Great Lakes Gateway (Chicago)

The Great Lakes Gateway encompasses an eight-state territory beginning at the far reaches of Lake Superior in Minnesota and extends eastward across the five Great Lakes’ huge population and industrial centers to upper New York State. The connecting channels of the Illinois River from Joliet, IL, to Lake Michigan are also included. This region is known as the Nation’s Fourth Seacoast, as vital commodities critical to the regional and national economies are transported to and from the nation’s heartland. Commercial navigation on the Great Lakes is dominated by the transport of raw materials for steel manufacturing, coal-fired power production, and for industrial construction. Chicago, IL, is also the Nation’s intermodal hub as the origin and destination point of many international maritime connections.
• The Great Lakes Gateway’s main office in Schaumburg, IL, is centrally located within the region. It is responsible for carrying out the Maritime Administration’s mission through the following programs and activities:
Congestion mitigation through promotion of the America's Marine Highway Program
• Environmental protection through support of improvements in dredging and ballast water technology
• Port and maritime security through involvement as reviewer in the Port Security Grant Program, member in area maritime security committees throughout the Lakes, and veteran member of the U. S. Department of Transportation’s Emergency Support Team.
• Great Lakes Maritime Academy educational assistance through use of the Maritime Administration’s training ship, State of Michigan.
• Maritime Transportation System promotion and assistance through active participation in many Great Lakes’ specific activities, groups, and forums, such as the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, Great Lakes Commission, and Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute
• Oversight of the Maritime Administration’s Fire Training Center, located in Swanton, OH. In addition to the regularly scheduled instruction, outreach programs to initiate municipal first responders to dockside fires aboard ship are conducted across the Lakes.
• Support Great Lakes’ mariner employment by publishing the U.S. Great Lakes Merchant Seaman Employment Fact Sheet

As part of the Gateway’s maritime expertise program, the Great Lakes Office concentration is on the following:
• Ballast water and aquatic nuisance species due to the focus on freshwater shipping on the St. Lawrence Seaway/Great Lakes System.
• Intermodalism, since the Chicago area is the intermodal hub of the country, processing many of the shipping containers to and from all port areas.

With a wealth of commercial and governmental experience in maritime and intermodal transportation, the Great Lakes Gateway Office can proficiently serve our maritime stakeholders and the public.