US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker presented the Port of Everett with the President’s “E” Award for Export Service at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The “E” Awards are the highest recognition any US entity may receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of US exports.
“The Port of Everett has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion. The “E” Awards Committee was very impressed with the Port of Everett’s commitment to finding unique solutions for logistics challenge in exporting oversized equipment,” said Secretary Pritzker in her congratulatory letter to the company announcing its selection as an award recipient.
The Port of Everett, located just 25 miles north of Seattle is a natural deep-water port that specializes in handling overdimensional, high value cargos for the construction and manufacturing industries.
“The Port of Everett is a national strategic asset that plays a critical role in achieving the President’s goal of doubling exports by 2020,” Port of Everett Executive Director John Mohr said. “The Port of Everett is not a throughput port, but rather a value port. We focus our operations very specifically on supporting the aerospace, construction, manufacturing and energy industries.”
According to the US Customs and Foreign Trade Division, Everett is ranked first in the state for export value at $22.7 billion in 2013, making us fourth on the West Coast in export value behind the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, and the Port of Oakland. Trade-related activities at the Port of Everett support more than 34,000 jobs in the region, and generate $4.1 billion in annual revenue and an additional $276 million in state and local taxes.
In addition to aircraft parts, the Port of Everett transports heavy equipment, machinery and mining equipment manufactured by primarily, Midwest companies. The cargo is transported to the Port of Everett mostly by rail, as the Port of Everett is the first port reached by the westbound BNSF mainline from the Midwest.
Nationwide, US exports of goods and services hit an all-time record of $2.3 trillion in 2013. Nationally, jobs supported by exports reached more than 11 million last year, up 1.6 million since 2009. Launched earlier this month, NEI/Next, a new phase of President Obama’s National Export Initiative, works to boost economic growth and support additional American jobs by assisting more US companies of all sizes in exporting to more markets across the globe.