In October 2014 the Washington state ports of Seattle and Tacoma entered into a joint operation called the Northwest Seaport Alliance. The alliance focuses entirely on protecting marine cargo market share and growing cargo volumes for Puget Sound, which is the third largest container gateway in North America. Combining the forces of the two ports is designed to leverage their strengths, improve terminal infrastructure and halt the erosion of market share both to the north and south of the state.
Last week during the 2015 Maritime Economic Forecast Breakfast at Century Link stadium in Seattle, speakers focused more on what is needed to enhance the joint operation rather than deliver the results of the operation’s first year report card.
Stephanie Bowman, co-president of the Port of Seattle’s board of commissioners said the marine industry is “the foundation of economic development for the middle class.” Bowman said the city is “literally losing our middle class.” She called on the industry to find a way to expose young people particularly to the merits of a maritime career or “we will become like San Francisco, a city of the very rich and the very poor.”
John Wolfe, the alliance’s CEO as well as the CEO of the Port of Tacoma said the industry has to look forward and come to the realization that investment in infrastructure and cooperation among marine entities are necessities.
“We need to invest in our infrastructure,” he said. “We need a business friendly climate, and we need help from pilot and tug companies.”
“The maritime sector is a complex, segregated industry,” said Joshua Berger, economic development director for Washington state's maritime industry sector. However, he said the level of awareness that education providers have produced with their efforts is “incredible.”
Berger said there are many top shelf marine companies in the area including Vigor Industrial and Foss Maritime and that many of the area marine companies have their own training facilities and programs.
