By: Eric ffitch, Executive Director
Late last month, I sped north on I-5 and ducked off into the pastoral wonder of Burlington and Skagit County, bound for the Skagit Regional Airport and the Port of Skagit’s regular commission meeting. My interests were general, seeking a broader understanding of the role the Port played in its surrounding community. Even before the commission meeting kicked off, it was clear that this was a port that was immersed in its community. It was nice to have a few tenants and port partners join me in the audience, and even local media was present to observe proceedings.
Over the course of the meeting, I learned a great deal about the Port’s core operations: its airport is on the FAA’s National Plan of Integrated Air Systems and serves a robust corporate air service clientele, while also hosting aviation maintenance tenants and a flight school. The airport parking lot will soon host EV (Electric Vehicle) charging stations, something many ports are looking into as grants become available to support expanded EV charging networks. And the airport deals with an issue familiar to many of our marina ports, but not one I had heard much before on the aviation side: derelict airplanes!
Environmental cleanup is never far from the mind of our port members, and the Port of Skagit Commission meeting included a briefing on environmental remediation at the Swift Center, a property which the port acquired from the State of Washington in 2018. Former laundry operations at the Northern State Hospital have left contamination under the building slab, and the Port is now partnering with the Department of Ecology on a cleanup plan. That work, like so much of the remediation undertaken by our Washington port districts, will be primarily funded by a combination of grants through the EPA and the Department of Ecology. The expertise of Port of Skagit staff was truly impressive on this issue and I am looking forward to keeping track of their work going forward!
As a longtime leader in broadband deployment, I was glad to hear the Port’s Executive Director, Sara Young, expertly outline the latest work done by SkagitNet – a partnership between the Port and Skagit PUD to support broadband deployment in the region. Sara highlighted the recent $8 million grant award from the Washington State Broadband Office to support broadband infrastructure in under-served areas of their county. That led to a broader discussion of the process by which they identify the areas that are most in need, as funding comes in to support additional infrastructure. Sara highlighted the expected influx of federal money, now reported to be on the scale of $1.2 billion to Washington state for broadband deployment.
Following the commission meeting, Sara took me on a driving tour to learn more about the work done by this driven and determined port district.
Value-added agriculture is another term I heard in Skagit that I’d heard from ports like Warden, Benton, and Sunnyside before; an area ripe for future collaboration among ports innovating in this area. The Port of Skagit will soon embark on the development of its Ag Innovation Campus at the Watershed Business Park, future home to a research and development building for King Arthur Flour, spec facilities for taprooms and tasting rooms, a potential site for the expansion of Skagit Valley Malting, and more.
No tour of the port district would be complete without a spin through La Conner. Sara and I talked about her vision for the La Conner Marina and how it fits with the Commission’s vision for the region as a whole. The marina is home to nearly 500 slips, two moorage basins, and seventeen business across its 70 total acres of maritime-related activity. The Marina was developed by the port in the late 1950s to be a job creator and driver of the local economy. I was happy to have a sunny moment to reflect on the sheer scale of the port’s work, the variety of its operations, and the clear community focus to which they orient their daily work.
Many more visits to come, and I encourage all port members, partners, and friends to visit Skagit before too long.
