Mid-America Port Commission Elects Officers
The Mid-America Port Commission, the largest port statistical area above St. Louis on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, recently elected new officers.
The Mid-America Port Commission is a three-state, 26-county organization formed in 1999 by an interstate compact between the three states. There are three commissioners from each state. One is appointed by the respective governor and the other two jointly by the collective county boards in each state. There are six Iowa counties, nine Missouri counties and 11 Illinois counties.
The organization was formed to advocate for and facilitate improving freight transportation infrastructure to enable regional businesses to have the most cost effective and competitive shipping methods. Developing the infrastructure to transload between truck, rail and barge has been a major focus. Sites for port development were identified in all three states on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Currently a new multimodal public port is under construction in Quincy, Ill., with one in the planning stage and one in the expansion stage in Missouri.
Blake Roderick from Illinois was elected chairman of the board. He serves on the Mid-America Intermodal Authority Port District. He is retired from the Pike-Scott Farm Bureau, a former National Waterways Conference Executive Committee member and has served on many other regional organizations.
Douglas Aeilts, CEO and general manager of the Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative, was elected vice-chairman. The cooperative supplies the power for rural electric cooperatives in northeast Missouri and southeast Iowa. He was also former manager of Adams Electric Cooperative in Illinois. Mr. Aeilts is a former chairman of the Mid-America Port Commission board of directors and active in local, state and national organizations.
Mike Norris from Iowa was elected secretary/treasurer. He is the immediate past chairman and appointed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to the MAPC board. Norris is executive director of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, serves on the Iowa DOT Freight Advisory Council, is administrator of the Southeast Iowa Regional Economic and Port Authority serving Lee County, Iowa, and has been active in other regional organizations in Iowa.
In the most recent year, 15 million tons were shipped by waterway from the MAPC. It ranked 42nd in size of all U.S. public ports. It has also ranked in the top 10 nationally in shipment of dry bulk cargo such as minerals and grain. For more information, visit www.midamericaport.com.
