Oregon has a total of 23 Port Districts and the Port of Coos Bay is one of the larger port districts along Oregon's coastline. The Port was founded as a port district in 1909, although litigation challenging its establishment delayed creation of a formal district until 1912. The Coos Bay district is the largest of three port districts in Coos County (the others are Bandon and Coquille  River). 

As a Port District, the Port of Coos Bay's role is to foster economic development and growth in the assigned district, region and state. The Port of Coos Bay is Oregon's largest deep-draft coastal harbor and the main economy of the region lies within the timber, seafood, and tourism industry. Since the port district lies along the coast line, transit time for deep draft vessels from open ocean is only about 90 minutes allowing safer and easier access than the Columbia River. Within the Port district, the Port owns thousands of acres of industrial waterfront property on the North Spit, the Charleston Marina Complex, East Bay and Upper Bay sites along the harbor, and the Coos Bay Rail Line. The three main lines of business for the Port therefore are maritime operations, the rail line and the Charleston marina.  

All of Oregon's Port districts are either along the coastline or along the Columbia River. The Port of Coos Bay is a Seaport located on the Mid-southern coastline of Oregon and is one of the larger Port districts in Oregon. As a port district, the Port of Coos Bay is a government agency that serves the public with a focus on business development and profit-making ventures. As a result, about 75% of the port's $10.5 million annual budget is derived from business operations while only 15% is from property taxes and 9% is from other miscellaneous avenues. 

The main role of most port districts is to facilitate and promote the economic development and growth of their region and of Oregon. This is likewise for the Port of Coos Bay, whose mission is to promote sustainable development throughout the Southwest Oregon region, state and nation. This is pursued through private-public partnership economic development projects, capital improvement projects, and promoting regional industry growth to the nation. The largest city on Oregon's south coast, Coos Bay is in a unique position as a multi-modal connection point by sea, by rail, by air and by road. The Port of Coos Bay's role is to advocate for and develop the infrastructure of the area through business development, capital improvement, and public-private partnerships in order to further the economic growth of the region. It comes down to allowing our farmers, our loggers, our fishermen and other constituents the ability to transport their products throughout the state, nation and world.

The Port partners with various stakeholders to pursue these efforts. To continue the efforts for economic growth and expansion, the Port relies on the local community for support and ideas on how to better serve them. As such, the Port of Coos Bay will continue to welcome your feedback and ideas.