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| Date: | July 28, 2011 | | Contact Name: | Chris Van Guilder | | Contact Phone: | 651-296-1388 | | Contact Email: | christopher.vanguilder@senate.mn | | For Immediate Release | |
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| SENATOR MILLER SECURES $3 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR PORT INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS |
St. Paul – State Senator Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) announced that the Port Development Assistance Program, from which the Port of Winona benefits, received $3 million in the bonding bill that passed in the special session.
The objective of the Port Development Assistance Program is to maintain or improve port infrastructure to allow Minnesota’s public ports to accommodate the movement of commodities into and out of the state. The program provides state matching funds for the ports which, on their own, could not afford to make these infrastructure improvements.
“Moving commodities by water is an efficient, environmentally friendly, low-cost option for many sectors of our economy,” Miller said. “Our agricultural sector relies on the Upper Mississippi Waterway and the Great Lakes Seaway to move corn, soybeans, wheat and fertilizer to national and international markets. Sand, gravel, cement, coal and taconite also move through these waterways. They are a crucial link in our economy.”
More than 2 million tons of commodities move through the Port of Winona each year, the third highest in the state after St. Paul and Savage.
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