North Star Port

LIGHT G U I D I 2 | NORTH STAR PORT | SUMMER 2023 YVONNE PRETTNER SOLON COMES FULL CIRCLE AT THE PORT By JULIE ZENNER aveling in the April 2023 meet- ing of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commis- sioners as the newly elected president was a comfortable and familiar task for former Minnesota Lieutenant Gover- nor Yvonne Prettner Solon— one she has done in the past. She first held the position 30 years ago, early in her political career, as an appointee of the Duluth City Council. Her recent election marks the first time anyone has served as Port Author- ity board president multiple times with such a sizeable lapse of time between terms. In a way, Prettner Solon's relationship with the port has come full circle. "It felt good," she said in a broad conversation that covered her position on the Port Authority board, her long career as a public servant, and some of the challenges she has faced along the way. Journey to public service Prettner Solon was born in Minneapolis but moved to the Duluth area at an early age. She attended high school at Stan- brook Hall (now the administrative offices of the St. Scholas- tica Monastery) and earned bachelor's degrees in psychology and social development from the University of Minnesota Duluth, followed by a master's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota. Armed with her psychology license, she worked at a number of places, including the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment in Duluth and the Range Mental Health Center in Virginia before landing a position as a psychologist at St. Luke's in Duluth. "I bought a house on the same day and thought this was meant to be," Prettner Solon recalled. "I worked there for 25 years." Despite a busy career and private life, she also found time for politics. It was the late 1980s, and Duluth was clawing its way out of a major recession. The U.S. Air Force had phased out its air defense facilities in Duluth, and U.S. Steel had closed its Duluth Works plant. Duluth Mayor John Fedo and city officials were focused on revitalizing Canal Park and bricking downtown streets, but times were tough. "Here we were, a beautiful community sitting right at the tip of Lake Superior, and we were still losing population," she said. "We had a world port and opportunities to really build our econ- omy. We just needed to attract attention." Encouraged by friends, including her future husband, the late Minnesota State Senator Sam Solon (DFL-Duluth), Prettner ran for an at-large seat on the Duluth City Council in 1987. "I didn't really think I was going to win but considered it an opportunity to speak out about some of the things happening in city government," she said. "I just wanted to be more active… but I got elected." 1990: First appointment to the board She soon landed on the Port Authority board, replacing Ingrid Wells, the first female commissioner to serve in that capacity at the port. "I wanted to keep a woman on the Port Authority board, and we couldn't find anyone interested at the time," she recalled. "So I asked to be appointed." The waterfront was struggling with labor strife and a dearth of general cargo at the Clure Public Marine Terminal. Towering cranes designed to unload vessels stood like dinosaurs frozen in time. They were stark reminders that the port needed to grow breakbulk business. The Port Authority board hired newly G

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