Working On Two Fronts

Message from the Project Director

Many folks ask us about our basic work as the Oregon Shipping Group. Here is our answer:

Our Oregon Shipping Group is working hard on two fronts, where we will make a difference for Oregon’s future as a key export/import state.

The first front involves re-establishing container shipping at Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland. The arrival and departure of such container shipping must be predictable, reliable, efficient, and cost-effective.  We propose to accomplish this by having the Oregon Legislature create an Oregon Shipping Authority, a public corporation empowered to take ownership of the taxpayer-funded Terminal 6 and get it back into operation.

The second front involves developing a vision, coupled with dynamic planning and action, as to Oregon’s future as a major trading state. With our West Coast location, and our outstanding agricultural, forestry, and manufacturing capability, we must ensure that we have international and national freight shipping capability, as to rail, road, and marine transportation. This includes developing transload facilities to maximize use of our 24 short rail lines, improving the short rail connections with long rail, improving rail lines themselves, reforming trucking regulations to help our trucking companies be more cost effective, and rapidly improving our maritime and seaport capabilities.

There is much to be done, and our Oregon Shipping Group is equipped to lead the discussion. We have already run through 11 drafts of legislation, the Oregon Trade and Shipping Development Act of 2017. You can find this draft bill on our website: oregonshippinggroup.com. We are also engaged in hands-on support for shipping systems improvements and development.

This is a two year project and we are eight months into our work. We have made substantial progress but we seek support from persons and businesses to effectively carry out our work.

Our group is not a PAC so contributions are confidential. We do not use contributions to support candidates or ballot measure campaigns. All contributions support our hands-on work in regard to enhancing Oregon shipping capabilities and advocacy for legislative reform.

If you would like to support our work, please send us an email with any suggestions or questions you may have. My email address is kevin@oregonshippinggroup.com.  

You know it will make a big difference for your business and the economy if we can restore container shipping at Terminal 6, but also enhance our rail, marine, and truck shipping capabilities throughout the state. Please help make this happen.

Sincerely,

Kevin L. Mannix

Project Director

Oregon Shipping Group

Project Director Kevin Mannix to Present to the

Senate Committee on Business and Transportation

On September 22, 2016, the Oregon Shipping Group will be making a presentation to the Oregon Legislature's Senate Committee on Business and Transportation. Kevin Mannix, the project director, and Connor Harrington, an attorney who is Kevin's Associate, will both be presenting the ideas and the scope of the Oregon Shipping Group project to the committee. During the presentation Mr. Mannix and Mr. Harrington will discuss, among a range of ideas, the history of Terminal 6 and how we propose to get it back into operation, and how Oregon needs to develop a strategic plan to support efficient, reliable, and cost-effective freight shipping. These ideas will be presented with time set aside for questions and answers from the committee members. The Oregon Shipping Group presentation will be one of seven presentations during the committee hearing which will begin at 8 a.m. and is scheduled to end at 11 a.m.