JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 As global shipping routes shift toward Southeast Asia, Jacksonville is emerging as a growing entry point for international cargo as JAXPORT moves ahead with major multi-million-dollar expansion projects.<\/p>\n
Some of the world\u2019s largest cargo ships are now making direct runs into Jacksonville\u2019s port, Florida\u2019s largest container hub.<\/p>\n
The growth is being noticed by local business leaders who say the impact is already showing up on store shelves and in supply chains.<\/p>\n
Tina Pham, President of the Asian Chamber of Commerce of North Florida, says she is encouraged by the port\u2019s expansion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very grateful that we have a port here, and it\u2019s growing,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
She says many local grocery stores depend heavily on imports from Asia to keep everyday products in stock.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the Asian grocery stores in town pretty much have to ship coconut and rice and everything from Asia … to come here for sale,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
Manufacturing has steadily shifted toward South and Southeast Asia, including countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, India, and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
To keep pace with those global changes, JAXPORT is undergoing a major expansion that includes raising power lines across the St. Johns River and deepening shipping channels so larger vessels can safely pass through.<\/p>\n
Port leadership says the facility already ranks among the busiest and most diverse in the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the 10th largest port in the world for handling shipping containers. The 3rd largest for handling automobiles. And we\u2019re one of the top 10 in the U.S. for handling forest products, things like paper and pulp,\u201d said JAXPORT Chief Commercial Officer Robert Peek.<\/p>\n
Officials say that activity translates into a major economic footprint across the region, supporting tens of thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only have 180 employees who work for the port authority… People whose jobs are dependent on the port, it\u2019s about 30,000 jobs,\u201d said Peek.<\/p>\n
That ripple effect is felt locally, with imported goods moving through Jacksonville and onto shelves in neighborhoods across Northeast Florida.<\/p>\n
Local business leaders say small, Asian-owned businesses in particular rely on those steady supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that there are businesses that Asian small business owners who get a lot of products from Asia,\u201d said Pham.<\/p>\n
As global trade continues to shift, port officials say Jacksonville is increasingly positioned as a key player in the future of international shipping and logistics.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 As global shipping routes shift toward Southeast Asia, Jacksonville is emerging as a growing entry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,347,28,348,124265,116,351,118,117,20680,349,124264,350,346,345],"class_list":["post-294938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action-news-jax","tag-cbs47","tag-florida","tag-fox30","tag-international-cargo","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-fl","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jaxport","tag-northeast-florida","tag-southeast-asia","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-wfox","tag-wjax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}