Ferrara Takes Helm as Director of Boston Field Office
BOSTON – In a change of command ceremony before friends, family, colleagues and local stakeholders, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Boston Director of Field Operations William A. Ferrara was formally sworn into office this morning. CBP Field Operations Executive Assistant Commissioner Todd C. Owen led Ferrara in his reaffirmation of the oath of office and presented the Director’s guidon in this time-honored tradition.
“Bill brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Boston Field Office and I am positive that the passion and leadership qualities he has demonstrated in his lengthy career with CBP will advance the overall security and facilitation of trade and travel across New England,” said Owen.
As the Boston Director of Field Operations, Ferrara is responsible for operations and enforcement activities at 68 international ports of entry and stations throughout the 6-state region of New England which includes 750 miles of land border with Canada. This equates to the processing of more than 9.5 million people; more than 4 million vehicles; 15,000 commercial aircraft; 1,350 commercial vessels; and $660 million in revenue collected from international trade each year.
“I am honored to be returning to the Boston Field Office and am excited to lead a workforce with the caliber of the Field Operations staff I have encountered throughout the northeast,” said Ferrara. “We have a unique and complex mission, working in sometimes challenging and unforgiving environments but I look forward to the opportunities this position brings and am confident that we will make strides as a team to ensure the safety of both our community and of the nation.”
A New England native, Ferrara began his federal government service with the former U.S. Customs Service (USCS) in 1989 as a Customs Inspector at Calexico, CA, Port of Entry. During his 27 years of service with USCS and CBP, he has held many leadership positions both at headquarters and in the field, including a variety of roles in the Boston Field Office from 1991 to 2010.
Most recently Ferrara served as the Director of Field Operations for the Chicago Field Office responsible for overseeing CBP operations in the Midwest. Prior to leading operations in Chicago, Ferrara was Acting Executive Director of both the Field Operations Admissibility and Passenger Programs office and Mission Support office at CBP Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
In 2008, CBP Field Operations adopted formal change of command ceremonies as another way to unify the workforce and highlight the agency mission. Since the agencies inception in March 2003, CBP has developed and implemented standards, policies and symbols to advance the internal and external recognition of the agency and to demonstrate the strides the agency has made as the guardians of the nation’s borders. The change of command ceremony is one of those symbols.