Marine cargo operations at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma supported more than 48,000 jobs in 2013, which generated nearly $4.3 billion in economic activity, according to a study commissioned jointly by the two ports and released this morning.

If those 48,000 jobs were represented by individual people, they would almost fill the Tacoma Dome and Key Arena.

This marine cargo activity produced more than $378 million in local and state taxes to support education, police, fire services and road improvements.

This engine of economic activity, however, is threatened. Commissioners from the two ports, who met together this morning, were reminded about troubling industry trends that show a loss of market share by the Puget Sound gateway when it comes to handling international cargo. While containerized cargo volumes moving through North American West Coast ports grew from 19 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 36.5 million TEUs since 2000, the Puget Sound's market share has fallen from 15 percent to 9 percent.

One important challenge faced by our ports is the lack of support infrastructure. Community Attributes, the firm that briefed the two commissions on the economic impact study, specifically called out the need to finish State Routes 509 and 167. Port of Seattle Bill Bryant, noted the connection between infrastructure and the loss of market. "If we don't get these finished in the next few years, we are in trouble. We do not have 10 years."

Read more about the joint economic impact study and download the full report.

Download Fact sheet: Economic impact (224.4 KB), Download Commission presentation: Economic impact (2.45 MB)