Study: Great Lakes-Seaway boasts North American jobs

   The  Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system supports more than 225,000 jobs and generates billions of dollars in income and revenues annually in both the United States and Canada, according to a study released today.
   The study, “The Economic Impacts of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System 2010,” was commissioned by the maritime industry and government agencies from both countries.  It was peer reviewed by both U.S. and Canadian economists.
   The comprehensive study measured the effects of 2010 cargo movements at U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes ports, including employment; personal income; business revenue; local purchases; and federal, state, provincial, and local taxes.  Maritime activity on the St. Lawrence Seaway  supported $34 billion in business revenue; $14 billion in personal income; and $4.6 billion in federal, state, provincial, and local tax revenue.
   “The jobs sustained by the maritime industry include not only those located directly on the waterfront, but also many industrial sector jobs such as construction workers, miners and steelworkers, many of which would disappear if it was not for a vibrant, healthy maritime industry operating along the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System,” said Collister Johnson Jr., administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., in a statement.
   In 2010, U.S. and Canadian ports and marine terminals on the Great Lakes Seaway System handled 322.1 million metric tons of cargo, including grain, iron ore, coal, manufactured iron and steel products, stone, and specialty cargoes such as wind energy components.
   A link to the full study can be found here.