Sam Cho (born April 24, 1990) is an American politician and entrepreneur based in Seattle, Washington serving as a commissioner of the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a government agency overseeing the seaport and airport of Seattle, Washington, United States. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to one of the largest airports and container t ...

. Prior to serving as a commissioner, he was Founder and CEO of Seven Seas Export, a political appointee in the

Obama Administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

, and a staffer for a member of the Washington State Senate and United States Congress. Cho was elected to the Seattle Port Commission in 2019,Sam Cho
''Ballotpedia''. becoming the only minority port commissioner at that time. He took his

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...

in two languages, English and Korean as a tribute to his family’s immigrant roots. In 2021, Cho was listed by Seattle Met as one of the 100 most influential people in Seattle.

Early life and education

Cho was born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Seattle, Washington by his immigrant parents who came to the United States in the late 1980s through the

from South Korea. Cho holds a B.A. from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, where he was member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. and a Masters of Science degree from The London School of Economics.

Early career

Cho was a congressional staffer in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for Congressman Ami Bera from California's 7th congressional district. He was also a Special Assistant in the General Services Administration. After the Obama Administration ended, he returned to his home state of Washington to start a business in international exports and work in the

Washington State Legislature The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a bicameral body, composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives, composed of 98 Representatives, and the upper Washington State Senat ...

for Senator Bob Hasegawa. In 2018, Cho was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to serve as a Commissioner on the Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (CAPAA).

Business career

Seven Seas Export

In the winter of 2016, there was an opportunity to exploit the price differential of eggs in the midst of Asia's worst avian influenza (bird flu) pandemic. The bird flu wiped out chicken flocks across the region which resulted in an egg shortage. The price of eggs nearly tripled in countries like South Korea. In response, the South Korean government temporarily reduced import tariffs to 0% and subsidized freight cost to encourage egg imports to buttress the egg shortage crisis. In February of 2017, Cho founded and served as the CEO of Seven Seas Export, a trading company that took advantage of the crisis. In 2 years, Cho exported over 2.5 million pounds of American egg products to Asia. In September of 2019, Cho was a recipient of the 425 Business

30 Under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

award.

Political career

Port of Seattle Commission

In May 2019, Cho announced his campaign to run and replace Courtney Gregoire on the Seattle Port Commission. Cho's priorities included the economy, environmental sustainability, accountability, transparency, and fighting

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

. Despite a primary race with six other candidates including a former mayor, Cho came first place with 31.1% of the vote to move onto the general election. In the general election, his opponent was former City of Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger. Cho defeated the former mayor with 60.8% of the vote, becoming the first Korean American and youngest port commissioner since the founding of the port in 1911. He was sworn in on January 7, 2020.Khashimova Long, Katherine
Former Bellevue Mayor Degginger concedes to Cho in Seattle Port Commissioner race
''Seattle Times''. 2019-11-07. Cho was also endorsed by former Governor of Washington and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...

. In 2020, Cho was named to New America's list of Next-Generation Asian American Foreign Policy and National Security leaders.

References

External links

Port of Seattle page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Sam Living people 1990 births American politicians of Korean descent Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics American people of Korean descent American businesspeople Politicians from Seattle 21st-century American politicians American University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics