$10 million TIGER investment announced in July will help Port modernize South Terminal to accommodate larger vessels and heavier cargo
Port of Everett supports more than 35,000 local and regional jobs
Representative Larsen, Senator Murray, and Les Reardanz, the Port of Everett CEO, tour the South Terminal on Wednesday.
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) toured the Port of Everett’s South Terminal, which will directly benefit from a $10 million U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) competitive grant announced last month. The grant will help modernize the South Terminal through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, a program championed by Senator Murray in Congress. Earlier this year, both Senator Murray and Representative Larsen sent letters to DOT urging support for the Port of Everett’s grant application, citing the project’s importance to the local and regional economy.
“With tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of exports, the Port of Everett is a critical part of our regional economy, which is why I am proud to stand with the Port today and why I’m so glad it received this important investment,“ Senator Murray said. “I created the TIGER program because it’s all about making our communities and our transportation systems safer, more efficient, and able to meet the demands of the 21st century economy. I will keep fighting in the other Washington to make sure the TIGER program has the resources it needs from the federal government to invest in infrastructure in Everett and around Washington state.”
“This is great news for the hundreds of businesses and the tens of thousands of jobs that depend on the Port of Everett to connect local goods and services with global markets,” said Larsen, a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “As an economic pillar of our region, an investment in the Port is an investment in the long-term economic growth that will create jobs in the Pacific Northwest – and I am proud to support the Port’s modernization efforts.”
“It was great having Senator Murray and Congressman Larsen visit us so we could show them up-close how their ongoing support and advocacy of the Port of Everett’s South Terminal Modernization efforts will benefit trade and maritime jobs in Washington State,” Port of Everett CEO Les Reardanz said. “With this federal investment, we will be able to modernize our facilities to continue to support the aerospace, manufacturing and construction industries in the region.”
The $10 million investment will help complete the South Terminal Modernization Project at the Port and double its rail capacity, which will ensure the Port can support larger vessels and heavier cargo in order to better serve their customers and compete in the global marketplace. The Port of Everett is a strategic port that supports Washington state’s aerospace, construction, manufacturing, and energy industries, with nearly $25 billion in exports annually and supporting more than 35,000 jobs.
TIGER is a unique, cost-effective program that helps state and local agencies tackle complex transportation and economic development challenges in their communities. This TIGER grant is made possible by investments Senator Murray fought to include in the FY2016 Omnibus, which Congress passed in December 2015. Senator Murray also secured $525 million for the TIGER program in the FY2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill that passed the Senate in May, which is a $25 million increase over FY2016 funding.
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