Economic impact report says Seattle, Tacoma, bring nearly $55 billion to PNW

A new regional economic impact analysis shows The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), the Port of Tacoma, and the Port of Seattle continue as the primary drivers of the regional and state economy. They supported more than 265,000 jobs in 2023, and together, the organizations generated $17.7 billion in wages and benefits and nearly $55 billion in business output.

The report offers a comprehensive regional look across the Seattle-Tacoma gateway, including marine cargo, aviation, real estate, commercial fishing, and the cruise industry. This is the first time that all lines of business have been evaluated together, according to the report.

It includes an analysis of direct jobs — such as longshore workers, truck drivers, and airport employees — as well as capturing a comprehensive viw of indirect jobs and induced economic benefit. Together, these represent the collective impact of port activities, demonstrating the amplifying economic effect the three organizations have across the region. In addition, the organizations helped generate nearly $550 million in state tax revenues in 2023 (Exhibit 90). Jobs

The Northwest Seaport Alliance

The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) manages marine cargo in both harbors and in 2023 handled nearly 3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containerized cargo, making it one of the largest gateways in the United States. Further, the NWSA is a key gateway for auto imports and breakbulk cargo. In 2023, NWSA operations supported an estimated 52,100 jobs, including 18,000 direct jobs, $4.4 billion in total wages and benefits, and nearly $14 billion in total business output throughout the state of Washington.

Port of Tacoma

The report found the combined impact of trade through the NWSA’s South Harbor and additional Port of Tacoma lines of business in 2023 supported more than 41,000 jobs, $3.4 billion in wages and benefits, and a business output of almost $10.8 billion.

“We often talk about Washington being the most trade dependent state in the nation. What we don’t always talk about is how the trade that comes through our gateway is the catalyst for a robust supply chain ecosystem and quality living wage jobs across the state. We aren’t just dependent on trade, we excel at it,” said Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair and Port of Tacoma Commission President John McCarthy in a press release.. “That trade excellence also serves the rest of the country. We are the ports of Idaho farmers and Midwest consumers; we serve a role of national importance and impact.”

Port of Seattle

The Port of Seattle’s business lines supported almost $39 billion in total business output, over 205,000 total jobs, and $396 million in total fiscal impact to the state.

The largest line of Port of Seattle business in the region is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), which supported nearly 175,000 jobs in 2023, $10.5 billion in wages and benefits, and $33.3 billion in business output.

The Port of Seattle’s growing cruise business is expected to support 5,120 jobs in 2025, generating nearly $327 million in wages and benefits and over $1.2 billion in business output.

The report also found the Port of Seattle’s commercial fishing industry supported 8,790 jobs in 2023 and generated $484 million in wages and benefits and over $1 billion in business output. The Port of Seattle’s other lines of business, including its real estate, maritime moorage, and recreational boating portfolios supported an additional 16,035 jobs in 2023, nearly $1.3 billion in wages and benefits, and just under $3.3 billion in business output.

“At the Port of Seattle, we’re building the port of the future ‒ one that drives economic opportunity, safeguards family-wage jobs, and advances environmental stewardship,” said Northwest Seaport Alliance Co-Chair and Port of Seattle Commission President Toshiko Hasegawa. “This report reaffirms that our marine cargo and aviation gateways are vital to the economic health of our region. And just as important, it reflects the strength of our decade-long collaboration between the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma through The Northwest Seaport Alliance ‒ proving what’s possible when we come together with a shared vision for sustainable, inclusive growth.”

The report, prepared by Community Attributes, Inc., measures jobs, income, and business output directly supported by port activities, as well as associated nearby services tied to port operations (such as warehousing and off-site transloading) and the broader economic and fiscal impacts of these activities to the state economy.

Download the full Economic Impact Analysis (PDF)

Contact

Katherine Fountain | Senior Media Officer
(206) 787-3071 | fountain.k@portseattle.org

Eco-Friendly sourcing and risks

Forest Farming by Sustainability via Flickr CC

An article in Information Today talks about “reigning in” the risks of sustainable sourcing. Written by contributing reporter Samuel Greengard, the report says that building more eco-friendly and sustainable supply chains “is rapidly becoming a top priority for businesses. A clear strategy and the right technology that delivers visibility can reduce risks and improve results.”

That’s great but what has taken so long for businesses to realize this? The climate crisis is well upon us — it should have been a top priority many years ago. One of the great lessons, and confluences, of the pandemic and the climate crisis, is that supply chains of all types must change their thinking dramatically about how they do business.

Back to the article. Greengard writes:

“Product shortages and supply chain disruptions have emerged as a frustrating reality for organizations across a wide swath of industries. Due to a convergence of factors — including the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a shortage of raw materials — procuring essential materials and components is increasingly difficult.

“Yet, things suddenly get a whole lot more complicated as soon as sustainable sourcing enters the picture. As businesses strive to meet aggressive climate goals and display results on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reports, the headaches and risks multiply. An inability to obtain materials, products and services can threaten basic operations.”

Supply chains and procurement are risky enterprises and adding green principles and sustainable sourcing to the mix adds even more risk. It’s the cost of doing business, so “reigning in risk” seems like the wrong approach. Actually, it can’t be done in a significant way because risk in the modern era is a pandora’s box.

“The end goal is to establish strategies, policies and processes that fully support sustainable sourcing.”

A nice and obvious thought but extremely difficult to implement as the climate crisis becomes more, well, critical. Better to do the right things, risks or no.

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Note: Things are changing job-wise for yours truly so watch this space for developments with this blog and other endeavors.

Supply chain decarbonization: the way forward

Getting to a global net-zero emission supply chain sounds like an impossible and expensive task, but it may be cheaper than one might think.

This is according to an article published in the recent State of Green Business report by Michael Holder, “The Price is Right.”

Holder, a BusinessGreen reporter, writes that “setting ambitious net-zero targets for a company’s core business is one thing, but achieving deep decarbonization across the entire supply chain is quite another.”

Many, if not most, supply chains are highly complex and reach across the globe, so measuring and mandating emissions is daunting. “Yet without action to get to net-zero emissions across every corner of the global economy, the planet’s climate will continue to warm.”

He referred to a recent report, “Net-Zero Challenge: The “Supply Chain Challenge,” from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) noting that, as well as being a “game changer” in the fight against climate change, decarbonizing supply chains is possible with readily available technologies and at surprisingly low cost. Some of the majore findings from the report include:

Many companies can multiply their climate impact by decarbonizing supply chains
Eight supply chains account for more than 50% of global emissions
Net-zero supply chains would hardly increase end-consumer costs. (Around 40% of all emissions in these supply chains could be abated with readily available and affordable levers)

Decarbonizing supply chains will be difficult; the report outlines nine major initiatives every company can take:

“Through interviews with several dozen global companies that lead the way in reducing supply chain emissions, we have identified nine key actions: (1) build a comprehensive emissions baseline, gradually filled with actual supplier data; (2) set ambitious and holistic reduction targets, reducing emissions by (3) revisiting product design choices and (4) reconsidering (geographic) sourcing strategy; (5) set ambitious procurement standards and (6) work jointly with suppliers to co-fund abatement levers; (7) work together with peers to align sector targets that maximize impact and level the playing field; (8) use scale by driving up demand to lower the cost of green solutions; and – finally – (9) develop internal governance mechanisms that introduce emissions as a steering mechanism and align the incentives of decision-makers with emission targets.”

There is no time like the present to get started.

Further reading: