-
Port projects create 5,000 new jobs
Modernisation projects at the Port of Long Beach generated as many as 5,166 construction-related jobs in 2012, according to the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners.
Last year, the Californian port awarded the US$650 million design-build contract for the Desmond Bridge bridge project and major contracts for the Middle Harbor Redevelopment Program. Other contracts awarded in 2012 included environmental work, security upgrades, shore power installations for terminals and other infrastructure.
“The creation of more than 5,000 new jobs is welcome news for Southern California,” said president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, Susan Anderson Wise.
“Keep in mind that these projects are modernising our port in order for us to stay competitive and remain a reliable economic resource that supports hundreds of thousands of permanent trade-related jobs.”
The construction-related job figures were calculated by examining each port project to determine how many direct construction jobs are created. Estimates are then made of the spin-off jobs associated with industries that support the port’s construction, as well as the jobs that result from construction and support industry workers spending their salaries. The share of direct construction jobs that make up each project’s estimated job total ranges from 40 to 64 percent.
The majority of these direct jobs are located in the City of Long Beach.
In 2011, port construction contracts generated 2,985 new jobs, while 880 jobs were created in 2010.
Long Beach is in the midst of a 10-year, $4.5 billion capital improvement program. Although the bridge replacement is mostly funded with state, federal and county transportation monies, the capital improvement program overall is supported primarily by the revenue generated by the shipping trade that moves through the port.
The port moves more than $155 billion in goods each year, helping to support more than 300,000 permanent jobs in Southern California.
