Focus on Manatee: Port Manatee setting strategic course for growth with plan update

With record activity far surpassing projections in Port Manatee’s last master plan update and with more than 5,000 acres of on-port and near-port properties offering abundant room for future growth, Manatee County’s seaport is advancing plans to set the course for strategically meeting industry needs for the coming decade and beyond.

The port is currently moving forward with expert consultants on a new master plan update to provide the framework for responsible, demand-based future expansion, to be based upon extensive research and stakeholder input.

With boosts from state and federal grants, much of the infrastructure work envisioned in the 2016 master plan update is now done or nearing completion, including the almost-finished $9.6 million first phase of expansion of the port’s dockside container yard, plus wide-ranging enhancements to berth, warehouse and gate facilities, as well as port roadways.

Now, fast-rising demand is underscoring the need for a tactical approach to future development of Central and Southwest Florida’s preferred gateway for global commerce.

Thus, in accord with state mandates for regular updates to master plans of all Florida seaports, Port Manatee is embarking on the process for a revision targeted for completion in 2022.

This new planning effort is envisioned to focus upon leveraging of public-private partnerships while addressing such vital factors as climate change and resiliency. Similar to the 379-page document delivered in 2016 by a team of independent consultants led by AECOM Technical Services Inc., the upcoming update is to furnish comprehensive analyses of market demands and delineate the most appropriate development strategies to cost-effectively meet such needs.

The master plan update process is just beginning, with extensive outreach to a broad spectrum of stakeholders intended for months to come. Of course, Port Manatee looks to keep the public posted on opportunities to provide valued input.

As a cornerstone of our region’s socioeconomic well-being, self-sustaining Port Manatee generates more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impacts while providing for more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs, all without benefit of local property tax support.

Striking as those impact figures already are, Port Manatee looks forward to working with stakeholders and consultants alike in pressing ahead with efforts to augment the seaport’s infrastructure and add to the well-paying jobs and the full range of positive impacts generated by port development for decades to come.

Carlos Buqueras is executive director of Port Manatee