Port of Milwaukee Receives Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award

On behalf of the Port of Milwaukee, Mayor Tom Barrett accepted the Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter award Tuesday from Administrator Betty Sutton of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and he used the opportunity to discuss infrastructure investment plans for the Port.

The Pacesetter award recognizes Great Lakes ports that have increased international cargo tonnage in 2012. Milwaukee is one of eight U.S. Ports to be honored with the award. Tim Hoelter, the president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners joined the Mayor in accepting the award.

“The Port of Milwaukee is an important link connecting local and regional businesses with international markets,” SLSDC Administrator Sutton said “This award celebrates an increase in cargo moving through the Saint Lawrence Seaway by way of the Port of Milwaukee, and it also celebrates a stronger manufacturing sector in and around Milwaukee.”

“The team here at the Port supports businesses in the region, and they have done a very good job as today’s award demonstrates,” Mayor Barrett said.

The Port of Milwaukee provides cost-effective transportation options to Milwaukee companies receiving raw materials and shipping finished products. This year the Port has handled a wide range of cargoes including a mining shovel headed to western Mexico, enormous beer brewing tanks headed to south-central Wisconsin, oversized electrical transformers arriving through the Saint Lawrence Seaway, and hundreds-of-thousands of tons of bulk cargo such as salt, grain, and coal.

Mayor Barrett emphasized an efficient Port adds to the attractiveness of Milwaukee as a site for manufacturing by lowering the costs associated with transportation. That, in turn, helps create jobs at local companies.

In 2014, Mayor Barrett said, the City plans to invest $500-thousand dollars in rail improvements at the Port. The Mayor has also approved plans for the Port to replace one of its large cranes.