Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority unveils plans for port reconfiguration for business investment and jobs

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Cleveland, Ohio - Support is growing for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's plan to reconfigure port facilities in order to grow jobs, private investment and maritime business on the port with endorsements from the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The Port Authority plans to construct multiple new facilities on its property, create essential job growth and establish Cleveland and the Port as key assets for the economic competitiveness of Ohio and the region.  The reconfiguration of the Port of Cleveland will set the stage to lure transportation-dependent manufacturers, logistics and alternative energy businesses, associated jobs and maritime through-put to the current Port while creating a gateway to international markets. 

As part of this job growth strategy the Port Authority is pursuing partnership funding through the Ohio Department of Development as well as the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA).  These funds would be used to construct new facilities, infrastructure improvements and equipment to house new business and manufacturing at the Port of Cleveland. 

Mayor Frank Jackson recognizes the importance of the Port's plans for Cleveland's future, saying, "transportation is a life-line to commerce.  By carefully planning and implementing appropriate strategies, the Port Authority will create connections between Cleveland and the world, leading to job growth for the City." 

Commissioner Tim Hagan acknowledges the importance of using Port Authority property for maritime, manufacturing and logistics uses; he says, "The Port Authority is pursuing the necessary strategies that will allow for significant and essential asset creation, business growth and job and tax generation."  

Joseph D. Roman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, says the Port can have a transformational impact on the region and Ohio.  "We continue to work with the Port to improve its current operations and advance its relocation activities in order to create an international logistics and distribution district and accelerate access to the lake front.  All of this is critical to our City and region in terms of business growth and economic development opportunities," he said.

Steven J. Williams, Vice Chair of the Port Authority Board of Directors, says the Port is at a critical point in time where changes in North American logistics trends and newly evolving bi-national maritime policy in Canada and the US have intersected to provide our region a great opportunity to support growth in international trade. He says, "This is about helping our state and region's manufacturing base be more competitive. Northeast Ohio is an important inland manufacturing center and water routes to foreign markets are the most economical, most reliable and by far the most eco-friendly.  This work supports the Port Authority's Strategic Plan vision to become a premier port on the Great Lakes - as the first major US port on the St. Lawrence Seaway." 

Williams says, "The creation of this reconfiguration plan is designed to attract new investment and maximize the use of our current physical assets. This ambitious set of projects is necessary to create a strong, vibrant, competitive Port that will leverage new jobs and taxes for the region and the State of Ohio."

At the same time, the Port Authority is working diligently on long-term planning efforts toward building a new Port facility at East 55th Street in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The ultimate relocation of the Port to an alternate location was an objective of the City's Lakefront Plan.

Over the next 25 years, the Port Authority will relocate its maritime activities to the new Port in phased steps, creating the opportunities for world class redevelopment of the downtown lakefront, beginning in about five years. The Port Authority is working in collaboration with community stakeholders to create a world-class vision for that ultimate redevelopment - the development of what many expect to be Cleveland's acclaimed waterfront signature. These highly coordinated strategies allow for significant job growth in the near-term while creating long-term assets that will facilitate growth for the next 100 years or more.

For more information about the Port Authority, visit www.PortofCleveland.com.

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