The Port of Tacoma: Alaska's host on Puget Sound.

• Author: Swagel, Will

Alaskans often cite Seattle as the source for shipping goods to the Last Frontier. That's no longer the case. Tacoma, 30 miles south of Seattle, is the port of choice for most of the companies shipping goods to Alaska.

Say you're using a widget at work, watching Arnold on video, or even just standing and fiddling with your collar. Well, chances are that if you live in Alaska, the widget, Arnold and even your collar came up on a ship out of the Port of Tacoma, Alaska's largest trading partner to the south.

Located about 30 miles south of Seattle, the Port of Tacoma occupies about 1,800 acres of prime waterfront space, allowing the handling and movement of more than 13 million tons of cargo annually. That amounts to more than $23 billion per year in trade, including up to $3 billion annually in trade with Alaska. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of the water-borne cargo bound for Alaska passes through the Port of Tacoma.

"If Alaska were a foreign country, it would rank as our second-largest trading partner in terms of dollar volume," says port spokesman Rod Koon. Koon says Japan tops Tacoma's list with just over $11 billion in trade and Taiwan comes in third at about $2 billion. "Last year Alaska moved up from three or four to number two," Koon said.

Superlatives abound. If taken alone, Tacoma is the sixth-largest container port in the United States and among the top 25 in the world. When teamed with the Port of Seattle, the partnership ranks as the second-busiest port in the country, after Los Angeles. And since Puget Sound also serves the Portland, Ore. and Vancouver, B.C. metropolitan areas, the combined ports are not that far behind Los Angeles when measured on overall impact as a "load center."

Today, the Port of Tacoma continues to expand in international trade, while maintaining its strong ties to the everyday lives of Alaskans. All the time waiting for another big project, which could boost Tacoma's business exponentially.

"If the ANWR goes (into production), we peak accordingly," Koon said.

BRINGING THE GOLD RUSH SOUTH

In 1918 - no doubt eyeing the growth of the Seattle waterfront after succeeding gold strikes in the Yukon and then Nome - the people of Pierce County, Wash. voted to form a port district, a quasi-public corporation devoted to economic development. Three years and $2.5 million later, the port began operations - loading 600,000 board feet of lumber aboard the vessel "Edmore" bound for Japan.

During World War II...