The Port of Grays Harbor received encouraging feedback on its economic impact throughout the local community, the county and beyond.
“We like to think we’re making an impact on the community, but it’s always nice to be able to quantify it,” Port Executive Director Gary Nelson said.
An economic impact analysis using data from 2013, compiled by Martin Associates of Lancaster, Penn., was presented to commissioners during a special meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Some 5,700 jobs have been credited back to the Port, separated into three categories: direct, induced, indirect.
“It’s very impressive in this smaller region to see that type of an impact,” said John Martin, Martin Associates president.
The analysis shows the Port creating 2,700 “direct jobs” through marine cargo, marina operations, commercial fishing and real estate. Some 85 percent of those jobs are held by Harborites.
More than 1,600 “induced jobs” (created because people working for the Port spend wages at businesses throughout the community) can be tracked back to the Port, the consultants say.
When a company doing business through the Port purchases services, the positions through those service companies are considered “indirect jobs.” The analysis tracked nearly 1,400 indirect jobs back to the Port.
In addition to the 5,700 jobs locally, some impacts can be seen rippling through to the Midwest.
In a fourth category, nearly 37,000 “related jobs” were also tracked back to the Port. That category of jobs includes any jobs at businesses using cargo through the Port. One example would be farmers who use the Port to ship grain.
Related jobs, however, do not depend on the Port of Grays Harbor.
Aside from jobs, money was generated by the Port at the local and state levels.
The average salary for direct employees is $43,603. (For comparison, the average annual wage for Grays Harbor County in 2013 was $35,884, below the state’s average annual wage of $53,029, according to the Washington Employment Security Department.)
In 2013, the Port generated $564 million in business revenue including more than $370 million in cargo, fishing and marina revenue, and more than $193 million in non-maritime revenue (real estate).
About $32 million was generated in state and local taxes.
While the analysis shows a bright picture for the Port, Martin cautions that comparisons shouldn’t be made to neighboring ports.
“It’s very easy to want to compare your port with Longview and Bellingham and Olympia and so forth, but every port is unique,” Martin said. “All the ports are important to their local economy and it’s hard to rank them and say one is better than the other because they’re just different.
“It’s better to view your port in the context of what it is.”
The goals of the analysis are to communicate the contributions of the Port to the public and the government, hopefully influencing future decisions regarding the allocation of resources. “The model can help evaluate alternatives as we move forward,” Nelson said.
The analysis surveyed every Port tenant and service provider. To ensure each tenant and service provider participates, the results are kept anonymous and the Port will not have access to specifics.
Other business
• Authorization was given to Nelson to award a dredging bid to American Construction Company of Tacoma for $884,463.50. The maintenance dredging is meant to keep the berths at the required depth.
Section A in Hoquiam will cost $726,950, and Section B in Aberdeen will cost $157,513.40.
Commissioners approved an ad for bid on Sept. 9, and two bids were received by Oct. 9. The rejected bid was made by Manson Construction Company of Seattle for nearly $2.1 million.
• A strategic planning workshop was put on hold halfway through so commissioners could hold an executive session.
The workshop will pick up where it left off during the next commissioners meeting on Friday Nov. 7.
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