What to know about the Port of Green Bay's $217 million economic impact
Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette
5 min read
GREEN BAY - A strong, regional economy helped fuel a "remarkable" 47% increase in the Port of Green Bay's economic impact in a five-year span.
Dean Haen, director of the port, said a recent study of the economic impact of shipping in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway region provided the port specific details on the value of commodities coming through Green Bay, wages generated, taxes paid and economic activity that results.
The study found the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway maritime industry generated 241,000 jobs and $26 billion of economic activity.
Dean Haen, director of the Port of Green Bay, talks about the port's economic impact on the Green Bay area Tuesday at the U.S. Venture port terminal.
The Port of Green in 2022 generated about $217 million in economic activity, up 47.6% from the last study in 2017. Port operations and commodities arriving via the port help support 1,620 jobs in the region and generated about $38 million in taxes.
Haen said that increase came in a year when overall freight volumes declined from recent peaks in 2019 to 2022.
"We just happened to have down year but saw some really impactful numbers," Haen said.
What is the Port of Green Bay?
The Port of Green Bay is a Brown County-run agency that manages infrastructure and provides facilities for companies to move commodities and products into and out of the Green Bay region by ship.
Companies operate 14 terminals along the Fox River from the mouth of the Bay of Green Bay south to Georgia-Pacific's Broadway Mill, which is currently undergoing a $500 million expansion.
The MV Arubaborg cargo ship docked at the KK Integrated Logistics terminal on the Fox River on July 11, 2018.
What comes in and out of the port?
About 150-175 ships unload and load a range of commodities at those 14 terminal sites.
Products include coal, limestone, salt, oil, gasoline, liquid asphalt, tallow, agricultural commodities, bulk forest products, machinery and large equipment.
Some operators convert the materials into finished products or distribute them to retailers. Other operators sell the commodities to end-users in industries like construction and agriculture.
The American Mariner unloads coal on Aug. 14, 2018, in Green Bay.
Oil and gasoline products and a strong northeastern Wisconsin economy fuel the increase
Haen said port volumes, measured in metric tons, recently peaked at nearly 2.3 million metric tons in 2019. It declined to 1.9 million metric tons in 2020 and 2021 before falling again last year to 1.76 million metric tons.
Haen said the port's economic impact is less a reflection of the volume of goods coming in or going out, and more a reflection of the overall strength of the regional economy.
"Agriculture is good. Construction has been good and manufacturing has been good," Haen said. "When those three things are rolling, we’re moving stuff that someone else is consuming in terms of fuel or making something."
The port since 2016 has seen a notable shift from coal, which costs about $118 per ton, to petroleum products, which cost about $650 per ton. This could explain some of the increase in economic impact, too. In 2013, more than 650,000 metric tons of coal arrived via the port, but coal volumes declined to about 193,000 metric tons in 2022.
In contrast, petroleum products such as gasoline and oil surged from 8,466 metric tons in 2015 to nearly 150,000 metric tons in 2016. Deliveries peaked in 2021 at 380,789 metric tons before declining in 2022 to 310,662.
The Port of Green Bay doesn't just handle cargo and commodities. The port helped bring the Ocean Navigator cruise ship to Leicht Park in downtown Green Bay in both 2022 and 2023.
From gas prices to jobs, Port of Green Bay's impacts span the region
Haen said he hears this question often and noted port businesses help fuel so many of Wisconsin's key industries and the Green Bay area's major employers, be it trucking companies, paper mills or farms.
"You think of the port, you say, ‘oh, that doesn’t really affect me,’ but it does. When you rebuild your street or pour a new driveway or build a new house, that’s cement or asphalt coming through here," he said.
The 1,620 jobs supported, both directly and indirectly, also support a lot of families, he said.
"You can look in anyone’s extended family and someone’s connected to the port. Somebody works at Georgia-Pacific, somebody works at Procter and Gamble, U.S. Venture. Somebody is a truck driver, a forklift operator. It’s all connected."
And then there's gasoline prices, something every consumer watches closely. The increase in petroleum deliveries to a terminal run by Appleton-based U.S. Venture have helped keep gasoline prices in northeastern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan stable since a key fuel pipeline into the area shut down in 2017.
How does the Port of Green Bay's $217 million economic impact compare to a Green Bay Packers home game?
It might be difficult to gauge just how big the port's $217 million in direct, indirect and related spending really is.
So let's put it in terms we might understand a little bit better: A Green Bay Packers home game.
Admittedly the spending involved is very different: Packers fans spend money at hotels, shops, bars, restaurants, etc. and port operators generally help the local economy keep moving.
Each Packers home game generates about $18 million economic activity. By that comparison, the Port's annual impact equates to a little more than 12 Packers home games, or 1.5 regular seasons.
