Port receives $1 million loan for new dock
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 7:00 AM PDT
By Andre Stepankowsky
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe Port of Longview will receive a $1 million low-interest loan to help finance construction of a dock for a new grain export terminal, Gov. Chris Gregoire's office announced Monday.
The loan is contingent on the grain project going forward, and Port of Longview Executive Director Ken O'Hollaren said he's hoping for an announcement within a week.
"It's day to day," he said Monday, adding that the port is grateful for the loan and included it in its 2008 budget.
The loan approved by the state Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) would carry 4.55 percent interest and would be payable over 20 years starting in January 2012. "Those are very attractive terms," O'Hollaren said.
The dock -- which would be known as Berth 9 -- will cost about $7 million. Without the lost-interest CERB loan, the port would face challenges financing the project because "we're very close to our debt capacity," O'Hollaren said.
Constructing the dock "would be very problematic without" the loan, he added.
Bunge North America and Itochu International are thinking about building the privately financed $100 million terminal on the port's east industrial park. Officials say it would create more than 50 family-wage jobs.
In a prepared statement, Gov. Gregoire said the new dock is an example of investment in public works that "is the foundation for economic growth and is especially critical to many rural communities."
Other lower Columbia River ports have said there isn't enough grain business to go around, and that a Longview terminal will simply shift jobs and business around. Port of Longview officials, however, say the project will help meet growing demand for grain in China and other Asian markets.
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