Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Inland port's potential touted
Kerry Hawkins: 'much more to do' (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
In in his first public address as chairman of CentrePort Canada, Kerry Hawkins characterized the potential scale of development surrounding the inland port as being unprecedented for Winnipeg.
"Thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in investment, that is the course we are on," Hawkins told a sold-out event in Winnipeg Thursday morning.
Although the 20,000 acres of land north and west of the airport is a blank slate waiting for development, Hawkins said that 40 years ago the area around the Huntsville, Ala., airport was in a similar state.
"Now there are 24,000 people employed, with payrolls of $1.1 billion (at the Port of Huntsville) and it all started as a cotton field," he said. "That's what we're talking about."
Hawkins said the search for a CEO is underway and likely to last into the summer.
In the meantime CentrePort has leased office space it will soon move into.
The creation of CentrePort, followed by federal and provincial government commitments of $212 million for the creation of a four-lane freeway that will connect the airport and the CentrePort lands with Inkster Boulevard and the Perimeter Highway, has made the project a reality.
Hawkins compared the process to the birth of a baby.
"It's not yet six months old and there is much more to do," he said. "But the creation of Canada's first inland port will have a big impact for generations to come."
While public sector infrastructure investment has kick-started the undertaking, much of the future development is going to depend on private-sector investment.
Hawkins said activities foreseen for CentrePort include intermodal operations, logistics, air cargo handling, light manufacturing, trucking operations and cargo storage facilities.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 8, 2009 B7
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“I recall a trip to Boston where we visited "the north end" (sort of an old part of town similar to the exchange district but better developed). There were beat cops everywhere and I have to say I really felt safe there. I don't know if we need 24 hour beat cops but it would be nice if they scheduled beat cops when there are events downtown that run later than their normal beat shifts.”
Posted by: Everybody Up
Article: Police officers walking the beat


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