Port of Everett Welcomes Port of Nagoya Delegation on International Tour

On August 26, the Port of Everett hosted a delegation from Port of Nagoya, Japan on the last stop of their international tour, that included Panama and the Port of Los Angeles.

While in Everett, the Japanese delegation met with local aerospace partners, took a harbor tour of the Port of Everett Seaport, and visited with local shipping partners and dignitaries including Port of Everett Commissioners and City of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin.

“We want to thank the Port of Nagoya delegation for sharing their day with us and we are honored that they chose to make the trip all the way to Everett,” Port of Everett Commission President Tom Stiger said. “The delegation’s visit is vital to continuing to foster strong business and trade partnerships between our port cities, and in turn, support a strong economic future here in Snohomish County and beyond.”

The Port of Everett has had a longstanding trade partnership with the Port of Nagoya, seeing weekly shipments between Nagoya and Everett for nearly three decades in support of aerospace manufacturing in the Pacific Northwest. The Port of Nagoya is the largest port in Japan.

“We value the strong partnership we have with the Port of Nagoya and hope this trip will foster new cargo opportunities between the Port of Everett and Port of Nagoya,” Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber said. “Our staff continues to work hard every day to support this partnership, and we will continue to do everything we can to support the aerospace industry both logistically and publicly when we get the opportunity. On behalf of the Port of Everett I want to stress our appreciation for the delegation’s travel to Everett, partnership and business relationships.”

A delegation from the Port of Nagoya last visited Everett in 2013. The group was pleased to see the significant seaport infrastructure upgrades that have been completed at the Port of Everett since that time. The harbor tour highlighted the more than $150 million the Port has invested over the past decade to modernize and green its facilities to further support local aerospace logistics, expand cargo opportunities and provide flexible infrastructure to support industry and emerging project cargo. Two notable additions were two 100-ft gantry cranes and a new 40-acre cargo terminal.

“The Port of Nagoya not only provides logistics support for the global manufacturing industry, including automobiles, machine tools, and electrical products, which are concentrated in our hinterland, but also plays an important role in steel production and the supply of raw materials and energy,” said Toshio Fujimori Vice Chairman of the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “The aerospace industry is one of the most important industries in our region, with Japan’s leading aircraft component manufacturers located in the area around the Port of Nagoya. Our two ports and regions are of great importance to each other, and this visit was truly meaningful and very fruitful.”

The Port of Everett specializes in handling conventional and over-dimensional cargoes for the construction, manufacturing, aerospace, energy, military, agriculture, energy and forest products industries. The Port of Everett supports 40,000 jobs and actively contributes $433 million in state and local taxes.

Among Washington State’s top imports and exports are airplanes and aerospace parts. The Port of Everett Seaport supports between $21-29 billion worth of U.S. exports annually, ranking as #2 export customs district in Washington state. As an essential element of this supply chain, the Seaport transports 100 percent of the oversized aerospace parts for the soon to be 737 MAX, 767, 777, 777X, KC-46 Tanker and Air Force One.

“Our port has always been a key economic driver – supporting thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic impact,” City of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said. “Everett started as a mill town, and now we are proud to be the world’s largest aerospace center. Our county has over 40,000 workers in aerospace or aerospace-related jobs – accounting for nearly half of our state’s entire aerospace workforce.”