Seattle Port Commission Approves 25-year Development Program

Press Release December 11, 2012

The program intends Port of Seattle to help create 100,000 new jobs in the region & reduce its environmental footprint.

"We established bold but achievable goals for the port and regional stakeholders in our Century Agenda," said John Creighton, Seattle Port Commissioner. "It builds on the 100 plus year role the port has played in creating economic growth for the Puget Sound region and the state of Washington. The Commission thanks the hundreds of citizens who worked with us to a set a path forward for the next 25 years."

To achieve its objectives, the Century Agenda identifies four strategies for the port to pursue with its business partners and stakeholders augmented by four regional initiatives that identify near-term opportunities for regional coalitions to collaborate and leverage the collective power of a shared agenda.

The port's strategies and objectives include:

Position the Puget Sound region as the premier international logistics hub – Goals to help achieve this include growing the annual container volume to more than 3.5 million; tripling air cargo volume to 750,000 metric tons; tripling the value of outbound cargo to more than $50 billion; and doubling the economic value of the fishing and maritime cluster.
Advance the region as a leading tourism destination and business gateway – The Agenda seeks to leverage both Sea-Tac Airport and existing cruise ship activity to achieve this goal. One focus is to make Sea-Tac Airport the west coast "Gateway of Choice" for international travel by doubling the number international flights and destinations. In addition, the Agenda focuses on meeting the region's air transportation needs and encouraging the cost-effective expansion of domestic and international passenger and cargo service. The second focus is to double the economic value of cruise traffic to Washington state.
Use the port's influence as an institution to promote small business growth and workforce development – This includes increasing the portions of funds spent by the port with qualified small business firms on construction, goods and services to 40% of the eligible dollars spent. The Agenda also supports an increase in work force training, job and business opportunities for local communities in maritime, trade, travel and logistics.
Ensure the Port of Seattle is the greenest and most energy efficient port in North America – Over the next 25 years, the port will implement a multi-faceted approach to reduce energy use, air pollutants, carbon emissions and storm water runoff. This includes reducing air pollutants and carbon emissions from all port operations by 50% from 2005 levels and reducing aircraft-related carbon emissions by 25%. In addition, the Agenda calls for the restoration, creation and enhancement of 40 additional acres of habitat in the Green/Duwamish watershed and Elliott Bay.