Since the days of the Spanish conquistadors and the French fur trappers, the Mississippi River system has been one of America's major transportation routes. Today, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are Avital waterways for farmers, manufacturers and utilities.

"For inland America, the river provides low-cost transportation mode that lets a wide range of companies be competitive in the world marketplace," says Bob Wydra, executive director of the Tri-City Regional Port District in Granite City, Ill. "The importance of river transportation to industries and agriculture is becoming more important with the globalization of trade."

About 630 million tons (571 million metric tons) of cargo move on the inland river system each year, about 14 percent of the entire U.S. cargo. Virtually all the freight transported on the river system is bulk goods: petroleum products, coal, grain, ores, building materials such as sand and stone, lumber, metal products and scrap and chemicals.

Tow barges, which are tied together and propelled by a towboat, provide a highly economic method of cargo transportation. "A barge tow, which generally consists of 15 barges, is equivalent to 220 rail cars or 870 trucks," says Tracy Drake, executive director, Port Authority of Columbiana County, Ohio. "It is about eight times cheaper to carry cargo by barge than truck and its environmentally more friendly with a lower risk of accident."

In general, the Mississippi and Ohio River corridors offer manufacturing businesses a well-developed industrial infrastructure in a central America location with numerous transportation advantages, such as air, rail and truck connections. "My feeling is that the river is an international intermodal corridor, and should be viewed and developed as such," says James E. Seney, transportation liaison for the Ohio Department of Development and a member of the Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals organization.

Because the two rivers flow past large cities, small towns and rural areas, companies have numerous location and work force options. Many prime industrial sites are available along the river and in inland areas. In many cases, states have established environmental cleanup programs, and offer financial incentives to job-creating companies.