Missouri’s Heartland Port Project
Decision Innovation Solutions assisted the Heartland Port Authority to better understand the financial viability of developing a greenfield public port in the Jefferson City area.
DIS worked with Mercator International to research, analyze, and develop a comprehensive market study and a preliminary assessment of the financial feasibility of the project.
Like many other Midwestern states, Missouri’s transportation system needs to be expanded, upgraded, and modernized. The state is reliant upon infrastructure to move agricultural commodities, manufactured goods, and raw materials to markets, making its transportation system incredibly important.
The Heartland Port Project is located in Jefferson City along the Missouri River, providing fast and efficient access to Missouri’s most important freight arteries in all relevant modes (i.e. truck, rail, and waterways). While truck and rail are the predominant modes of freight transportation in Missouri, service levels in the state freight network are exhibiting signs of congestion and poor freight fluidity.
These conditions make the barge alternative, which is more environmentally friendly than both truck and rail, and more attractive for the potential markets in the study area. The study area was defined as the 24 counties located within an 80-mile radius from Jefferson City.
Objective 1
To identify all companies in a 24-county area that could potentially utilize the Heartland Port for outbound and inbound shipments, and identify commodity markets and understand how commodities, manufactured goods, and raw materials flow from producers to markets.
Objective 2
To develop a detailed business model for the port that includes a preliminary analysis of the potential financial viability of the project based on the commodities with higher potential.
The Results
Some of the key findings of the report include the following:
42% of potential users of the port facility expressed significant interest in using the facility once operational.
The port has the potential to ship more than 2.1 million metric tons of soybeans to export markets annually.