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Many people in our community do not realize the economic impact the Port of Bremerton has on our local economy. In 2019 the Port decided we wanted to find out what that impact was and we retained the services of a consulting firm GMA Research to conduct a study to determine the overall economic impact the Port has on our region. The results were astounding. The study showed that the 63 companies operating on Port property generated 1.1 Billion in sales, helped create 5,600 jobs and 348 million in labor income, all in Kitsap County. It is obvious the Port of Bremerton is fulfilling its mission of creating jobs, growing the economy, and improving the quality of life in our community. 

The future offers amazing opportunities for the Port to continue to grow our business. In 2020 we have a number of major goals we plan to achieve:

1. We must begin the planning and development of the new breakwater for the Port Orchard marina. This project will be the major capital investment for the Port in the next few years. We expect to invest over 12 million dollars in upgrading the Port Orchard marina breakwater facility. 

2. This year we will begin a master plan process for our industrial park. This will allow us to plan for the future of our industrial park and what facilities we will need to attract new companies. I am very excited about this process and the opportunity to upgrade all our facilities in the park. This year we will also open a new industrial building in the park that will attract new companies. 

3. Our airport and our airport facilities will see a lot of new development in the next few years. We are building new hangars to accommodate the demand by private airplane owners including private jet owners. We will also be replacing the Airport Diner with a new facility and more hangars as part of that expansion. In addition, our Bremerton National Airport as part of a regional study will be under consideration as a possible new regional airport. This will be a long process, probably two years, and the community will be asked to participate in deciding the future of our airport. 

Another major initiative for the Port in the next few years will be to help determine the future improvements needed to upgrade the Gorst interchange—which we all know is a major traffic problem during a big part of the day.  

The Port of Bremerton is healthy and fulfilling its mission but there is much more that can be accomplished and 2020 looks to be an exciting year.

Cary Bozeman

Port of Bremerton Commissioner.

Born and raised on a family farm in Kitsap County, Gary Anderson has more than 30 years of experience in land use and development issues. Starting his career in accounting, he eventually moved into residential real estate, then commercial real estate, real estate development and commercial leasing, before opening his own company in 2011. He has been active in the community, having served on the Board of Directors for the Port Orchard Chamber, as President of the Association of Realtors, and as a member of the Port Orchard Rotary. 

“I have held a desire to improve our community's way of life and have put that desire into my efforts as a commercial real estate broker.” Anderson said, “[I] have considered running for Port Commission for the past 10 years to further meet that desire.”

Anderson was elected to serve as Port Commissioner in 2020 for a six-year term and is looking forward to supporting the Port of Bremerton to create economic opportunity and jobs in Kitsap County. He’s focused on helping to improve the quality of life for residents and to uphold the commitment to fiscal responsibility to taxpayers investing in our community.

“Our end customer is the sailor on the deck plate,” Kevin Stewart, the first employee of Delphinus Engineering's West Coast branch, and now Director of PACNORWEST, likes to say. Primarily serving the Navy, they work on everything from Navy ship installations to fiber optic installations to berthing upgrades for the sailors. “We ask ourselves, ‘How well is that sailor taken care of?’” Stewart said. 

Ranjit Das, Roby Lentz, and Phil Tordella own the 25-year-old company. Their corporate office is in Eddystone, Pennsylvania and since expanding to the West Coast, Delphinus Engineering has grown immensely. When Stewart’s son went off to college in 2004, Stewart converted the newly-empty bedroom into an office and began work from there. Interviews for new employees were conducted at the Family Pancake House, the office away from the home office, until the local branch expanded out of the house. Stewart, himself a retired Navy officer, has grown from managing one to 275 employees at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Keyport, Hawaii, Nevada, Portsmouth NH, and Norfolk. Sixteen of those 275 work here at the Port of Bremerton. 

As one of the newest additions, they’ve been a tenant here at the Port since March 2019. With Bremerton and Keyport just a short drive away, the Olympic View Industrial Business Park has been a great location for them. Stewart said that they’re glad to finally have their office, warehouse, and shop under one roof. If you’re interested in learning more about Delphinus Engineering, visit their website at https://www.delphinus.com/.

by James Weaver, Director of Marine Facilities

Ringing in the New Year is cause for celebration, for spending time with friends and family, and for looking back. The close of the holiday season heralds the end of an amazing 2019 year for the Port of Bremerton, and the beginning of the exciting new decade of boating for 2020. 2019 was incredibly successful for the Port Orchard Marina and the Bremerton Marinas with one of our busiest summers ever at both marinas. Over fall, the weather in Sinclair Inlet was dry and pleasant for many autumn weekends with an extended boating season for guest boaters and yacht clubs to visit both the Port Orchard and Bremerton marinas. The upcoming 2020 year promises many festivals, events, new projects, and marina improvements.  

We've got some exciting new things happening at our Olympic View Industrial Park! Our newest project includes a 5,300 sq. ft. building along HWY 3 and multiple pad-ready sites. Logging for this project began this month.

We've also broken ground on our first spec building, a 17,400 sq. ft. building located at 5550 Cruiser Loop SW. The building spec is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2020 and a few parties have expressed interest in becoming tenants.

If you're interested in all or part of either building or the pad-ready sites, please contact Arne Bakker, Director of Business Development at [email protected] or at 360-813-0814.

by Warren Hendrickson, Airport Manager

Happy New Year! I trust the holiday season treated everyone well. Hopefully you had an opportunity to visit the airport to see the magnificent decorations on our Port office and airport facilities. Kudos to the airport maintenance staff for a superb job!

Before we look at where we are going in 2020, a retrospective look at this past year would be most appropriate. Here is a recap of the capital projects completed in 2019:

We've been working on updating Port of Bremerton's campus signage, starting with large monuments at the airport's entrance, and ending with directories for the airport and industrial park tenants. We now have addded:

Now, when looking for the businesses at our airport and industrial park, finding them should come easier. We'll be continuing to update and add more signage around the park in 2020 in order to further help tenants and visitors.