September 15th Tuesday Roundtable recap- economic indicators

It's been a while since we heard from Steve Lerch, PhD, Executive Director and Chief Economist at the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council on the state of the economy in Washington. The pandemic drags on, and the long-term economic implications of the crisis are cementing.

This Tuesday we expanded our focus on the economy through looking at two important businesses to ports in Washington: the current state of Washington agriculture and how are small businesses faring through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rianne Perry, International Marketing Manager with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, provided information on tariffs and the status of phase I trade agreement with China and gave us a snapshot of how agriculture and food processing industry is responding to COVID-19. She also provided insights WSDA is gleaning as they refresh their marketing efforts.

Patrick Connor is the Washington State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). NFIB’s Research Center has produced a monthly Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) report, and its Small Business Optimism Index, since 1986. In addition, the Research Center has been closely tracking the impact of the coronavirus, and the government’s response to it, on small businesses, releasing nearly a dozen surveys – and counting – since the pandemic began. Patrick provided an overview of recent findings that may be of greatest interest to port districts and their tenants.

In today’s conversation:

·       What the impacts of the pandemic have been to small businesses in Washington

·       What the long-term impact of the pandemic is likely to be for many businesses

·       The state of agricultural exports from Washington considering tariffs and the pandemic

Do you need more resources on economic recovery, legal and compliance, internal port operations or health and safety related to the COVID-19 crisis? You can find today’s presentation, along with all previous presentations and information from Tuesday Roundtable speakers, on our COVID-19 response page for ports: https://www.washingtonports.org/covid19

You can listen to the whole meeting here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m2pdqtwowpctde2/GMT20200915-180724_September-_1920x1080.mp4?dl=0

Do you have ideas for future topics we could cover in our Tuesday Roundtables? Email your ideas to Washington.ports@washingtonports.org