Thursday, February 9, 2012

Job Activity Nearly Triples at Port of Long Beach

About 3,000 additional jobs were generated at the Port of Long Beach in 2011, along with nearly $300 million in regional economic activity, thanks to new construction projects, port officials revealed in a report this week.

“This report reaffirms all the positive things we’re doing here,” POLB Executive Director J. Christopher Lytle said. “The money we’re investing is paying off in terms of jobs created.”

Among the projects cited for the boost were the kickoff of the port’s $1.2 billion Middle Harbor redevelopment project, preliminary construction on the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement and a new maintenance facility.

The estimated 3,000 jobs were nearly triple that of the prior year; in 2010, port projects generated about 880 jobs.

“2011 was a spectacular year for jobs, particularly when compared to 2010. By February 2011, we had exceeded the number of jobs added in all of 2010,” Larry Cottrill, the port’s Director of Master Planning said. About 96 percent were in construction-related fields, he said.

The port has about $4.5 billion in capital improvements planned for the next decade, which could generate as many as 50,000 new, permanent jobs in the region plus thousands of temporary construction jobs.

The port currently supports as estimated 30,000 jobs in Long Beach – one in eight in the city – as well as nearly 316,000 throughout Southern California. Nationwide, the port says it supports about 1.4 million jobs in fields related to goods movement, including dock work, truck driving, warehousing and freight forwarding.