A Message from Chamber President Rick Aschieris:

State of the Port: Prospering while celebrating its 75th anniversary

FEBRUARY 2008 -  The Port of Stockton continues on the most significant expansion of its operations while celebrating its 75-year anniversary in 2008. Today the Port has become a true intermodal (involving one or more forms of transport) transportation hub and has further expanded its critical role in the Central Valley as “California’s Heartland Port” -- trading with more than 55 countries worldwide.

Long-term private sector investment was the strongest ever, as new projects at the Port surpassed $750 million in announced projects in a single year, while negotiations continued with a number of other companies.

In particular, during 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger personally announced that United States Gypsum Company will construct the largest wallboard manufacturing plant in the world at the Port of Stockton . The company will invest $240 million in construction alone and import by ship, approximately one million tons of gypsum rock from Mexico annually.

This project also represents the largest manufacturing facility in the history of San Joaquin County.

In addition, Lowe’s HIW, Inc. celebrated the opening of their new multi-modal distribution facility, while the Ferguson Enterprises’ 650,000 square foot distribution center, the M&L Commodities cold storage facility, the $120 million Pacific Ethanol plant, and the Community Fuels biodeisel processing plant -- all began construction during 2007.

Other significant achievements were also accomplished in the maritime sector in 2007. Most important was the inauguration of the Port’s direct ship-to-rail service. More than two miles long, and the largest such facility on the West Coast, the Port’s dockside rail service opened handling windmill segments.

These segments are manufactured in Vietnam, shipped to the Port of Stockton, and then loaded directly onto rail cars bound for Kansas, Texas, and Wisconsin. The Port also opened the first two docks at the West Complex that are dredged to match the ship channel depth of 35 feet mean low water.

This helped the Port to achieve the second-best year ever in ship calls and propel the Port of Stockton to become the leading small port in California in waterborne tonnage in 2007.

This investment has led to the creation of hundreds of “family-wage jobs” for Stockton, San Joaquin County, and our Valley. All of this was accomplished, and more, without taxing the citizens of the City of Stockton — while successfully competing with many ports that actually need to tax their citizens to operate.

In August, the Port also opened the Port of Stockton Expressway — providing an efficient connection for cargo traveling from the Port’s docks to the state and federal highway systems. In 2007, the Port also inaugurated the Delta Environmental Enhancements Program — an aggressive all-encompassing effort to insure port activities are environmentally efficient.

Under this program, the Port is partnering with government agencies and tenants to enhance our environment and includes our unique effort to provide appropriate properties for businesses engaged in activities that actually improve the Central Valley’s air and water quality.

Seventy five years ago, when the Port of Stockton hosted its first ocean-going ship, the S.S. Daisy Gray, the Port was seen as an opportunity to bring maritime commerce and quality jobs to the citizens of Stockton and the greater San Joaquin Valley.

Through the years, the Port has experienced the effects of economic depression, three wars, economic growth, fiscal challenges and the unprecedented expansion opportunities with the acquisition of the 1,450 acre West Complex. In 2008, the Port will be highlighting its rich history and the role it now plays as a vital part of the economic foundation of the City of Stockton and the Central Valley — as the remarkable rebirth of “California’s Heartland Port” continues.

You are invited to the Haggin Museum between Feb. 3 through March 9 to see “Diamond on the Delta” an exhibit tracing the 75-year history of the Port of Stockton — California’s first inland seaport.

Also on exhibit will be “Deepwater Steel” a series of beautiful maritime photographs of the Port of Stockton   by local photographer Steve Pereria. His exhibit will be seen in Stockton for the first time and has already been displayed at the San Francisco Maritime Museum and at the Dimbola Lodge on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.