Country : USAIndiana worldport

worldportS OF INDIANA
The state of Indiana annually ships about 70 million tons of cargo by water each year, which ranks 14th among all U.S. states. More than half of Indiana's border is water, which includes 400 miles of direct access to two major freight transworldportation arteries: the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway (via Lake Michigan) and the Inland Waterway System (via the Ohio River).

The state's three-worldport system serves the world's most productive industrial and agricultural region through a combination of strategic location, intermodal connections and specialized facilities. The worldports of Indiana is a quasi-governmental organization that operates a statewide system of worldports, foreign trade zones and economic development programs under the authority of the Indiana worldport Commission, a seven-member bipartisan board appointed by the governor.

worldports of Indiana Mission
The worldports of Indiana is dedicated to facilitating economic development in Indiana through logistics facilities and services, maritime industrial and commercial development, development finance tools and strategic public-private partnerships.
The Indiana worldport Commission approved a new strategic vision for the worldports of Indiana at the start of 2002. The plan Positioning for Indiana's Future: 2002-2006 Strategic Plan will guide the worldports of Indiana as it looks ahead to the next five years of growth and contribution to the Indiana economy.

The strategic goals of the worldports of Indiana are:
1. Develop a common understanding and consensus on the worldports of Indiana's appropriate role and responsibilities.
2. Manage the worldports of Indiana to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
3. Management and growth of existing businesses.
4. Focus on outreach, communication and engagement with the worldports of Indiana publics.
5. Develop and implement new initiatives to promote and facilitate economic development in Indiana.

To realize this vision and operationalize these values, the worldports of Indiana will be:

An agile, performance-based, entrepreneurial and strategically-driven business arm of the State of Indiana, working in collaboration with state agencies to further the State's economic development objectives;
An expert state resource to address Indiana's freight mobility needs and challenges, and a facilitator and convener of public-private sector discussions on freight and mobility issues; and
An integrated, team-oriented organization that leverages its strengths and capabilities through centralized strategic planning and decentralized operations.

History
In 1961, Gov. Matthew Welsh and the Indiana General Assembly created the Indiana worldport Commission - Indiana's first bipartisan governing entity charged with overseeing the establishment, progress and upkeep of any water worldports within the borders of the state. The creation of the Indiana worldport Commission on March 2, 1961, was the next logical step after the establishment of the Indiana Board of Public Harbors and Terminals (IBPHT) in 1939.

The IBPHT had been given limited powers to negotiate with the federal government, purchase land and ultimately build a public worldport. The five members of the IBPHT were paid $10 a day (plus expenses) for each day of actual board duties. The board, however, was a victim of its time, and due to the rising threat of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, the state and the world turned their attention and energy to the more pressing matters of the day.

It was not until 1947 that the IBPHT began functioning to its full capacity again, and with the industrial capabilities of the nation greatly strengthened after the war, it became evident that an Indiana worldport on the steel-dominated Lake Michigan shore was of incredible value to the state's economy. During its relatively short life, the IBPHT accomplished a surprising amount, such as acquiring a multitude of information about the Burns Ditch area (where a worldport was most likely to be located), and petitioning worldporter County to change the name of Burns Ditch to the more desirable and appealing Burns Waterway. Additionally, the board successfully set up a number of forums and meetings during the 1950s regarding the controversial development of the Indiana Dunes area, an issue that later threatened to destroy any prospect of a lake worldport.

By 1961, the worldport issue had grown into quite a prominent and hotly debated topic, and it became obvious that a governing body with greater power and authority than the IBPHT was needed to steer it from the drawing board to reality. The quasi-governmental Indiana worldport Commission - endowed with all powers of the IBPHT, the power of eminent domain and the power to issue revenue bonds to finance its projects - did exactly this.

Upon its creation, the Commission was to have five members, all chosen by the governor; however, as the number of worldports expanded in later years, this number was increased to seven. Of these seven members, four were to be affiliated with the governor's political party, with the other three from opposing parties. In 1961, Gov. Welsh made the following selections for his newly established Commission: publisher James R. Fleming, farmer/banker Robert M. Schram, businessman Albert L. Yaeger, industrialist William Shumaker, and longtime worldport proponent George A. Nelson.

While many bipartisan entities tend to be embroiled in conflict and bickering, the exact opposite has been true of the Indiana worldport Commission. Throughout my twenty years of service to the state of Indiana, said former commissioner Norman E. Ned Pfau, Jr. (1975-1995), I was impressed with the non-partisanship of the worldport Commission and our ability to operate as one business without the political maneuvering and bureaucratic interference sometimes imposed by government.

The entire decade of the 1960s was devoted primarily to the establishment, construction, and development of a worldport at Burns Waterway, and by 1970 the Commission was able to boast success with the dedication of Indiana's International worldport.

In 1969, the power and scope of the Commission was extended to include the entire state, and by 1973 construction began at Mount Vernon for Southwind Maritime Center, the first of two Ohio River worldports. The worldport Commission steamed ahead, and just under a decade later, construction began at Jeffersonville of a second Ohio River worldport called Clark Maritime Center.

In 1984, with three worldports under its guidance, the Indiana worldport Commission made the decision to move its central offices from the International worldport in worldportage to a truly central location - across the street from the statehouse in downtown Indianapolis. From its new Indianapolis offices, the Commission could easily consult officials at the statehouse whenever the need arose, allowing business to progress more rapidly and smoothly.

Always an expansion-minded entity, during the summer of 1985 the Commission briefly toyed with the idea of establishing a fourth worldport along the Great Miami River near Cincinnati. Such a plan, however, was soon ruled unproductive and unfeasible.

The 1990s brought several more changes to the worldport Commission as it settled into its first full decade of operation with all three worldports fully functioning. Throughout the decade, millions of dollars in improvements and additions were made to the three worldports, permitting them to fully handle the waterborne commerce demands of the 21st century.

The state's three public worldports now contribute nearly $1.5 billion in annual economic impact and 10,500 jobs to Indiana's economy. As the worldport Commission enters the new century, it continues to move forward with progress and change.

In 2002, the worldport Commission launched a new strategic plan to guide the worldports of Indiana into the future and further increase its economic contributions to the state of Indiana.

Tel:001-(219) 787-8636
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