2014 a record revenue year for the Port

The Port of Grays Harbor had record operating revenues of more than $33 million in 2014, Port officials reported Tuesday.

The number, reported at Tuesday’s monthly Port commission meeting, shows about 8 percent growth over 2013, said Mary Nelson, the port’s director of finance and administration. The revenue announcement comes almost two months after the port announced record vessel activity, having tracked 115 and 18 barges, an increase of 31 vessels from 2013.

The operating revenue increase comes alongside an annual $2.3 million levy, which the port collects from property taxes paid by citizens in Grays Harbor County. That money, Nelson said, is only used to invest in capital improvement and infrastructure projects.

“We’ve used those property taxes, I think, very strategically, and we’ve been able to assist with that growth,” Nelson said, adding that property taxes are invested into capital improvement and infrastructure.

Improvements in the last year included work on the Satsop Business Park’s sewer system and paving the marine terminal’s cargo yard.

Broken down by lines of business, the port’s marine terminal made the most revenue, at almost $24 million. Its industrial properties rented to tenants also brought in nearly $2.6 million. Additionally, the Westport Marina surpassed $1 million of revenue for the first time.

Though Satsop Business Park and and Bowerman Airport collectively brought in more than $2 million in revenue, they were the only lines of business that lost money after expenses.

Leonard Barnes, the port’s deputy executive director, said the progress with the port’s revenue is a result of its relationships with existing and new customers, both domestic and international.

“I think all of that is a reflection of those partnerships and the strength that we have with each other,” Barnes said, pointing to companies like Ag Processing Inc., which has helped make the port the leading soybean meal shipper in the country. “They have a lot of confidence in the Port of Grays Harbor and our community.”

Barnes added that the port’s shipping diversification has helped it grow, though officials haven’t forgotten about the logging industry that put the port on the map decades ago.

“You don’t forget the one that brought you to the table,” he said, adding that expanding to agricultural and bulk liquids was a necessary step.

Future plans for the port, Nelson added, include deepening the draft of the shipping channel, a project that has been approved by Congress since 1977, but was given funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month to deepen to minus 38 feet. That project is set to start in late 2015 and be completed by early 2017, said Gary Nelson, the port’s executive director.

Improvements to the port’s Terminal 4 are also in the works for the coming year, along with dredging at the Westport Marina.

Kyle Mittan, 360-537-3932, kmittan@thedailyworld.com. Twitter: @KyleMittan