The Portland economy has been one of the slowest in the state to recover from the Bush recession, and though it is beginning to turn around, job growth has not yet met the demand. A new major addition to the Port of Portland could change that, however. The Oregonian's Alex Pulaski reports:

Toyota solidified its ties with Portland on Friday, unveiling a $39 million auto-processing facility on the Willamette River's east bank.

The offices, shop areas and massive parking lot on 85 acres at Terminal 4 will enable Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. to funnel one of every four of its U.S. imports through the Port of Portland. After Long Beach, Calif., Portland is the company's leading gateway to this country.

The Port of Portland, with 358,000 autos imported last year by Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, is the West Coast's top vehicle port.

Friday's opening ceremony was a welcome celebration for the Port. The public agency lost two of its three trans-Pacific container lines last year. But it continues to attract less lucrative bulk cargo and automobiles, linking Asia with the Midwest through rail lines.

With the losses of the major container shipment companies, many warehousing and industrial jobs were lost in the city. With the addition of Toyota, and possibly other companies in the near future, it is very possible that many of these high paying jobs will return to the city. It is incumbent upon new Mayor Tom Potter to foster strong relationships with Asian companies to try to lure them to the Rose City so the economy can grow and people can have good jobs.