Could coal terminal could be net negative for local economy?

The week following the study’s release, a panel of export terminal proponents discussed lagging wages in Whatcom County.
Hart Hodges, an economist with Western Washington University’s College of Economics and Business Research, was on that panel. Hodges questions whether the shift in the local economy in relation to the rest of the state has anything to do with the export terminal.
He said that pattern of rural counties growing slower than the state average since 2010 is playing out in other areas and not unique to Whatcom County.