City of Henry Port Master Plan

Port of Henry is strategically located in the heart of agricultural and industrial North Central Illinois. With barge, rail and truck access, and a short drive to several interstate highways, the Port will provide area companies needing bulk and project cargo transportation an efficient, cost-effective option. The Port is a partnership between the City of Henry and Ozinga, the Mokena-based firm that has been mining aggregates out of a former farm field adjacent to the Illinois river for several years.

The Port Master Plan, conducted by a consulting team led by Quetica, LLC, was designed to create an economic development engine for the region in years to come. The goal of the Port Master Plan is to chart a development course using the port as a city asset to capture economic development opportunities. The scope of work included the configuration of the Port Henry Supply Chain Optimization Model (PHSCOM) to examine the network impacts of adding barge and rail transload services to the region’s freight network in terms of modal volumes, cost savings to regional shippers, and overall economic development opportunities for Henry. A Target Industry Analysis was conducted to identify industries to target based on the assets and strengths of the region along with a marketing plan to guide future efforts to recruit companies to Henry with actionable tactics. This new port is emerging at a time that solid waste, agriculture, wind energy, construction and other industries are seeking ways to lower costs, be more resilient, address the persistent truck driver shortage and make supply chains “green”.

Location: Henry, IL