BNSF sees $3.5B in economic development
Written by Railway Age StaffDevelopment along BNSF Railway's network totaled nearly $3.5 billion in 2016, including completion of a $1.3-billion steel mill in Arkansas and a sugar facility in Illinois.
The investments by the railroads’s customers are expected to generate more than 3,000 new jobs in local communities, and mark the sixth consecutive year that BNSF customers and local economic development organizations have invested more than $1 billion in a calendar year for new or expanded facilities.
“Our customers’ investments are a direct reflection of the effective and efficient transportation solutions our rail network provides to a range of businesses and industries,” said Colby Tanner, assistant vice president, Economic Development. “The role of BNSF’s economic development team is to help facilitate and expedite the process of establishing rail service and a transportation infrastructure that is attractive to a variety of industries, which then helps drive investments and employment opportunities across the communities we serve.”
The railroad said it helped generate new or expanded development in 115 communities across its network, from agriculture, chemicals, and consumer products to ethanol, fertilizer, industrial products and petroleum.
Development included:
–The world’s first Flex Mill built by Big River Steel in Osceola, Ark. The largest economic development project in Arkansas’ history, the mill will produce a variety of steel products, including advanced automotive steels and electrical steels. It is expected to have more than 400 workers on-site daily.
–A new bulk sugar storage and transfer facility built by United Sugars Corp. in Montgomery, Ill., which opened its doors in November, 2016. The facility allows United Sugars to more efficiently store its product closer to its large customer base in the Chicago and Great Lakes areas. The 20-acre complex includes a 26,000 square-foot bulk storage dome that stands 134 feet high and 183 feet wide. It has the capacity to store 60,000 metric tons of sugar and will transfer nearly twice that much to customers annually.
