Report details economic impacts of Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership announced Wednesday the release of a study of the economic impacts of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system, titled Economic Impacts of Maritime Shipping in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region.

According to the study, 2017 maritime commerce supported 237,868 jobs, $35 billion in economic activity, $14.2 billion in personal income and local consumption expenditures, and $6.6 billion in federal, state or provincial and local tax revenue.

The study found that, in Pennsylvania, maritime commerce supports 757 jobs, $90.8 million in economic activity, $49.5 million in total personal income and local consumption expenditures and $20.4 million in federal, state and local tax revenue.

“This report validates what we’ve long known – that the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway is crucial to the US economy,” Craig H. Middlebook, deputy administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, said. “This bi-national waterway not only provides a multitude of well-paying jobs – on land and at sea – it offers a cost-effective, safe and fuel-efficient means of moving goods to and from domestic and global markets.”

Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pennsylvania conducted the analysis using 2017 data from interviews with more than 750 individual firms with 1,105 operations throughout the region.