to usher in a new economic era for the region.

“I’m looking across the bay and I see dirt moving and we’re moving ahead,” he said.

Who was a mentor who helped shape you into the person you are today? What did that person teach you?

“There are a lot of people I feel gratitude toward for giving me opportunities and having faith in me. Without that, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.”

Tell us something about yourself that most people might not know.

“A lot of people don’t know that I play the harmonica and I really enjoy that, especially around my grandkids because they like to sing and dance while I play. I play the banjo, too.”