How much money and how many jobs do the North Carolina State Ports generate?
North Carolina Ports spokeswoman Karen Fox refers to a 2005 economic impact report done for the N.C. State Ports Authority. The report states that North Carolina’s ports in Wilmington and Morehead City directly and indirectly support 85,000 jobs that contribute $299 million annually in state and local tax revenues, based on the fiscal 2005 cargo values from the two ports. The study says that only 5,000 of those jobs are at the ports, or otherwise directly related to maritime activity. They include some 300 Ports Authority employees, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, trucking companies, ship’s chandlers and fuel companies. “Another 6,500 jobs are created by the purchasing power of those direct jobs,” the report by national transportation and economic consulting firm Martin Associates says. The remainder of the jobs exist throughout the state, in large manufacturing facilities and smaller businesses. All are dependent “on the momentum provided by the economic engin
