Marine Terminal creates good family-wage jobs

At Olympia Port Commission meetings, I have heard the same few citizens say they want to close the Marine Terminal. But in a statistically valid poll of Thurston County, Elway Research found that 71 percent of respondents disagree that the port should close the terminal and 79 percent agree that log exports support important jobs.

The terminal creates family-wage jobs for longshoremen, truckers, tugboat and rail workers, among others. The multiplier affect creates jobs in industries they depend on.

Closing the terminal would eliminate thousands of jobs and millions in local and state taxes that help pay the wages of community members who work for state and local government. The Marine Terminal plays a key role in our region’s emergency response capabilities and is critical to JBLM for national security.

After several years of strong growth at the terminal, some complain that growth has slowed. In fact, for over a year, we have had a strong dollar, which makes many U.S. products less competitive in the global market. This is a normal business cycle and we will see growth again.

I heard the same few citizens say at commission meetings that the port should make a profit, but ‘profit’ is not the purpose of public ports under Washington State law (RCW 53.08). The purpose of ports is economic development. Ports provide platforms such as the Marine Terminal where businesses can grow and create jobs.

We are fortunate to have a deep-water public port in Thurston County.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 11:48 AM with the headline "Marine Terminal creates good family-wage jobs."