Over the past few days in Kansas City, we’ve made the most of our time together: reconnecting with longtime colleagues, meeting many new people, and exchanging ideas.

A great deal has happened since Milwaukee in 2025. Professionally, our organizations have reached new milestones, welcomed new people and taken on new challenges. Personally, we have celebrated weddings, welcomed babies and shared many wonderful moments.

Being together in Kansas City gave us an opportunity to once again, connect, share and strategize. We came together because of the work we do but the relationships we’ve built certainly, will extend far beyond conference.

We talked about the infrastructure beneath the inland river transportation industry, the economy surrounding it, the policies shaping it and the freight moving through it.

We talked about rail, project delivery, risk, shipbuilding, business development, global markets and the customers and commodities that ultimately drive our business.

And I hope somewhere along the way, you heard something that challenged the way you think, gave you an idea you can take home, or introduced you to someone who can help you solve a problem or pursue an opportunity.

To every speaker and moderator who gave us your time and expertise, thank you.

To our sponsors and exhibitors, your investment goes far beyond putting your name on a sign or your logo on a screen. Your support allows us to bring this industry together. It helps IRPT create the programs, relationships and opportunities you've experienced this week, and it supports the work we continue doing for this industry long after everyone goes home. Please know how much we value that partnership.

And to all of you who attended, thank you for showing up and participating. Thank you for filling the rooms, visiting the exhibitors, asking questions, introducing yourselves to people you didn't know, and for sharing your experiences and ideas.

And thank you for continuing to make IRPT feel less like an organization people belong to and more like an industry family.

Navigating What's Next isn't simply a conference theme. It’s what we believe our responsibility is becoming.

We cannot always control what comes next or the economy. We cannot control every policy decision or the flow of the river.

We can decide though, how prepared we are.

We can decide whether our industry has a seat at the table when decisions are being made.

We can decide whether we build relationships before we need them.

We can decide whether we are willing to explore new markets, new technologies, new partnerships and new ideas.

And when someone tells us something cannot be done, we can decide whether we're willing to challenge that assumption.

Over the past few days, we’ve seen what can happen when this industry does exactly that.

Next year, we'll come together again. Little Rock, here we come! September 14-16.

There will be new challenges to talk about, new opportunities to pursue, new faces in the room and old friends we can't wait to see.

I have absolutely no idea what will happen between now and then, but I do know this:

Whatever comes next, we will navigate it together.

On behalf of the IRPT Board of Directors and our entire staff, thank you for your trust, your support and your commitment to this industry.

Thank you for an incredible 2026 IRPT Annual Conference.

Travel safely and keep the conversations going.

And we'll see you on the river, in the basin or at a meeting.

Please learn more about Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals here: https://www.irpt.net/

Aimee Andres