Commissioned last fall, the study focused on services such as cargo transloading, labeling, bar coding, sorting, packaging, repair and modifications that increase the value of goods and speed them through the supply chain. The overall distribution and logistics industry, which accounts for one in 10 jobs in the region, includes the value-added distribution segment, together with traditional long-term product warehousing, product transportation, and related businesses such as freight forwarders, customhouse brokers and consolidators.

The Port commissioned the study so it could better understand the distribution industry's contributions to the region and better estimate the industry's need for industrial land in the future. "In this global economy, managing your transportation costs and quickly serving your customers requires a unique combination of freight transportation and available industrial land," says the Port's executive director Bill Wyatt. "Historically, this region has had a competitive advantage for freight transportation. On the other hand, the Portland area's industrial land resources are dwindling. We must look for ways to provide sites that businesses need for their modern distribution operations."

The study found the value-added distribution segment created nearly $810 million in personal earnings and paid $88.6 million in taxes to state and local governments in 2003. "This study confirms the significant and positive economic impacts that modern distribution center operations have in our region," says Wyatt. "What's more, distribution-related jobs pay about $9,000 more per year than the average of other jobs in this region, and Portland has a higher concentration of these jobs than most other cities across the nation."