It's often said there's strength in numbers. Itawamba County Port Director Greg Deakle believes this sentiment wholeheartedly, as do port directors all along the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

With the idea that many are greater than one, Port Itawamba has joined forces with Yellow Creek, Amory, Aberdeen and Columbus ports to form GROWPORTS (Generating Regional Opportunity on the Waterway) -- a single organization that represents ports along the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway that will promote on-barge shipping as a viable business strategy for industries looking to ship across north Mississippi.

According to Deakle, working together provides area ports with various advantages, including improved marketability and greater potential to receive state and federal grants. The organization is also supported by TVA and Three Rivers Planning and Development, which greatly strengthens its cause.

Deakle called it "a really good partnership."

"There's more to gain from the sum of us," he said. "Each port kind of has its own niche, and we weren't doing a lot to get the word out there about our capabilities. When container on barge [shipping] came along, it just made the most sense to combine our efforts and market this north Mississippi area. Getting GROWPORTS together and moving forward as quickly as possible just made sense."

The catalyst for the idea was the recent introduction of the container on barge shipping service in Itawamba County, which allows industries to ship large containers down the waterway as opposed to highway transportation. Deakle has been actively promoting this service to businesses within a 60-mile radius; but, in doing so, decided to broaden the scope a little.

"When we started looking at the container on barge [shipping service] we thought about which customers would be best impacted by it," he explained. "As we started moving outside of a 60-mile radius, it pretty much became apparent through that impact analysis, some customers may be better served at Amory, Iuka or Columbus ... It expanded the overall market area and reach."

Deakle, who also serves as the executive director of the Itawamba County Development Council, believes shipping via waterway will continue to grow in popularity among industries. He said, "We're not moving trucks from one side of the state to another. We're moving them up and down the waterway and lessening the impact to any one highway and spreading it across many."

The goal right now, for all ports under the GROWPORTS banner, is expansion of the market -- attracting new businesses to a new service.

Deakle quickly boasted the benefits of shipping via waterway, and how its growth could bolster an area's economic climate.

"It's so much more efficient and cheaper than hauling between truck and rail line like most do," he said. "So, the more folks you get using the waterway, the lower the transportation cost, the more a business is able to expand and hire more people."

Although the ports involved within GROWPORTS do occasionally vie for the same business opportunities, it isn't often. Deakle said it simply behooves all of them to push the other ports when marketing to a business, promoting services another port might offer in order to locate an industry within the state.

"We all talk about our transportation resources. But it's helpful for me to know that if there's a company not necessarily suited for Itawamba County, there may be resources in another part of the state better suited, so they wind up here instead of Kentucky or Tennessee," Deakle said. "Probably two-thirds of the people I talk with are interested in Itawamba County because of the waterway. If they're interested in transportation through waterway, rail and highway access, it isn't just us, but it's also Iuka, Columbus and Amory.

"We want to make sure businesses come to Mississippi," he added definitively.

When trying to attract federal or state dollars, the union helps as well. One big organization that represents five ports and thousands of people has more of a shot at a grant than just one small port. The group is already actively pursuing several large grants that could potentially be game changers for the area. Deakle thinks, working together with other counties, Itawamba County has a shot.

"There's strength in numbers. I think we're going to be able to talk about the plight and future of the waterway to both our state and federal delegations," he said. "It's not us acting individually anymore; it encompasses something much larger. I don't know if we have more power or leverage; but I do know we're all on the same page, all moving in the same direction and all asking for the same things."

Adam Armour can be reached at 862-3141, by e-mailing adam.armour@itawamba360.com or by visiting his blog at itawamba360.com.