EVERETT — The Port of Everett is hoping the Midwest can make the docks here busier.
The port last month hired a Michigan company to help find new cargo opportunities.
As the port’s Midwest agent, the company, Green Funnel Agency of New Buffalo, Michigan, will work with freight forwarders, railroads, ocean carriers and other shippers to uncover new business, according to a news release from the Port of Everett.
The agency is on a $1,700 monthly retainer — $20,400 annually, said Lisa Lefeber, the port’s spokeswoman.
While Everett is much smaller — and less congested — than the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, that can work to its advantage, said Vincent Sullivan, business development director at Green Funnel Agency. With Everett, “business decisions will be more nimble than the larger ports. This will allow us to be more effective in our business recruitment efforts.”
Many of the exports that pass through Everett’s waterfront already start in the Midwest, said Carl Wollebek, the Port of Everett’s chief operating officer.
It is Wollebek’s responsibility to make sure cargo moves smoothly through the port. Everett’s specialty is break-bulk cargo and freight that’s too big to fit in shipping containers. The Port of Everett also is a major link in the Boeing Co.’s supply chain.
In 2014, 184 cargo vessels stopped at the Port of Everett, a 5 percent increase over the previous year. The port also saw a 25 percent increase in tonnage moved in and out — from 359,379 short tons in 2013 to 449,176 last year.
Despite the increase in tonnage, the port moved 11 percent fewer containers in 2014 than it did the year before.
The port is a public agency. However, much of the $40 million in revenue it expects to collect in 2015 comes from business operations, which include real estate, a marina and the seaport. It plans to collect $4.5 million through a ongoing property tax levy this year. The port can also raise money for capital projects through bond sales.
In recent years, the Port of Everett has spent more than $50 million on capital projects, including several meant to improve cargo operations.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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