More than 15 years in the making, Port of Paulsboro receives its first shipment

More than 15 years in the making, Port of Paulsboro receives its first shipment

​​Mar 3, 2017
Joe Hernandez
​Newsworks

As President Trump works to come up with a plan to create jobs, he may want to look to Paulsboro, New Jersey. The blue-collar town due east of the Philadelphia International Airport is opening a 200-acre shipping port, the first major port to be built on the Delaware River in the last 50 years.

EMMA LEE / WHYY A crowd gathers at the Paulsboro Marine Terminal to welcome the first ship to dock at the new port, carrying a load of steel.

​With a giant steel ship as their backdrop, local officials who braved the windy weather Thursday said the port would be an attractive location to shippers and spur economic growth in South Jersey.
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"I hope I don't offend anybody," said Mayor Gary Stevenson, hinting at the Trump phrase he was about to employ, "but I believe this port will make Paulsboro great again!"
Port officials said most of the 100 workers on the docks right now live in Gloucester County, and they claimed that the port could employ a thousand workers as more customers sign on.
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Go to Newsworks.org for details on the port's first customer.

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