Industrial Development Briefs: CSX, ACWR

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Manna Capital Partners’ beverage production and distribution complex will be constructed in Montgomery, Ala., at a CSX Select Site. Operations are slated to begin in early 2025. (Rendering Courtesy of the Alabama Governor’s Office/Hal Yeager)

Manna Capital Partners’ beverage production and distribution complex will be constructed in Montgomery, Ala., at a CSX Select Site. Operations are slated to begin in early 2025. (Rendering Courtesy of the Alabama Governor’s Office/Hal Yeager)

Manna Capital Partners is planning a $600 million beverage production and distribution complex at a CSX-served site in Montgomery, Ala. Also, Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway (ACWR) has opened the Midland Logistics Park in Cabarrus County, N.C.

Manna Capital Partners’ Montgomery facility will be constructed on 180 acres at the CSX Select Site off Interstate 65 at Wasden Road, and be owned and operated by affiliate Manna Beverages & Ventures (MB&V), CSX reported on Oct. 19. It is expected to begin operations in early 2025 and create 280 full-time jobs.

The Class I railroad is slated to deliver raw materials to the complex, which will offer beverage companies comprehensive packaging services, warehousing, and a 1.7 million-square-foot production facility for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Also to be included on site: a research and development center with a bottling line that will provide entrepreneurs a place to test new products, according to the Office of Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.

“Our goal is to be the leading total beverage supply chain company in North America while operating with the highest quality, sustainable capabilities needed to produce beverages for world-class brand owners,” said Ulysses L. “Junior” Bridgeman, Managing Partner at Manna Capital, a minority-owned firm based in Louisville, Ky.

“CSX congratulates Manna Beverages & Ventures on its business growth and its decision to locate its new facility on a CSX Select Site,” CSX Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Arthur Adams said.

“The U.S. beverage packaging market is expanding rapidly, and we’re happy that Manna has selected Alabama as it moves to capitalize on this trend with its large-scale manufacturing and distribution operation in Montgomery,” Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield said. “This project has solid growth potential and will have a tremendous financial impact on the region.”

In related developments, Georgia-Pacific last month reported it will invest more than $425 million in a new Dixie® paper products plant in Jackson, Tenn., to be served by CSX.

Midland Logistics Park, Midland, N.C. (Photograph Courtesy of ACWR)

ACWR on Oct. 19 reported opening Midland Logistics Park, a collaborative effort between the 150-mile short line, its customers, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division, which provided several grants for the project. The site is anchored by ACWR’s Midland Transload Yard. It includes three additional properties, ranging from six to 15 acres; two of which already have direct rail access.

The Midland Transload Yard can accommodate more than 175 railcars for transload, storing, distribution of raw materials, and finished goods. It will have the space and equipment to handle many bulk transload operations and truck self-transload, according to ACWR. The development is equipped with a central scale house operation for use by all tenants.

“The Midland Transload Yard expects to become a central distribution hub for the Charlotte metro area,” reported ACWR, whose lines run from Charlotte towards Raleigh, and extend south toward Pinehurst. “Several major plastic distributors have already claimed portions of the yard and are excited to consolidate their Charlotte operations in Midland.”

ACWR interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern.

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