Helena Harbor Awarded $287,800 Grant 

Officials of the Helena-West Helena / Phillips County (Ark.) Port Authority, known as Helena Harbor, learned March 24 that it had been approved for a $287,800 Arkansas Waterways Commission grant to support current and future tenants of Helena Harbor.  

The Arkansas Waterways Commission is a part of the Arkansas Department of Commerce, led by Secretary Mike Preston. The seven-member commission, chaired by Phyllis Harden, is a strong advocate and funder for waterborne freight and port development. Cassandra Caldwell serves as executive director for the commission.

Helena Harbor is a slack-water harbor and 4,000-acre industrial park located on the Mississippi River one hour south of Memphis, Tenn.  It will use the funding to build a water chlorination booster station, as well as to start work on a small laydown yard for containers and for inspecting its 60-ton bridge crane for future service.

Envirotech, a port tenant and producer of biodegradable disinfectants for food and water services, including hand sanitizer, is scheduled to begin container-on-barge service in 2023. The funding will help with this goal, the company said. Envirotech has been a port tenant at Helena Harbor since 2015.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that Helena Harbor had become an America’s Marine Highway-designated project.

John C. Edwards, general counsel and economic development director for Helena Harbor, thanked the commissioners and staff of the Arkansas Waterways Commission for their support and noted, “If the timing works out, Helena Harbor will have an opportunity to leverage these state funds with federal funds it expects to apply for later this year,” adding, “Leveraging funding is critical to success, and we are always looking for ways to leverage.”

To learn more about Helena Harbor, go to www.helenaharbor.com.