Posted on February 11, 2026
By Erick Bengel
OLYMPIA — The Port of Walla Walla has signed an interlocal agreement with Tri-Cities ports and the Northwest Seaport Alliance to ease transportation of goods, create jobs and boost international trade.
With the partnership, the ports plan to form an Inland Logistics Hub in southeast Washington.
Pat Reay, the Port of Walla Walla’s executive director, signed the agreement at a ceremony Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Washington Public Ports Association office in Olympia.
The other signatories are Ryan Calkins, the Port of Seattle Commission president; Dick Marzano, the Port of Tacoma Commission president; Hans-Joachim Engelke, a Port of Pasco commissioner; and Cassie Losey, Port of Benton’s director of governmental affairs.
Seattle and Tacoma’s deepwater ports aligned under the Northwest Seaport Alliance in 2015.
Port of Walla Walla Commissioner Kip Kelly said at the ceremony, “This agreement enables us to plan together, market together and pursue funding together while maintaining the strengths and flexibility of our individual port districts.”
Calkins, who co-chairs the Alliance along with Marzano, said the signers will “market the hub jointly to potential customers,” and that their infrastructure investments will complement each other.
In an interview, Kelly said the hub will bring jobs in warehousing and truck driving to the Walla Walla area. The hub will also provide another gateway for the region’s agricultural exporters to get products to Asian markets, he said.
The Port of Walla Walla’s Dodd Road Industrial Park in Wallula is the home of Tri-Cities Intermodal, a freight-handling business that uses Union Pacific and Columbia Rail.
Reay said he hopes that with the agreement the Port of Walla Walla can expand the business’ services, allow more cargo containers to pass through the region and offer more warehouse options. The Port’s plans to expand rail service will also come into play, he said.
“It means more economic development in Walla Walla, but it really is more economic development in southeastern Washington,” Reay said in an interview.
