Grant County Continues Strong Economic Growth And The Port of Quincy Has Been A Significant Contributor In Economic Development

QUINCY, Wash., Sept. 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to data released this year from the Grant County Assessor's office, the Port of Quincy (Grant County Port District No. 1) has had very strong growth in assessed property values over the past several years, increasing to approximately $4.2 billion in 2018.

Additionally, the Grant County Assessor's office indicated that total current assessed property values in Grant County are at $10.8 billion, up from $10.2 billion last year.

"The data centers are driving a lot of the growth and diversification in the tax base in Quincy and Grant County," said Grant County Assessor Melissa McKnight.   "Most of that value attributable to the data centers is related to personal property such as every computer servers, routers, switches, racks, and emergency generators."

Stated John Boyd, the Superintendent of the Quincy School District, "The data centers located in the Quincy School district have been crucial to us passing a recent $108 million bond to renovate and build new schools for our community.  At the time of the passage of the bond, we calculated that the data centers in Quincy represented nearly 50% of the assessed values in the community.  I believe that a significant factor the acceptance of the bond measure by the voters in our district was the fact that the data centers would pay a substantial portion of the bond costs through property taxes."

Curt Morris, the Chair & President of the Port of Quincy, explained that "The data centers and other economic development that has occurred over the last 12 or 13 years in Quincy has created significant additional tax revenues to help Quincy fund new schools, fire stations, law enforcement, parks, etc., while still keeping property taxes relatively low for the residents and property owners in the Port of Quincy."

Morris went on to say that "The support of Grant County PUD and its Commissioners have contributed substantially to the economic growth and success of the Quincy area and Grant County, and has provided the confidence and stability that has allowed our existing industries as well as new industries to invest in our county.  This has increased employment and business opportunities in Grant County, and has greatly expanded the tax base, which has been very beneficial to Quincy area and Grant County taxpayers."

Furthermore, according to a presentation that was presented to GCPUD Commissioners regarding study that the Grant County PUD conducted in 2015 on industrial rate class growth in Grant County, "During the period of 2004 to 2014, industrial load growth from data centers, large manufacturing and processing has contributed an additional $150 million in financial benefit to Grant County PUD. This benefit assists in keeping energy prices lower than they would have been absent the growth for small businesses, irrigation and residential customers."

For more information, please contact Curt Morris of the Port of Quincy at 509-214-7696 or [email protected]

About the Port of Quincy

The Port of Quincy has been ranked in various reports as one of the best low-cost rural locations in the United States for business and economic development:

• http://www.electronics-sourcing.com/2010/04/08/top-best-small-cities-for-high-tech-manufacturing/
• https://www.wvbusinessworld.com/news/2016/jan/12/global-firm-ranks-quincy-as-one-of-the-nations-best-data-center-sites/

The Port of Quincy has also become a key freight and distribution corridor in central Washington, with over 16,000 cars per day go through Quincy, WA, and over 8,000,000 tons of truck freight went through Quincy in 2016.

Much of the economic growth in the Port of Quincy has occurred as a result of its robust infrastructure including: plentiful low-cost hydropower electricity, high-capacity bandwidth dark fiber, an abundant supply of irrigation water, a major interstate freeway (I-90), a large capacity water treatment system, an ample supply of natural gas, a skilled workforce, approved foreign trade zone status, relatively inexpensive industrial and commercial properties, nearby commercial air service, a key cross-country rail mainline (BNSF Railway from Seattle to Chicago), a modern rail intermodal terminal, and a central location in the heart of Washington State's most productive irrigated agricultural region.

At the Port of Quincy major fresh produce, and food processing & distribution companies such as Lamb Weston, National Frozen Foods, Quincy Foods (NORPAC), Amway-Nutrilite, Double Diamond Fruit (CMI Orchards), Custom Apple Packers (Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers), Jones Produce, Lineage Logistics, etc. find themselves next to major technology companies like H5, Microsoft, NTT Data, Sabey, Vantage and Verizon (Oath).

SOURCE Port of Quincy