Cates Landing Work Ramps up in 2012
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2012 is expected to be a very big year for Northwest Tennessee, and it has everything to do with the Mississippi River and a new port currently under construction. Area leaders say they expect Cates Landing to open doors for big businesses to flow throughout West Tennessee. Cates Landing will be a $50 million project when it is completed. “They kept saying if you had a harbor we would come here, probably $1.7 billion worth of industry came and looked,” said Jimmy Williamson. Williamson with the Northwest Tennessee Port Authority said after big industrial companies continually chose other areas to locate and invest; Lake, Obion, and Dyer counties combined their efforts and funds to make the harbor happen. Williamson said Cates Landing came out to be the most economic place to build the harbor, and will be the deepest one between St. Louis and Baton Rouge. “That’ll get us an operating port that means we’ll have the docks and the roads and everything we need to begin the operations,” continued Williamson. The landing is centrally located in the middle of the United States where there are no locks and dams. “But the big reason we built the port was because of all the industrial activity that’s gone on in the past and we think when we get this done either they’ll be back or their competitors will be back,” stated Williamson. And Williamson said studies have been shown this landing will bring in million-dollar industries that need to be near the water, which will create thousands of jobs, all across West Tennessee. Williamson said Cates Landing will give Northwest Tennessee an advantage that they have never had, because the only other port is in Memphis. Cates Landing is scheduled to be finished in December.
