Indiana’s ports: A Hoosier economic driver
Currently, our state has three ports operating under the authority of the Ports of Indiana. These ports are ideally situated on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan and serve the world’s most productive industrial and agricultural regions.
These logistical hubs are not simply a place where barges load and unload cargo. Ports are the beating heart to the transportation arteries of major interstates, robust railway connections, flowing waterways and airport terminals. Indiana’s three ports also create jobs and serve as beacons for local communities. Hoosier businesses ship approximately 70 million tons of cargo by water each year. Their economic impact is substantial and far reaching, providing Hoosier farmers, producers and factories with global market opportunities.
Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor is located on Lake Michigan near Chicago in Portage, which is the steel capital of North America. Home to 30 companies and employing more than 32,500 Hoosiers, Burns Harbor handles $4.3 billion in economic activity. It handles multiple international shipments and provides year-round barge access to 38 states. The major cargo flowing through this port includes iron, steel, grain, chemicals, fertilizers, limestone, coal, petroleum coke, salt and heavy-lift cargo.
One of the two ports located on the mighty Ohio River is home to 28 companies and is located in Jeffersonville. This port employs more than 12,000 Hoosiers and generates $1.3 billion in economic activities through the shipments of corn, fertilizer, salt, wire rod, soybeans, steel, liquid asphalt, pig iron and heavy lift cargo.
Mount Vernon, which is near Evansville, is the state’s third port. It supports one of the richest grain and fertilizer markets in the world and is located in close proximity to extensive coal deposits. Not only does this port employ nearly 7,000 Hoosiers, but it brings in $770 million annually with its shipments of coal, limestone and other agricultural products.
In this year’s State of the State Address, the governor announced the addition of a fourth port in southeastern Indiana. I have worked on this project for several years; it will bring yet more jobs and industry to our area.
We have the Ohio River and access to interstates, railways and a major metropolitan airport at our fingertips, which makes us a hot spot for the logistical activity a thriving port needs. It would be an economic driver not just for southeastern Indiana, but the entire tri-state area.
I am assisting the governor and his team in bringing this port to fruition. This project will start small and build over the years. This port will not be attainable without the interest of the community, local leaders and our governor. I can be reached for more information on this fourth-port project by phone at (317) 234-3827 or by email at h67@iga.in.gov.
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Rep. Frye (R-Greensburg) represents Ohio and Switzerland counties, as well as portions of Ripley, Decatur, Jennings, Jefferson and Dearborn counties
