PEORIA, Ill. — In order to share their visions and priorities for the years ahead, 15 mayors and city leaders from cities and towns along the Illinois River met in Peoria for the Illinois River Cities and Towns Initiative (IRCTI) Inaugural Conference in early November. 

Held at the Gateway Building on the Peoria Riverfront, the conference accomplished three important goals, according to Robert Sinkler, executive director of Peoria-based Corn Belt Ports. The first was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between IRCTI and the University of Illinois and the Illinois River Biological Station to ensure that the Illinois River remains a healthy and productive fishery. A second achievement was a MOU with the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a coalition of over 325 U.S. and Canadian mayors and local officials, to work together to advance commerce and conservation along the Great Lakes and Mississippi River waterways.

“We also had representatives here from the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative. We are going to identify some common objectives we can work on together,” said Sinkler, who was instrumental in forming the IRCTI and Corn Belt Ports. “It’s all about forming a partnership on the Illinois River and strengthening our partnerships with the Great Lakes and Mississippi River cities.” 

Peoria Mayor Rita Ali said she was “very excited” to host the mayors, citing a power in numbers when town leaders come together to work towards common goals including economic development, tourism and ecosystem sustainability. “The fact that we’re working together, I think, is a very powerful statement that we share a common love and interest in our rivers and we want to make them work for us. We want to make them cleaner, work to make them help our economies, and to help make greener highways by moving shipping to the waterways. The fact we’ve come together represents a great opportunity for all of us, despite any differences we may have,” said Ali.

“We want to work to figure out how to reduce transportation costs and risk for our farmers. We saw a 20 percent increase in the volume of corn moved on the Illinois waterway last year, and we want to make sure we have everything in place to be as competitive as possible,” Sinkler said. 

The Illinois River waterway system, with 1,100 miles of navigable inland waterways, moves around 30 million tons or more of freight by barge each year. The 10-county Illinois Ports and Waterways Commission, of which Peoria’s Corn Belt Ports is a member, handles around 15 million of those tons each year. This places it among the 50 largest U.S. ports, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

In 2023, 5.8 million metric tons of grain moved through LaGrange Lock and Dam on the Illinois River, according to the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Illinois ranks third nationally in the export of agricultural commodities with $8.2 billion worth of goods shipped to other countries. As the nation’s second leading exporter of both soybeans and feed grains and related products, exports from Illinois account for six percent of all U.S. agricultural exports. Approximately 44 percent of grain produced in Illinois is sold for export, according to the Illinois Department of Agriculture. 

“The Illinois River is a major hub in the global supply chain. We are the largest soy producer in the world and the second-largest in corn, and almost 45 percent of it flows through the Illinois River,” said Dr. Anshu Singh, executive director of the IRCTI. “This (alliance) will help protect our freshwater resources for many generations. Together we can be more influential in bringing in new infrastructure investment, not only for economic development but also for ecosystem management. We are also looking at workforce development for our communities’ future generations.”

Sinkler said the unification of the mayors and the alliances backing the IRCTI would only serve to strengthen the Illinois waterways’ profile and reputation as a reliable and economically advantageous transportation hub in the global food supply chain. “With the support of the mayors, I think the economic activity along the Illinois River is only going to continue to increase,” he said. 

Pam Maxwell, director of programs and operations for the nonprofit We Work The Waterways, came to the conference to speak about the dire need for maritime workers in order to keep grain and other commodities moving smoothly on the waterways. Maxwell cited an immediate need for barge operators, deckhands and terminal workers, with some maritime employers paying for the certification of entry-level deckhands at a salary of $50,000-$60,000 for their first year.

The second annual IRCTI Conference will be held November 28-29, 2026 at Starved Rock Lodge in Ottawa, Illinois, Sinkler announced.