NEW GRAIN FACILITY MOVING TO RIVER PORT

The Southeast Missouri Regional Port got yet another boost with announcement that a grain-buying and -shipping company will locate there in the spring.

Riverport Terminals Inc. will operate out of the Mississippi River port north of Scott City, initially employing 25 to 35 people and shipping 330,000 tons of grain for export annually. Future plans include expansion of its plant and doubling its shipping capacity.

In selecting the port, Riverport officials cited immediate access to Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, Interstate 55, rail and, of course, the river. The recent opening of a new highway to the port and a rail line into it also had to have weighed heavily in its decision, plus the fact that the port is accessible year-round, even in the harshest of winters.

The port has come a long way since it was conceived almost 30 years ago, and it will continue to develop as a major industrial hub in the area. Riverport's choice is a vote of confidence in the future of the developing port, and the company should prosper there.