The Windsor Port Authority wants to make this region a 'transportation powerhouse.'
Authority CEO Steve Salmons says it has been far too humble for far too long and it has launched a new look, direction and energy to create an integrated, international transportation hub.
Salmons is encouraging all modes of transportation, marine, air, rail and road to join forces to take advantage of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge coming in 2024.
He calls it the perfect time for local transportation groups to join forces.
"With the arrival of the new Gordie Howe Bridge, and I have been asking this question and consulting with more than a dozen groups in our community in the last six months, will the Gordie Howe Bridge be an economic bypass or an economic lifeline?," says Salmons.
There are more than 50 transportation companies in this region with 4,300 people employed in logistics, 3,500 truck drivers, 25 customs brokerage firms and 17 licensed customs sufferance warehouses.
Canada recently recognized the Hamilton and Niagara region as the country's national trade corridor but Salmons questions that title.
"I am embarrassed that we didn't do it, that we didn't think of it and now I'm calling upon the community and my partners in the community to take up that challenge and establish this region, Windsor-Essex, as the true national trade corridor for this country," he says.
Salmons says this region needs to take advantage of the upcoming Gordie Howe International Bridge.
"Does the Gordie Howe bridge simply make it easier to drive through Windsor or does the Gordie Howe Bridge make it easier for us to connect with the Ambassador Bridge and the rail network and the other road network, and marine network into one transportation powerhouse," he says.
The Windsor Port Authority receives more than 600 ships a year delivering more than 5-million tonnes of aggregate, salt, steel and grain.
It is Ontario's third largest port, with the Windsor Port Authority employing close to 1,000 people.