Focus on Manatee: Port Manatee celebrates 50 years as key economic engine in region
As 2020 dawns, Port Manatee is celebrating its golden anniversary, proudly marking 50 years as a leading contributor to the socioeconomic well-being of Manatee County and beyond.
Advancing a vision put forward in the 1950s by insightful community leaders, Manatee County bought 357 acres near Piney Point for $900 per acre in 1965, the same year the Florida Legislature passed legislation creating the Manatee County Port Authority.
Even before its formal dedication ceremony, Port Manatee received its first vessel call, with 2,000 tons of Korean plywood being offloaded from the 576-foot-long M/V Fermland on Aug. 7, 1970. Eighty-two days later, on Oct. 29, 1970, the formal dedication ceremony was held for the fledgling port.
While Port Manatee’s initial growth centered around petroleum and phosphate industries – still important cargo contributors today – the port’s commodity mix has significantly diversified, with forest products, cement and such fresh produce as bananas and pineapples among goods joining the flow across busy docks.
Over the years, Port Manatee and its partners have put in place leading-edge infrastructure, including multiple mobile harbor cranes, with the port now offering 10 40-foot-draft berths near the entrance to Tampa Bay.
Recent years have seen commencement of service of Port Manatee-based World Direct Shipping, furnishing an expeditious connection between Mexico and U.S. markets for refrigerated produce and other goods, and founding of the International Trade Hub at Port Manatee, serving as a vital link between markets in Florida and throughout the world by providing expert advice and support tools to local and international firms alike.
This past decade also has seen further industrial development on neighboring lands, including the Air Products Port Manatee production facility, fabricating massive liquefied natural gas heat exchangers on a 32-acre site immediately across U.S. 41 from port property. With abundant incentives available, such adjacent development continues, taking advantage of nearly 5,000 acres of surrounding green space.
As Manatee County Commissioner Priscilla Whisenant Trace assumes the chair of the Manatee County Port Authority board for 2020, following Vanessa Baugh’s three years of vibrant leadership, Port Manatee is poised to further build upon its record-shattering successes, adding to the self-sustaining port’s more than $2.3 billion in economic impacts and provision of 24,000-plus direct and indirect jobs, all without benefit of local property tax support.
At this time, a few days into 2020, when many well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions have already been broken, Port Manatee remains steadfastly dedicated to its resolution to constantly enhance its positions as a preferred gateway for global commerce and as a dynamic regional economic engine while upholding the highest standards of environmental consciousness, safety and security, and community engagement.
Happy 50th!
Carlos Buqueras is executive director of Port Manatee.