Business View - November 2015 79
“The heavy-haul corridor is being developed as a part-
nership between the local community, both facilities and
the state in order to leverage the expansive development
opportunities of the 6,000-acre industrial park with the
port’s robust maritime and rail connections,” Peacock
says. “This partnership will create one of themost unique
large-scale industrial development opportunities in the
country. Where else can you find a 6,000-acre site con-
nected to 12,500 miles of waterways and multiple rail
lines right at the crossroads of America?”
The Ports of Indiana is also poised for growth in the south-
west corner of the state, and while the Port of Indiana-
Mount Vernon is based in a small town, it serves a large
multistate region and handles more cargo than Indiana’s
other two ports combined.
“Mount Vernon is the seventh largest inland port district
in the country,” says Peacock. “Our port handles large
volumes of coal, steel, minerals, cement, and agricultural
products. The port is also home to one of the largest eth-
anol plants in the Midwest, which is operated by Valero –
the 10th largest company in the U.S. This is Valero’s first
ethanol port on a river terminal anywhere in the country
– this allows it to ship ethanol and DDGs on barges down
to the Gulf or points along the way.”
The Mount Vernon port has a large footprint for future
growth – roughly 600 acres available for development,
most of it, recently-acquired land. In order to keep Indi-
ana in play for major economic development projects of
500 acres or more, the port purchased nearby land to
create a mega-site that is connected to port infrastruc-
ture.
“Mount Vernon has one of the only mega-sites on the
Inland Waterways System that’s already connected to
a working port,” says Peacock. “We have the dock, rail,
and a terminal operator already in place. It’s essentially
a ‘plug-and-play’ opportunity for a large-scale manufac-
turer or industrial facility. It can just plug into the port’s
infrastructure and have immediate access to all the Ohio
River barge lines and five Class I railroads, without hav-
ing to build docks, railroad crossings or bridges into their
facility.”
If there is any lingering skepticism about the wisdom of
building ports in the state of Indiana, Peacock is ready to
put that question to rest.
“There is a tremendous advantage for our port system
to be able to handle maritime shipments over 600 miles
from an ocean,” he says. “Our ports connect by water to
two different coastal ranges – the Atlantic and the Gulf
– and are located at the epicenter of the American heart-
land. Not only is Indiana home to the median center of
the U.S. population, and but we’re also located at the
intersection of all major rail lines and cross-country high-
ways, and have direct access to two of the busiest inland
waterways in the world. All of these features are key driv-
ers for multimodal business development and growth in
and around our ports. ”
In 1932, as Patrick Clifford and George Nelson were
standing on that sandy beach in northwest Indiana, Clif-
ford remarked, “There she is - Lake Michigan - pointed
down into the heartland of the USA like a great finger into
the bread basket of America. As sure as we stand here,
a great public port will be built in this area. Maybe not in
our time, but let’s see if we can make it happen.”
Today, thanks to visionary leaders, stalwart elected of-
ficials, farsighted businessmen, and sound leadership,
the Ports of Indiana has certainly “made it happen.”
Port Service Providers
Lakes and Rivers Transfer
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Kindra Lake Towing
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