Semo Port is a busy place ... and getting busier

For the first time since it was formed in 1975, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority set a new high-water mark with more than 1 million in tonnage passing through the port, whether by river, rail or truck.

"It can get pretty busy around here," said executive director Dan Overbey.

It sounds like it. The actual figure for 2004 was 1,001,556 in tonnage, which is up from 2003's total of 818,212 tons. It's been increasingly getting busier at the port in Scott City. In 1990, a there was 28,000 tons, which had increased by 1996 to 164,872.

The port represents a big part of the local business scene, though Overbey admits few people know exactly what the port is or does.

"People sort of have a vague idea that it has barges," he said. "But most people are not too familiar."

We all should be. Here's a quick primer:

In the late 1970s, land was leased and a small dock was built on the Mississippi River. The small dock, while useful, proved inadequate for customer needs. Plans were made for a much larger development, including a slackwater harbor and the Corps of Engineers confirmed the need in a 1985 study.

Voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax for capital improvement at the Semo Port. This money served as matching money for various federal and state grants to pay for a 1,800-foot slackwater harbor.

The port's first grant was used to fund the general cargo dock, an access road that is now Missouri Route K and the extension of city water lines to the harbor area. The general cargo dock was opened in 1990.

Later, a second grant was used along with local matching money to purchase six miles of existing railroad track, which connects to both the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific Railroad.

Today, there are seven companies located at the port: Girardeau Stevedores, Midwest Agri-Chemical, Consolidated Grain & Barge, Missouri Fibre Corp., First Missouri Terminals, Midwest Grain & Barge and Motive Rail, Inc.

Overbey said that "a little bit of everything" passes through the port, whether it's on its way to big cities like Chicago or Dallas, or if it's on its way to farmers in the Bootheel.

One of the main items hauled is grain -- which encompasses corn, soybean, wheat and milo. Local farmers bring grain in by truck. It is then shipped to market by barge.

There's also fertilizer, which is brought up river by barge from the Gulf Coast to here, then unloaded and moved by truck to local fertilizer dealers throughout the Bootheel. There's also the woodchip mill. Woodchips go to paper mills and mulch goes to bigger cities.

There's a lot more to the Semo Port. People should time to educate themselves about this behind-the-scenes player in the local business scene.

Scott Moyers is business editor of the Southeast Missourian and a regular contributor to Business Today. Contact him at smoyers@semissourian.com or 335-6611, extension 137.