Business View Magazine - Dec 2023

and barge industry does play a significant role in the movement of cargo throughout the country, employing about 270,000 people who operate some 5,000 tug and towboats and over 33,000 barges on 12,000 miles of rivers, canals, and inland waterways. The single largest commodity that moves on these waters is petroleum – about 250 million tons annually. Twenty percent of the nation’s coal is moved on the water, as well as 60% of its grain exports. The sector contributes over $30 billion to the GDP annually, which is expected to grow to $40 billion over the next several years. A FAMILY COMPANY GROWS Chem Carriers was founded in 1994 by Frank Banta, a third-generation towboat pilot. “His grandfather worked in the Atchafalaya (the Atchafalaya Basin is the nation’s largest river swamp, containing almost a million acres of bottomland hardwoods) bringing logs out and then he moved 238 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12