By BECCY TANNER
Stafford County Economic Development
If you have been waiting activity to start on the site dedicated to the Stafford County Port Authority, you won’t have to wait much longer.
Truck drivers are needed – so, job positions are opening up.
Construction will be happening. And even better, there are more opportunities for industries and manufacturers to come to the county.
The most recent news is that the Port Authority has commitment from Adams Industries, a supply-chain service company based out of Sydney, Neb. to offer transportation and logistics services including mixed trains with different types of cars and cargoes. The company specializes in trucking, warehousing, logistics and warehouses. Adams also has partnered with the Stafford County Port Authority (PASC) to oversee the new port’s operations.
Developing a railroad spur
"The port is going to be great for Stafford County in that will be bringing businesses and jobs," said Eco Devo Director Ryan Russell. "In my role, this project will make my job much easier. Carolyn Dunn has done a great job navigating the complexity of this project and we are happy to support anything that the Port needs."
“We’re in discussion with BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation) to finalize needed approvals for the rail design,” Dunn said. This is good business for BNSF as well, and they have been of great help in getting this project off the ground.”
Adams Industries has worked with Dunn and the PASC Board for over a year to set the stage for the greatest possible economic growth for the area,” said Tim Craig, vice president of operations for Adams Industries. “We are so impressed with the people in the St. John area, and the business that we will build together, that our trucking division has already allocated six new trucks to support industry in the region from Stafford County.”
Our partnership with PASC is committed to growing business from the ground up, not only at the St John Terminal, but throughout the region.”
“We are working in partnership with Adams Industries as we are assembling federal grant applications, and their contribution to this initiative will not only strengthen proposals for funding, but they will be establishing the trucking portion of their business even before we get our rail,” Dunn said.
“Adams Industries representatives are currently recruiting people to fill six trucking positions in the region” Dunn said. Interested candidates should go to www.adamsii.com/careers/ and apply through the link for Dodge City or Great Bend.
“To have a professional in the transportation industry who is experienced in this type of business and who can be a partner with us in recruiting additional industry into the area -- that’s all just really great news for our area,” Dunn said.
In addition, she is optimistic about the different types of business and industries the Port Authority could bring to Stafford County. “Pretty much anything can go on these trains – so, we are looking at plastic and resin companies, fertilizer, grain – pretty much any kind of industry can come here,” Dunn said. “We’ve been in discussions with multiple grain companies haven’t finalized a deal but it looks very positive. We’re also hoping to secure business in manufacturing.”
Applying for national grants and negotiations with companies
The port is located near the junction of US-50 and US-281 highways, near a railroad right-of-way. Five million dollars has already been raised for the project.
“We are gearing up to submit two additional significant grant applications at USDOT,” Dunn said. “That’s really a lot of my focus, right now. With Adams Industries, we feel like we can offer an even stronger grant application than we’ve been able to in the past. Having the volume of activity that Adams will justify a request to build out more track – what we might have originally considered in two phases. Now we can present a more complete concept with both manifest as well as unit train traffic. Ironically, a larger grant request may actually be more competitive because it will allow us to accommodate a much larger volume of activity. It shows a better cost-benefit, which grant reviewers want to see."
The Port Authority is a public/private partnership. No local taxes will be used for its construction or production. “The vision has always been that we utilize that infrastructure to generate more than one business. Grain is what we identified early on as a commodity that moves in large quantities in this part of the state. But no one business is going to be using the rail all of the time. When one business isn’t using the rail, it can be used by other industry.”
She will be submitting the federal grant proposals that may amount to as much as $20 million.
“We applied for a federal grant last year, but we didn’t get it,” Dunn said. “But now with Adams, we can not only accommodate the unit trains but also to the manifest trains, where they take cargo from multiple companies and put them together as one train. Dunn compared manifest business to a bus route where you pick up a few passengers at a time. That type of business is still a big part of the railroad business. We are creating the infrastructure for which there is industry demand.”
The good news is that extra infrastructure may mean more profits and opportunities for Stafford County. “We will be more competitive,” Dunn said. “So, what we might have done in Phase One and Phase Two, we are actually proposing to do all at one time.”