New Missouri Port Administrator Excited About Growth

Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway became the port administrator at the Jefferson County Port Authority (JCPA) in Missouri in October and is excited about how the port is growing. The port, near the former lead-mining town of Herculaneum, lies just south of St. Louis and will continue to be operated by Riverview Commerce Park. The port authority closed on the purchase of RCP’s port facility in September for $20 million. In 2022, JCPA received $25 million in funding from the state of Missouri to support port development, which led to the acquisition and agreement with RCP.

Buchheit-Courtway is a representative in Missouri’s House of Representatives, where she chaired the Transportation Infrastructure Committee for two years. Her term is winding up after she lost an election bid for the Missouri Senate. Buchheit-Courtway said she is looking ahead to her new port duties. She told The Waterways Journal the port is in the process of buying equipment to fully utilize a second dock. The port is also putting out bids for a new entrance road.

Buchheit-Courtway is a native of the region, having grown up in Perryville and graduated from Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Mo. She now lives in Festus.

The port has direct rail access for train transport. It’s two miles away from Interstate 55 and lies only 35 miles south of St. Louis. The port is also below the last lock on the Mississippi, which offers container-carrying vessels a direct connection to the Gulf of Mexico through New Orleans.

RCP’s port overhead conveyor system can handle 1,000 tons per hour. Last year, a million tons of cargo were moved through the port.