Indiana to study development of fourth port

Governor Mike Pence is pushing for a new port in southeastern Indiana to grow the economy and provide another transportation option for shippers.    Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, in his 2016 State of the State address this week, called on the state port authority to “vigorously explore” building the state’s fourth port in southeastern Indiana as a catalyst for economic development in the region.
   The Ports of Indiana currently operates three ports: Indiana-Burns Harbor on Lake Michigan; and Indiana-Mount Vernon and Indiana-Jeffersonville on the Ohio River.
   The port authority has looked into the development of a port in southeast Indiana on multiple occasions. Indiana businesses use the ports to trade with 26 countries and 49 states. Companies based on port property generate more than $6 billion in economic activity each year and support more than 50,000 jobs.
   The state’s existing ports are located in the Chicago, Louisville and Evansville metro areas, but often handle shipments for Central Indiana businesses that are generally within 150 miles of the facilities, spokesman Rich Allen said in an e-mail.
   Primary cargoes handled by Indiana’s ports include grain, fertilizer, steel, coal, ethanol, soy products, dried distillers grain, limestone, cement, minerals, road salt, liquid bulk and project cargoes. Other cargo shipments moving through Indiana’s ports have included brewery tanks for new craft breweries in the Midwest, windmill blades for Northwest Indiana wind farms, building modules for an Eli Lilly facility in Indianapolis, and tanks for the WWII Victory Museum in Auburn, Ind.
   The ports are self-funded through operating revenues.