Port of KC barges into big plans for the future
- September 01, 2015
After getting its feet wet, Kaw Valley Cos. Inc. has signed a long-term lease as the operator of the Port of Kansas City.
Jason Jacobson, vice president of operations at the Kansas City, Kan., company, said that Kaw Valley signed an agreement with Port KC to remain the Missouri River port’s operator until 2022. In September, the company and the Port Authority of Kansas City, Mo. — now called Port KC — reopened the Missouri River barge landing terminal at 1724 Market St. in Kansas City’s West Bottoms.
Jacobson and Dan Hays, Kaw Valley’s director of sales, said they have successfully landed, emptied and loaded two barges and they are confident the future demand for moving freight along the river will keep the port humming for years to come. In the year since Kaw Valley signed its original, short-term lease, the company and the authority have done a lot to get the port ready for barge traffic, but there is still much left to be done to make the riverfront property the intermodal freight hub the two parties envision.