STRICTLY BUSINESS; MISSOURI'S WATER MILES AID TOURISM, ECONOMICS

"Where the Rivers Run!"

This is the theme adopted by the Missouri Division of Tourism more than a year ago.

The theme and logo, which feature a stylized river that represents more than 55,000 miles of rivers, streams and lakes, were approved in December 1997 and presented to the public in January 1998.

Although the promotion highlights the pristine streams and rivers flowing through the Ozarks and other waters throughout the state, it also included the mileage of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

While the smaller streams are important to tourism, which contributes more than $18 billion a year to the state's economy, generating more than $4 billion in tax revenues and more than 300,000 jobs, the "big rivers" are also important to the state's industrial economy, transporting river cargo valued at $3.9 billion.

More than 29 million tons of cargo move up and down the two "big rivers," annually, generating federal taxes of $155 million annually and state taxes of more than $39 million.

Joseph L. Driskill, director of the Department of Economic Department, who was guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, occasionally talks about "Missouri's River Road," in reference to the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

Long before the first automobile was invented, Missouri boasted what was perhaps the best transportation system im the nation, says Driskill.

"It was a road capable of handling larger volumes than any superhighway in existence today," he'll tell you. "Lewis and Clark followed it across vast, uncharted land that later would be known as Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas and Montana."

History tells us that rivers have long played important roles in the development of civilizations -- the Nile in ancient Egypt, the Yangtze in China, the Amazon in South America.Missouri's heritage runs deep in the channels of the Mississippi and Missouri.

"They served as the birthplace of our state's two largest cities -- Kansas City and St. Louis," said Driskill, "and today, they continue to serve as a major avenue for commerce, playing an integral role in our daily lives."

Tourists flock by the thousands to experience the history and beauty crafted by the two big rivers, from a scenic walk down the Katy Trail to a stroll through historic Hannibal, where author Samuel Clemens took his pen name from a riverboat team, to historic Ste. Genevieve, one of the earlier towns in the state, to the Cape Girardeau area.

Who can forget 1993 when the same rivers that made civilization possible in Missouri, erased some towns from the map and forever changed the landscape during the "Flood of '93"?

Yet, these same rivers are lanes of commerce that, perhaps, have the most profound impact on Missouri as a whole.

From Tennessee to Iowa and from Illinois to Kansas to Nebraska, with more than 1,000 miles navigable riverways and 15 port districts, Missouri has the most extensive inland water system in the nation.

The list of cargo traveling to and from, and through Missouri is a staggering one -- wood, pulp, coal, iron ore, agricultural commodities. St. Louis remains one of the busiest inland ports in the nation, conveying more than 218 million tons of cargo each year.

There are more than 200 privately owned terminals along the Missouri portion of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, shipping and receiving goods to any of the 18 states served by the river system.

Aside from the thousands of people working on the river barges, or employed at the terminals loading and unloading cargo, the mode of river transportation creates additional business and employment opportunities that otherwise would not be possible.

Business revenues range from $750 million to $2 billion, more than 31,000 jobs are directly tied to river transportation, and more than 300,000 jobs area indirectly involved.

For the port authorities, the key to operating at peak efficiency lies in their ability to be truly intermodal -- having an interface of barge, rail, truck and air.

In the Cape Girardeau area, barge transportation is another critical means of transportation. Barges, in addition to air, rail and interstate highways have been determining factors in securing some major industries to the Southeast Missouri area.

Four of the state's 15 port authorities are in Southeast Missouri, and a fifth is under construction.:

-- Southeast Missouri Port Authority: At mile marker 48 on the upper Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau and Scott City, the local port had its biggest year 1998, said Dan Overbey, director. Tonnage figures at the port were more than 500,000 tons. Much of the 579,881 tons that passed through the port last year was designated for New Orleans to be shipped to points throughout the world. Grain, coal, lime and fertilizer were big items passing through the local port.

-- South Pemiscot County Port Authority: The Pemiscot Port is at Caruthersville, at mile 849 on the Mississippi, and is one of the state's busiest. During the most recent fiscal year, which ended June 30, port director David Madison reported more than 425,000 tons went through the port, including fertilizer, grain and barge lids.

A manufacturing plant near the port manufactures barge lids.

-- New Madrid County Port Authority: The New Madrid port is at mile 885 on the Mississippi River, in St. Jude Industrial Park, 110 miles north of Memphis, Tenn. Traffic is fueled by a large rice mill operation and grain elevator at the port. More than 226,500 tons of freight went through the New Madrid port last year, the majority of it rice.

-- Mississippi County Port: The Mississippi County port is two miles south of the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, at mile 949 of the Mississippi.

-- New Bourbon Regional Port: The new New Bourbon Port, now under construction, is on the upper Mississippi River, at mile-marker 120, three miles south of Ste. Genevieve.

Waterway facts:

Missouri relies heavily on its massive waterway contact to transport an abundance of grain and coal, and service its many electric utility plants.

-- Missouri's navigable waterways, 1,050 miles.

-- Missouri's domestic water-borne commerce: 29 million tons.

-- Value of water-borne cargoes: $3.9 billion.

-- Missouri employment in waterway user industries: 31,301 jobs.

-- Indirect jobs attributed to water transportation: More than 300,000.

-- Taxes (federal and state combined) generated from waterway user industries: $196 million.