Washington, D.C. (April 21, 2015) – Lancaster, Pa.-based Martin Associates, a leading provider of economic and strategic assessments of the world’s transportation systems, today released the results of its latest economic impact study of United States seaports. Dr. John Martin, Martin Associates’ president, debuted his firm’s 2014 National Economic Impact of the U.S. Coastal Port System report during the second day of the American Association of Port Authorities’ (AAPA) 2015 Spring Conference in Washington, D.C.
In the seven years since Martin Associates’ last nationwide ports economic impact study, the contributions of America’s seaports to the nation’s economy have risen dramatically. From 2007 to 2014, the total economic value that U.S. coastal ports provide in terms of revenue to businesses, personal income and economic output by exporters and importers rose 43 percent to $4.6 trillion. This accounted for 26 percent of the nation’s $17.4 trillion economy in 2014, up from 20 percent of its $16.1 trillion economy in 2007.
Other notable gains since 2007 in Martin Associates’ new report include:
- Federal, state and local tax revenues generated by port-sector and importer/exporter revenues rose 51 percent to $321.1 billion;
- Jobs generated by port-related activity jumped 74 percent to 23.1 million; and,
- Personal wages and local consumption related to the port-sector doubled to $1.5 billion, with the average annual salary of those directly employed by port-related businesses equating to $53,723.
“The growth in jobs and economic importance of America’s seaports reflects the fact that the value of international cargo handled at these ports increased by $400 billion since 2007, reaching about $1.8 trillion in 2014,” said Dr. Martin. “It’s important to emphasize that the key growth in our international trade was in U.S. exports, which saw a 60 percent increase in value over the past seven years.”
Dr. Martin noted that each dollar increase in the value of export cargo supports significantly more jobs in the U.S. than does a dollar value of growth in imports. He also emphasized that the robust growth in the economic impact value from U.S. ports occurred despite the economic recession that severely hampered marine cargo activity between 2008 and 2012.
“The growth in the contributions of our ports to the nation’s economy underscores the need to invest in infrastructure and technology to support and foster good jobs, national security, international trade and our standard of living,” said Dr. Martin
In agreement with Dr. Martin’s assessment is AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle, who said that particularly with the economic contributions of America’s seaports growing rapidly, there’s a significant and urgent need for more federal investment in enhancing the connections with those ports. He added, “On the land-side alone, AAPA’s U.S. member ports have identified at least $28.9 billion in needed investments by 2025. These necessary road, rail, bridge and tunnel improvements are crucial to enable our seaports to efficiently handle their expected cargo volumes, continue providing dramatic economic and jobs impacts, and enhance America’s international competitiveness.”
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About Martin Associates
Martin Associates (www.martinassoc.net) was founded in 1986 to provide economic, market analysis, feasibility studies, economic impact assessment and strategic planning studies to the port and maritime industry. Since its founding in 1986, Martin Associates has conducted more than 800 market, economic, planning, logistics, feasibility, and strategic planning studies for ports, terminal operators, private sector investors, national and state governments and agencies, in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and South America. Martin Associates provides consulting services to numerous global terminal operators and investment groups with respect to private sector marine terminal development, and is involved in the development of public-private partnerships (P3s) for marine terminal development, and terminal valuations and lease analysis for public ports as well as privately owned ports.
About AAPA Founded in 1912, AAPA today represents 150 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 300 sustaining and associate members, firms and individuals with an interest in seaports. As a critical link for access to the global marketplace, each year, Western Hemisphere seaports generate trillions of dollars of economic activity, support the employment of millions of people and import and export more than 7.6 billion tons of cargo including food, clothing, medicine, fuel and building materials, as well as consumer electronics and toys. The volume of cargo shipped by water is expected to dramatically increase by 2020 and the number of passengers traveling through our seaports will continue to grow. To meet these demands, the AAPA and its members are committed to keeping seaports navigable, secure and sustainable.
~ Seaports Deliver Prosperity ~
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