Long Beach Post: Interview with Gavin Newsom (port infrastructure)

From Long Beach Post:

LBP: Going back to the ports a little bit, what kind of importance will the trade industry have driving the state’s economy?

GN: It’s critical.  One of the great gifts in California and one of the reasons I’m very optimistic about our future is our gateway status to Asia, and the Pacific. We are uniquely positioned in terms of the macro-economic growth that the world will experience when the economy begins to turn the tide – in this case literally, not just figuratively. 

So, Long Beach is a profoundly significant part of the economic success of this state.  There are environmental issues that are real and there are infrastructure issues that are real in terms of the aging facilities at our Ports. There are obviously issues that need to be addressed in relationship to trade, too. Be it Japan – who is one of our biggest trading partners – or Canada, Mexico, and certainly in relationship to the opportunities in China and Asia abroad. 

Long Beach is not just a port from an infrastructure perspective, but it’s the infrastructure that connects the port to the rest of the state and the nation, that also needs to be improved and upgraded. That, I think, will define our resurgence and define economic growth of the state for years to come.