PO Box 140
Tenino, WA  98589

360-866-7596

Friends of Rocky Prairie

Jobs?

Job figures cited as being Port-generated usually include all distantly related employment, such as the retail employees in big box stores, and stores that have imported goods.

The Port of Tacoma has been unable to speculate about the amount and the type of jobs that might be generated at the South Sound Logistics Center. With the recent “umbrella agreement” which the Ports have entered into, we may speculate that a good number of the jobs will be filled by Port personnel. Terms of their agreement allow the Ports to pass employees back and forth between the two ports during intermittent slow periods. These same “floating” employees would most likely be utilized at the SSLC site as well.

In the Interlocal agreement between the Ports, it was referenced that the SSLC would be creating jobs for the residents of Pierce County as well as Thurston County. If the Port constructs a huge Warehousing facility similar to the ones referenced in the Tumwater Ordinance, as stated in the ordinance, “huge warehousing facilities generate very few jobs.”

Neighboring Lewis County is hesitant to invite the SSLC to their region specifically because it will not provide enough employment, yet they are hurting for jobs since the TransAlta coal mine closed.

Also, many of the jobs may be railroad dependent and therefore only open to current members of the railroad union. If the nearby rail-related industries relocate to the Port's site, they will bring most of their job-pool with them.

At this time we may only speculate as to the amount of jobs that may be created at the proposed site. But in proportion to the enormous profits the Port of Tacoma and overseas industries will enjoy, the balance of benefits for our local economy seems questionable.