Director | Global Trade // EY

Shane M. Williams comes to EY as Managing Director|Global Trade after serving as the Economic Development Director for the Port of Houston Authority. In this role he oversaw the Port Authority’s Foreign Trade Zone No. 84, one of the largest FTZ’s in the United States that consists of more than 50 FTZ sites within the larger zone. Included were five sites exclusively owned and operated by the Port Authority and William’s team.

After taking over the Grantee role in 2010, the FTZ saw over 100% growth and expansion in the first three years. Under his direction, the zone continued to see this exponential growth, and from 2019 to 2022 led the value of exports from FTZ 84 to surpass $6 billion and the value of shipments from the zone to the U.S. market to top $2 billion. The zone is responsible for more than 14,000 direct full-time jobs yearly.

After 5 years of exclusively running FTZ 84, Williams was tasked with creating a new department for the FTZ program and the first Economic Development Department at Port Houston. As Economic Development Director, Williams built partnerships with brokers, site selectors and real estate professionals, forging real estate opportunities designed to bring new cargo to Port Houston. He worked in tandem with the Port’s Real Estate division to offer economic incentive packages to yield successful alliances. After the creation of this market, and working with the Houston Industrial Real Estate community, Houston saw unprecedented growth, with multiple distribution centers of over 1 million square feet for the first time in the history of the market. This growth also led to an increase in Port Cargo of over 10% for 3 straight years.

Williams serves on the Executive Board for Texas Association of Business, as Representative of the Southeast Region. Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of the Board for the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones. An acknowledged FTZ and Economic Development expert, Williams has addressed groups that include the National Association of Foreign Trade Zones, Texas Association of Business, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, Area Development, International Economic Development Council and Connect Industrial. He is a graduate and former Letterman of Baylor University, husband to wife Brittany, and proud father to son George, and daughters Smith and Press.