Customer Overview
The Port of Longview is a public port in Washington State responsible for importing and exporting a diverse mix of cargo, including bulk commodities, steel products, grain, scrap metal, wind turbine components, and other break-bulk materials. Operations span vessel unloading, rail and truck logistics, and highly complex billing scenarios involving multiple customers per vessel.
Success at the Port is measured not only in revenue, but also in metric tons of cargo moved, reflecting the operational intensity and public-sector accountability of the organization.
The Challenge: Enterprise-Level Complexity in a Public-Sector Environment
For more than a decade, the Port of Longview relied on Microsoft Dynamics SL to manage finance, project accounting, and billing. While SL met their needs well, its end-of-life forced the Port to re-evaluate its technology foundation.
The Port’s challenges were far from typical:
- Highly complex project billing, often with multiple customers tied to a single vessel
- Union and third-party labor costing, including longshore labor paid through the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA)
- Detailed project cost tracking directly tied to vessel activity and tonnage
- Strict audit and segregation-of-duties requirements
- A need to remain within a public-sector budget, without sacrificing capability
As IT Manager Casey Paradis described it during the interview, the Port operates as a “small business with enterprise-class problems”.
The Decision: Why Business Central, Progressus, and Velosio
The Port issued an RFP and explored alternatives, but found few solutions that could meet their needs without pushing them into a large-enterprise ERP that was too costly and rigid.
They ultimately selected:
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central as the core ERP
- Progressus to deliver advanced project accounting, costing, and billing beyond standard Business Central functionality
- Velosio as their implementation partner, building on a long-standing relationship that began during their Dynamics SL years
Key decision criteria included:
- Flexibility to support non-standard, highly customized project models
- Alignment with the Microsoft ecosystem
- Integration with Power BI, Power Automate, Power Apps, and third-party payroll systems
- A solution that balanced capability, supportability, and cost
Crucially, Velosio brought continuity. Several Velosio team members were familiar with the Port’s original SL customizations, reducing risk and accelerating understanding of the Port’s unique business processes.
Implementation Experience: Complex, Collaborative, and Ultimately Successful
The implementation spanned approximately 18 months, reflecting the Port’s operational complexity and the critical importance of accuracy in payroll, billing, and compliance.
Key elements of the implementation included:
- Migration from Dynamics SL to Business Central with Progressus
- Integration with UKG payroll for administrative and maintenance staff
- Automated ingestion of PMA longshore labor files using Power Automate
- A custom Power App for vessel and tonnage tracking
- Integration with DocLink for document management
- Extensive testing and a staggered go-live approach to minimize operational risk
While the project experienced an early team transition, the Port emphasized that success accelerated once the right expertise was in place.
“Once we got the right people on the team — especially people who really understood Progressus — it started moving along.”
Velosio’s project management and willingness to adjust staffing were repeatedly cited as critical to success. Casey highlighted Velosio’s responsiveness and flexibility, including team members adjusting schedules to support the Port across time zones.
Customer Experience: Velosio and the Progressus Team
Beyond the technology itself, the Port consistently pointed to the quality of the Velosio and Progressus teams as a defining factor in the project’s success.
Deep Understanding of a Non-Standard Business
The Port’s operations do not resemble typical construction or professional services projects. Billing often involves multiple customers per vessel, layered labor rules, and detailed tonnage tracking.
Velosio consultants — particularly those working closely with Progressus — demonstrated the ability to translate the Port’s real-world operational language into effective Business Central and Progressus configurations.
“Kerry Pate did an amazing job of understanding our business in our terms and translating that into Business Central and Progressus.”
Responsiveness and Partnership
When issues arose — whether during testing, integrations, or post-go-live support — the Port described the Velosio team as highly responsive and collaborative.
“When we did have issues, the Velosio team was extremely responsive — and they still are.”
This responsiveness was particularly important given the Port’s audit requirements and limited tolerance for operational disruption.
Adoption and Change Management: Exceeding Expectations
One of the Port’s biggest concerns was user adoption. Many employees had used the same system for 15–20 years, making change management a significant risk.
Through extensive testing, careful rollout timing, and strong internal leadership, adoption exceeded expectations.
“User adoption went a heck of a lot better than I had anticipated.”
By delaying go-live and prioritizing testing, the Port avoided major disruptions and ensured users were introduced to a stable, well-configured system.
Life After Go-Live: Tangible Outcomes
Since going live, the Port of Longview has achieved meaningful operational stability and visibility:
- Payroll, billing, and financial close are fully operational
- Complex labor and billing scenarios are handled accurately
- Project costs flow cleanly into billing and the general ledger
- Financial and operational data can be easily exported to Excel or visualized in Power BI
- Vessel operations, project accounting, and financial reporting now operate within a single Microsoft ecosystem
Why Progressus Matters
For the Port of Longview, Progressus is the critical layer that makes Business Central viable for their business model.
As Finance Manager Jaime Thayer explained:
“We are able to track our project costs, generate billing from those costs, and get invoices out to our customers — which is the most critical part of our operation.”
Progressus enables the Port to manage billing scenarios that are far beyond standard ERP project accounting, while remaining inside the Microsoft platform.
Looking Forward
With a modern, cloud-based foundation in place, the Port is positioned to continue expanding its use of the Microsoft ecosystem — including enhanced reporting, automation, and future innovation.
Most importantly, the Port now has a supportable, future-ready platform that matches its operational reality — without forcing it into an oversized enterprise ERP
On Organizational Complexity & Fit
“We’re a small business with enterprise-class problems.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
On Why Progressus Is Critical
“We are able to track our project costs, generate billing from those costs, and get invoices out to our customers — which is the most critical part of our operation.” — Jaime Thayer, Manager of Finance & Accounting, Port of Longview
On Microsoft Ecosystem Value
“Being in the Microsoft ecosystem lets us take advantage of Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Apps. It really is a complete solution for us.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
On Velosio & Progressus Delivery Expertise
“Once we got the right people on the team — especially people who really understood Progressus — it started moving along.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
“Kerry Pate did an amazing job of understanding our business in our terms and translating that into Business Central and Progressus.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
“When we did have issues, the Velosio team was extremely responsive — and they still are.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
On Adoption & Go-Live Success
“User adoption went a heck of a lot better than I had anticipated.” — Casey Paradis, IT Manager, Port of Longview
“Once we went live, it actually went much smoother than we expected.” — Jaime Thayer, Manager of Finance & Accounting, Port of Longview