TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) - A new study by shippers and U.S./Canadian government agencies reveals the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway shipping industry supports 227,000 jobs in U.S. and Canada, including 28,000 jobs in Ohio, with those Ohio jobs generating $2 billion in personal income.
The study measured cargo movements in 2010 at 32 ports along the Great Lakes-Seaway system. Joe Cappel, Cargo Development Director at the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, says maritime commerce is a good gauge of how the economy is moving, "When we see numbers like in 2011 with iron ore being up, that's an indicator that production of appliances and automobiles are up as well".
A sign of shipping being a key part of local economic development efforts, construction work is in full swing on the Ironville Docks expansion project aimed at luring new employers to the area, "Doubling the size of the Port of Toledo, bringing in more rail infrastructure with our equipment replacement with the new cranes, new material handler at Midwest Terminals, Toledo is definitely on the upswing," said Cappel.
The latest figures show shipping activity in 2011 in Toledo is up by 7 percent compared to last year. "Right now it's getting into the fall harvest season, we're seeing more corn being exported from ADM, Cargill, the Anderson's, here locally we expect a pretty strong finish to our shipping season," said Cappel.
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For more information on the study, visit www.marinedelivers.com.
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