Port Manatee’s annual economic impact comes in at more than $3.9 billion, with the port directly and indirectly generating 27,156 jobs, according to a report released Tuesday, May 19, to the Manatee County Port Authority. The study was conducted by Lancaster, Penn.-based Martin Associates, which has performed more than 1,000 such assessments worldwide over the course of 35 years. The report is modeled upon the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2019, during which Port Manatee broke numerous cargo records, including surpassing 10 million tons of total throughput for the first time in its 50-year history. The new report puts Port Manatee’s annual economic impact at $3,935,724,000. That number is up more than 65 percent from the $2,380,202,000 figure in the last similar report, which was based upon 2006 data. Overall jobs generated by Port Manatee activity rose 33 percent. The port attributes attributes much of its success to the diversity of its cargo mix, which ranges from tropical produce and citrus juices to gasoline and granite to phosphates and forest products.