Regional Unity Award – Congratulations to Mary Lamie

A Note from the Chief Storyteller:

This past October I had the distinct pleasure of presenting Ms. Mary Lamie with the Construction Forum STL ‘Regional Unity Award’ for her achievements as head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway. No one person has done more to help promote the region over the past few years than Mary. My first meeting with Mary was at the Leadership Council of Southwest IL; After hearing her presentation, I knew I wanted to be a part of her team. She is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about enacting change.

As a Granite City based company, we deal with the stigma of ‘being on the other side of the river’ every day. Unfortunately for companies like ours, the metro St. Louis population has little to no idea what is happening east of the Mississippi river.

Located in the center of America’s freight network, the St. Louis region is a national transportation hub with an abundance of resources and advantages. The St. Louis region is also the largest freight hub among comparatively sized midwestern cities, totaling 210 million tons of inbound and outbound freight (Leadership Council 2015 Freight Study). Our region is home to the third largest inland port, with positioning at the crossroads of six Class I railroads and strategic access to national interstates, international passenger and cargo airports, and significant pipelines.

Within the United States, the St. Louis region has become the:

  • Third and eighth largest inland ports
  • Third highest volume rail hub
  • Third highest volume multimodal hub
  • Fourth highest volume pipeline hub
  • Fourth highest volume inland water port

St. Louis’ logistics capabilities make it one of the most central ports in the Midwest.

“…Metropolitan areas attain a more central position within the national trade network based on their production or logistics specialties in particular commodities. This is the case for high-ranking St. Louis. While the bi-state metropolitan area benefits from trading nearly all goods at relatively large amounts – reflecting its classic role as a mid-American logistics depot – large tradable industries related to pharmaceuticals, metals, and scrap materials are the major drivers of its high centrality.”

-Mapping Freight. Brookings Institute. 2014.

Facing significant changes in global freight like an expanded Panama Canal, the growth of e-commerce, and an expected 45 percent increase in freight volume by 2045 (U.S. DOT 2015,St. Louis is emerging as a central freight transportation hub in the United States. The effective utilization of its position in the national freight network and its regional advantages (along with our highly educated workforce and unified regional effort) will continue to expand upon the Freightway’s success.

We hope you will join icon Mechanical in supporting Mary’s efforts to bring our region together through The Freightway initiatives to return this region to the power house we once were and can be again. For additional information on Mary’s award and achievements, please visit http://www.thefreightway.com/mary-lamie-receives-regional-unity-award-for-st-louis-regional-freightway-achievements/.

Steve Faust, Business Development/Diversity Coordinator