MONROE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Governor Gretchen Whitmer made an appearance at the port of Monroe Monday to announce an expansion of the Port of Monroe.
Thanks to over $16 million in grants from the state and federal government, it will soon become the first container terminal in Michigan and the most state-of-the-art port on the Great Lakes.
The Port of Monroe has seen its business nearly quadruple over the past 10 years. Now, thanks to the new investment, it hopes to double that business in the next 5 to 10 years. People who live nearby, like Johnna Schultz, are excited about what it will mean for the local economy.
“I’m surprised it hasn’t already happened with the automobile industry being such a big part of Monroe and Detroit,” she admitted.
Johnna’s husband, Jason Schlutz, laid out his thinking.
“You don’t even realize there’s so much opportunity for growth in what this town could become utilizing this port,” he said.
Eric Peace is the vice president of the Lake Carriers Association, an organization that has supported and promoted commercial shipping on the Great Lakes since 1880.
“There’s a lot of opportunity here to bring in cargo, whether its coming from the coast into the Great Lakes, which is closer to the Heartland of the United States,” explained Peace.
With concerns about the cost of fuel, he said shipping by boat just makes economic sense.
“We can move a lot of cargo on one gallon of fuel versus a truck. So you can move a ton of cargo 670 miles on one gallon of fuel,” Peace explained.
He said there are opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of shipping on the Great Lakes, and one of the hurdles is security.
“There are issues with Customs and Border Patrol in being able to get those containers through the system, scanned,” explained Peace.
Paul C. Lamarre III is the port director of the Port of Monroe. He said the new funds will make the port of Monroe the first in the country to scan 100% of containers.
“$5 million dollars from the state budget will go to completely constructing this cargo screening facility and the infrastructure around it. That will essentially put us in the container business,” said Lamarre.
Another $11 million dollars will come from a federal grant.
“The Port Infrastracture Development Program grant will rehabilitate our aging dock facilities that were built in 1932,” Lamarre explained.
He said the pandemic supply chain back-ups showed Michiganders the need to access the global shipping network.
“And without additional handling, without going through other facilities, you could put a container on a vessel right here at the Port of Monroe, and it can reach anywhere in the world,” explained Lamarre.
But why would businesses consider the Great Lakes over one of the coasts?
“This is a really big deal when you can ultimately save 14 days from going to a coastal port to going directly into the Heartland of America,” said Lamarre.
But, what makes Monroe in particular so attractive?
“There is nowhere else in the entire state of Michigan where you have such a close convergence of major transportation assets. In this case, 3,000 feet of deep draft dock space, two class 1 railroads, within two tenths of a mile of I-75,” explained Lamarre.
He sees a bright future for local industries.
“Ultimately, I think that for the first time, I think that you will see Michigan manufactured automobiles shipped on a vessel out the Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence Seaway system to Europe,” said Lamarre.
What will this ultimately mean for the local economy?
“We believe that presently, roughly 2500 jobs rely upon the Great Lakes maritime industry within the Port of Monroe industrial complex,” Lamarre explained. “We believe that with our container terminal and the growth the port is experiencing, that in the next 10 years that could double.”
