LOS ANGELES — The 360-acre trade and logistics center that California's Port of Oakland is building will be a magnet to attract additional import and export cargo, according to port officials.
Maritime Business Development Manager Beth Frisher told Bay Area leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors that the port is strengthening its role as a premier global logistics center.
"As that happens, we'll bring increased economic vitality to the entire Bay Area and Northern California," Frisher said at the Bay Planning Coalitions' 2015 Decision Makers conference April 9.
Fisher pointed to the trade and logistics center the port and city of Oakland are building on the former Oakland Army Base as the catalyst to attract additional import and export cargo.
The port is constructing a rail yard at the site to be followed by new transload warehouses. When completed, commodities shipped in bulk can be transferred to containers for export out of Oakland and imports can be transloaded into 53-foot domestic containers and placed on rail cars for inland shipment.
Frisher said the new capabilities could convince shipping lines to make Oakland their first U.S. call. All the top container carriers have weekly services in Oakland now, but stop first in Southern California.
Two other projects in the planning stage are expected to generate more cargo growth, according to Frisher. One is a cold-storage facility; the other is a grain transload operation. Both would permit bulk shipments of agricultural products such as beef and grain to be transferred from rail to containers for overseas delivery. "With these facilities and our Class 1 rail connections, we're providing a direct link to the farm belt," she said.
Cargo growth at the Port could translate into increased jobs for Oakland. More than 73,000 jobs are already linked to the Port's three businesses: the seaport, Oakland International Airport and commercial real estate holdings that include Jack London Square. It is estimated that every 1,000 additional containers moving through the Port creates eight more jobs.
Growing the Bay Area's maritime and industrial economy sustainably is the focus of the annual Decision Makers Conference.
"As stewards of the Oakland waterfront and San Francisco Bay, we will continue to build our businesses responsibly and view everything we do through an environmental lens," said Richard Sinkoff, the Port's Director of Environmental Programs and Planning.
