Annual Waterways Symposium

December 7-8, 2022 - Paducah, KY

Join us in Paducah for #SYM22 - December 7-8, 2022!  

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7

7:30 - 8:30 AM | Buffet Breakfast

                                 River Room-Mississippi

8:30 - 11:15 AM | WCI Annual Membership/Board of Directors Meeting (open to all WCI members in good standing)  

                                River Room-Cumberland

11:00 AM | Symposium Registration Opens

                        Upper Level Corridor

11:15 AM | Presentation of the National Rivers Hall of Fame Achievement Award

                        River Room-Cumberland

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM | Lunch and Keynote Speaker: 2022 Elections - Nathan Gonzales, Editor and Publisher, Inside Elections
                        River Room-Mississippi

1:00 - 1:45 PM | Economic Outlook - Dr. Arthur B. Laffer, Economist, Former Economic Policy Advisor to President Reagan

                        River Room-Cumberland

1:45 - 2:00 PM | Break

2:00 - 2:45 PM | Dredging Panel

• Richard Balzano, CEO and Executive Director, Dredging Contractors of America (invited)
• Jase Ousley, Geologist, Regional Sediment Management Center of Expertise, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (invited)            River Room-Cumberland​​​​​

2:45 - 3:30 PM | Agriculture Outlook - Cary B. Sifferath, Vice President, U.S. Grains Council

                                River Room-Cumberland

3:30 PM | Adjourn

4:30 - 6:30 PM | Opening Reception at 1857 Hotel 

                                (210 Kentucky Avenue)

6:30 PM | Dinner (On Your Own)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8 

7:30 - 8:30 AM | Buffet Breakfast

                                River Room-Mississippi

8:30 - 9:15 AM | Energy Outlook -  Joe Craft, Chairman, President, and CEO, Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.

                                 River Room-Cumberland

9:15 - 10:30 AM | Navigation Construction Projects Status Update - United States Army Corps of Engineers

• • NESP: Andrew Goodall, P.E., P.M.P., NESP Regional Program Manager, Rock Island District
  • Kentucky Lock: Bob Winters, P.M.P. Project Manager - Programs and Project Delivery Branch, Nashville District (invited)
  • Upper Ohio Navigation Study: Stephen R. Fritz, P.E., P.M.P., MEGA Projects Program Manager, Pittsburgh District

                                 River Room-Cumberland

10:30 AM | Adjourn

11:00 AM | Seamen's Church Institute River Bell Awards Luncheon (requires separate registration) 

2021 Presentations

• Geopolitical Change and the Continued Significance of Our Nation's Inland Waterways, Rodger Baker, Senior Vice President of Strategic Analysis, RANE Network

• Inland Waterways Resilience Case Study, Dr. Craig Philip, Vanderbilt University

• Address by Michael Seyfert, President, National Grain and Feed Association

• St. Louis District Perspectives  by Col. Kevin R. Golinghorst, Commander, St. Louis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

• Updates on the Navigation-Ecoystem Sustainability Program, Mississippi River Dredging, and Infrastructure by Edward E. Belk, Jr.,    Programs Manager, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division    

• "What's Moving on the Waterways?" commodities panel with Jake Brodbeck, ADM and Kristin Beck, LafargeHolcim, moderated by Ken Eriksen, IHS Markit

Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center