Business View - November 2015 69
1961, the state legislature created the Indiana Port Com-
mission (known today as the Ports of Indiana), a quasi-
state enterprise with a governor-appointed, bipartisan
board of directors. To then-Governor Matthew Welsh, the
issue was clear-cut – he believed a Lake Michigan port
was essential for the state. And in Washington, D.C., Con-
gress passed the Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act
of 1965, which helped underwrite the cost of port con-
struction.
Today, the Ports of Indiana operates three public ports:
the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, the Port of Indiana-
Mount Vernon, and the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville.
“The state of Indiana has one of the most unique port
systems anywhere in the country,” says Peacock. “Our
ports are located on two different waterways that provide
access to two separate coasts. We have one port on Lake
Michigan which gives us direct ocean access through the
Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway to the Atlantic
Ocean, and we have two ports on the Ohio River which
connect to the Mississippi, down to the Gulf of Mexico.
All three of our ports can access the inland river system
which provides year-round barge shipping to over 20
states and allows for direct transfer with ocean vessels
in the Gulf.”
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor was Indiana’s first port.
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Ports of Indiana
WHAT:
Operator of three maritime ports in Indiana
on Lake Michigan and the Ohio River
WHERE:
Central office in Indianapolis, Indiana
WEBSITE
:
LOGISTICS
The “Steel Campus” at the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville processes steel for the Midwest’s automotive and appliance industries.
