A former public honcho is a major proponent of the Oakland Bulk And Oversized Terminal, as he explained in Part One of this series. In Part Two of their “Letter to Oakland,” and about Insight Terminal Solutions, Phil Tagami, and the Oakland Bulk And Oversized Terminal, the proponent explains why it’s an untapped opportunity.
Oakland has a unique place in the world—literally. Because of the uncommonly deep water right next to the coast of Oakland, Oakland can handle far larger ships than most ports in the world. This means one can build a terminal where the biggest boats in the world can pick up or drop off cargo here faster and cheaper than they can anywhere else. Every time they did that, more money will come into Oakland.
Oakland Bulk And Oversized Terminal Reuses Oakland Army Base Land
This is why, several years ago, a group of private and public investors including Phil Tagami and Insight Terminal Solutions, started a project to transform the former Oakland Army Base to a state-of-the-art facility which would include a mega-terminal to take advantage of Oakland’s huge potential to be a leading port. The project, which was submitted to unprecedented environmental review, was approved by the City of Oakland in 2012 (Here’s now former Oakland Economic Development Director Fred Blackwell talking about the project).
Called “Oakland Bulk And Oversized Terminal”, the facility will change the way Oakland does business. It will dramatically expand the number of goods we can export, and do it far more safely and cleanly. Raw material producers from around the country will send, by rail, valuable raw materials for fuel, fertilizer, glass, detergent, and steel. When they get to Oakland, they will be transferred to state-of-the-art covered cars to prevent materials harming the local population or creating a nuisance. Then those materials will be stored in closed facilities, moved to giant ships and be transported to developing countries, where people will purchase them to light their homes, run their refrigerators, grow food for their people, build houses and buildings.
OBOT Is An Improvement For Oakland’s Economy
This is a huge improvement for Oakland’s economy. Because this is such a big project that will benefit so many people, there are a record number of job opportunities here–more jobs and higher-paying jobs than any other project. The TLS project is projected to create more than 2000 well-paying, permanent jobs after construction—and more than 1000 jobs during construction. And, in accordance with the Community Jobs Agreement we have signed, 50% of all constructions jobs will be awarded to Oakland residents with preference to West Oakland communities.1 There will also be an estimated more than four thousand new job opportunities in businesses that flourish because of our additional invested capital in local services in addition to that. But it is also a huge improvement for our environment.