< PreviousSPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION RAIL PARKS & INLAND PORTS 178 NOVEMBER 2024 SITE SELECTION T he rise of reshoring and e-commerce has dramatically increased the demand for effi cient, cost-eff ective industrial sites. As businesses look for strategic locations to establish manufacturing facilities or distribution centers, Inland Port Arizona (IPAZ) is taking the lead. Located in Pinal County, midway between the major metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson, this 2,700-acre rail served industrial mega park off ers numerous advantages for businesses seeking a competitive edge in supply chain management and operational effi ciency. Companies like Procter & Gamble and Nikola Motor Company haven taken notice and selected IPAZ for their advanced manufacturing Facilities. IPAZ was developed by Saint Holdings, the same developer as the nearby Central Arizona Commerce Park, which is home to Tractor Supply Company, Lucid Motors and several suppliers to the semiconductor industry. Strategic Location and Connectivity Inland Port Arizona’s location is one of its most attractive features. It is situated near major highways, including Interstates 8 and 10, which connect the region to both the East and West Coasts. This strategic location allows companies to easily distribute products to key markets such as California, Texas, and even Mexico. Additionally, Inland Port Arizona is just a short distance from the country’s busiest ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Another signifi cant advantage is the proximity to Union Pacifi c rail lines, including the onsite lead track and nearby Sunset Route, which allow businesses to tap into cost-eff ective, large-scale transportation solutions. This multi-modal connectivity creates a seamless logistics network that enhances delivery speed and reduces transportation costs. Businesses operating out of Inland Port Arizona can also capitalize on its proximity to Phoenix Sky Harbor, Tucson International & Mesa Gateway airports, which provide critical air freight services for time- sensitive goods. Infrastructure and Cost-Eff ective Operations One of the key advantages of IPAZ is its robust utilities infrastructure, designed to support the needs of large-scale industrial operations. The region boasts reliable access to essential utilities such as electricity, plentiful water, and natural gas, ensuring that businesses can operate effi ciently without disruptions. Arizona Public Service (APS), one of the state’s largest energy providers, supplies electricity to the region with competitive rates and immediate plans for additional capacity. Water availability is another critical factor for manufacturing and distri- bution facilities, and IPAZ is well-equipped to meet this demand. The area benefi ts from an integrated water, wastewater and recycled water provider, Global Water Resources (NASDAQ: GWRS). Global’s programs ensure that businesses can maintain steady operations even in a desert environment, with long-term plans in place to ensure water sustainability. In addition to electricity and water, the region has a well-established natural gas network, providing businesses with a reliable energy source for industrial processes. Telecommunications infrastructure, including high-speed internet and fi ber optic networks, is also readily available, enabling companies to leverage the latest technologies for real-time data management, logistics tracking, and communication. Another compelling reason to choose IPAZ is its cost-eff ective environment. Compared to major metropolitan areas, real estate, labor and utility costs in Pinal County are signifi cantly lower, which translates into substantial savings for businesses looking to establish large-scale operations. Moreover, the existing skilled workforce and tailored training programs available in the area ensure that companies can hire qualifi ed employees for both manufacturing and distribution roles. Local educational institutions and workforce development programs such as Central Arizona College and Pinal County @ Work are also geared towards meeting the needs of growing industries. Arizona’s Manufacturing Mega Site – Inland Port Arizona Jeff erson County Port Authority (JCPA) in September purchased around 18 acres with 3,000 feet of rail spur connected to Union Pacifi c Railroad along the Mississippi River in Herculaneum, Missouri, that will serve as the fi rst publicly owned terminal facility in Jeff erson County. The facility will continue to be operated by Riverview Commerce Park, LLC, in partnership with JCPA. Approximately 1 million tons of freight moved through the port in 2023, said a release, noting the site’s location less than 2 miles from I-55. Photo courtesy of St. Louis Regional Freightway ( Continued from page 169 )RAIL PARKS & INLAND PORTS SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION SITE SELECTION NOVEMBER 2024 179 ability to provide efficient rail service that is responsive to their specific needs. 2) Investment in infrastructure — always with private funds, but also often supported by state or federal funding. Short lines are willing to invest with the long term in mind and are eager and willing to work with public partners when the opportunity arises. 3) Working closely with local business development groups such as Chambers of Commerce and government groups such as Economic Development Agencies to develop rail-served commercial properties such as business and industrial parks. 4) Strong partnerships with the community and Class Is to develop and efficiently deliver the white-glove excellent customer service our customers depend upon. Short lines operate 50,000 route miles of track in 48 states, or approximately 30% of the national railroad network, touching in origination or termination one out of every five cars moving on the national railroad system, serving customers who otherwise would be cut off from the national railroad network. “ASLRRA was pleased to participate in the hearing, and the examples shared are replicated across the nation, day in and day out on more than 600 short line railroads,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker. “Short lines are a critical piece of the freight rail network and are unrelenting in their pursuit of growth — one carload, one customer, one market at a time.”SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION RAIL PARKS & INLAND PORTS 180 NOVEMBER 2024 SITE SELECTION O n May 10, 2022, the first Kiamichi Railroad (KRR) train arrived at Tyson Foods’ new $65 million “mega” feed mill in McNab, Arkansas — marking the culmination of a multi-year project for both companies. In 2018, Tyson solidified plans to locate a new mill in southwest Arkansas that could produce feed for its existing farms and replace the aging feed mills at Hope and Nashville, Arkansas. With a need to receive inbound unit trains of corn and manifest soybean meal cars at start-up and connectivity to the North American rail-freight network, Tyson worked with Genesee & Wyoming’s Industrial Development group to find a site and develop a track plan. Building on its solid relationship with Tyson in Hope, Arkansas, Kiamichi Railroad offered Tyson the logistic flexibility it required at a 145-acre greenfield site situated along the railroad’s line and with ample space for further development in McNab, Arkansas. Among the site’s most significant benefits is its access to three Class I carriers, giving Tyson maximum flexibility to source materials as well as rate competitiveness. Tyson began construction on the new mill in June 2020. To support the project operationally, Kiamichi Railroad invested nearly $9 million in building two main line switches and a side track at the McNab site as well as bringing the entire Tyson route — over 180 track miles from Madill, Oklahoma, to Hope, Arkansas — up to 286k capacity. This track improvement included not only rail replacement but the repair and strengthening of more than 80 bridges. Just under two years later, unit train service to the completed mega mill was underway weekly. This is just one example of how Genesee & Wyoming Rail Services’ Industrial Development team worked to find a site, meet the needs of our customer and invest in a growth-oriented project. Find out more about how G&W’s Industrial Development team has the know-how and toolset to assist on growth projects in any location our railroads serve by going to www.gwrr.com/id. Kiamichi Railroad Provides Maximum Logistics Flexibility for New Tyson Foods Mega Poultry Feed Mill Tyson Foods’ new “mega” feed mill during its construction. SITE SELECTION NOVEMBER 2024 181 I n 2007, the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine of the National Academies published “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.” The influential report addressed concerns over exporting not just manufacturing, but the United States’ R&D advantage in what the report called “today’s global knowledge-discovery enterprise.” The authors presented four recommendations and 20 actions they felt would enhance the nation’s science and technology enterprise and, by extension the nation’s competitiveness. Among them was this “best and brightest” recommendation: “Make the United States the most attractive setting in which to study and perform research so that we can develop, recruit, and retain the best and brightest students, scientists, and engineers from within the United States and throughout the world.” Fast forward to 2024 and it seems the profound need to attract and retain talent has swelled well beyond science. In September, labor analytics provider Lightcast published “The Rising Storm: Building a Future-Ready Workforce to Withstand the Looming Labor Shortage,” which “shows how the deluge of Baby Boomers’ retirement, plummeting childbirth rates and historically low labor force participation will compound to create a deficit of 6 million workers by 2032. With the biggest impacts of this ‘perfect storm’ expected to hit the health care, hospitality and service industries hardest, it is critical that government and business leaders take immediate steps to address the workforce deficit.” A release listed the factors: Eighty percent of the 5 million workers who have exited the workforce since 2021 were over the age of 55 and the average retirement age (despite claims people are beginning to retire later) has dropped to 61. The only growth in the U.S. labor force has come from immigration — “Foreign- born workers are keeping the economy afloat,” the report said, noting a mismatch between workers and available jobs and the fact that one in four doctors and one in five nurses in the U.S. are foreign-born. And prime-age men are a declining proportion of the workforce, in part because of issues such as substance abuse and incarceration. Finding new ways to expand the talent supply will be necessary to bridge gaps across industries, Lightcast said. Meanwhile, educators and employers must prioritize skills development and adaptability over college degrees. “One of the factors contributing to this talent deficit is that we’ve de-valued service, manufacturing, construction and other trade work while holding those requiring a college degree in higher esteem,” said Ron Hetrick, Lightcast senior economist. “That’s deterred a lot of people from pursuing these careers, despite substantial improvement in wages and lucrative career opportunities in many occupations in these sectors.” “To overcome hiring deficits, Lightcast suggests organizations prioritize skill adjacency, upskilling, and development to build a future-ready workforce, rather than filtering out talent that doesn’t meet their specific skills requirements at face value,” the organization said. “This adaptable approach to trainability will provide greater agility and broaden the talent pool considerably.” For the complete 69-page report, visit lightcast.io/resources/ research/the-rising-storm. TALENT ATTRACTORS SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Storm Metaphor Rises Again by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com THIS TIME IT’S ABOUT TALENT. Illustration by GettyImages.com SITE SELECTION NOVEMBER 2024 183 PAGEPAGEPAGE INDEX TO ADVERTISERS For LOCATION INFORMATION or assistance in conducting a Confidential Site Search please email karen.medernach@conway.com or visit us at www.siteselection.com. Site Selection ...........................114-115, 158, 168 https://siteselection.com UNITED STATES ALABAMA Tennessee Valley Authority...........................105 https://tvasites.com ARIZONA Arizona Commerce Authority..........................93 https://www.azcommerce.com City of Tucson ......................................113 https://www.connecttucson.com Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority FTZ No. 221................................43 https://www.choosegatewayairport.com Pinal Land Holdings LLC .........................178-179 https://www.cazcp.com / http://saintholdings.com ARKANSAS Arkansas Economic Development Commission ..........15 https://www.arkansasedc.com Mississippi County / Arkansas Aeroplex ................131 https://www.arkansasaeroplex.com CALIFORNIA City of Palmdale Economic Development - FTZ No. 191...........................129 https://www.cityofpalmdaleca.gov/EconomicDevelopment City of Vacaville.................................106-107 https://www.cityofvacaville.gov Port of Long Beach FTZ No. 50 .......................73 https://polb.com San Bernardino County Economic Development Agency.............................30-33 https://selectsbcounty.com COLORADO OmniTRAX .....................................172-173 http://www.omnitrax.com CONNECTICUT Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc..............180 http://www.gwrr.com/ID FLORIDA City of St. Cloud.....................................163 https://www.centerplaceforbusiness.com Duke Energy..........................................7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com Port Miami .........................................59 https://www.miamidade.gov Southeast Volusia Manufacturing & Technology Coalition ................................135 https://www.sevmtc.com Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality.....101 https://oevforbusiness.org GEORGIA Georgia Department of Economic Development.........99 https://georgia.org Sumter County Development Authority ................161 https://www.selectsumter.com Tennessee Valley Authority...........................105 https://tvasites.com INDIANA Duke Energy..........................................7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative..............23 https//www.hoosierenergy.com/growth Inzone / Indianapolis Airport Authority ................57 https://inzone.org NIPSCO - Northern Indiana Public Service Company.....25 https://www.nipsco.com/economicdevelopment Radius Indiana......................................137 https://radiusindiana.com KANSAS GoTopeka Economic Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 https://www.gotopeka.com Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce ..............11 https://www.jcgced.com Kansas Department of Commerce.....................119 https://www.kansascommerce.gov Greater Manhattan Economic Partnership ..........120-121 https://greatermanhattan.org Sunflower Electric Economic Development .............123 https://sunflowerecodevo.com Winfield Economic Development...................116-117 https://winfieldks.org KENTUCKY Duke Energy..........................................7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development...........BC http://www.selectkentucky.com Tennessee Valley Authority...........................105 https://tvasites.com LOUISIANA Chennault Industrial Airport Authority ................140 https://chennault.org Deutsch Kerrigan LLP................................74 https://www.deutschkerrigan.com Louisiana Economic Development.....................45 https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance ...55 https://www.chooseswlouisiana.com MICHIGAN Flint & Genesee Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 https://developflintandgenesee.org Michigan Economic Development Corporation ........IFC-1 https://www.michiganbusiness.org The Economic Development Partnership of Hillsdale County ..................................182 https://www.hillsdaleedp.org MISSISSIPPI Community Development Foundation - Tupelo/Lee County..................................155 https://www.cdfms.org Tennessee Valley Authority...........................105 https://tvasites.com NEBRASKA Gage Area Growth Enterprise (NGage).................166 https://www.ngagegroup.org Phelps County Development Corporation .............109 https://www.phelpscountyne.com Union Pacific Railroad................................165 https://www.uprr.com York County Development Corporation ................167 https://www.yorkdevco.com NEVADA City of North Las Vegas...............................111 https://www.cityofnorthlasvegas.com NEW JERSEY Middlesex County Office of Economic & Business Development...............................95 https://discovermiddlesex.com/thrive NEW YORK Erie County Industrial Development Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 https://www.ecidany.com Operation Oswego County, Inc. .......................72 https://www.oswegocounty.org Port of Oswego .....................................72 https://portoswego.com Rockefeller Group ....................................61 https://www.rockefellergroup.com/industrial NORTH CAROLINA Duke Energy..........................................7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.................................86-87 https://edpnc.com/logic North Carolina Railroad Company ..................170-171 https://ncrr.com Piedmont Triad Airport Authority .....................133 https://landatpti.com Tennessee Valley Authority...........................105 https://tvasites.com184 NOVEMBER 2024 SITE SELECTION OHIO City of Middletown Economic Development Department . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139 https://www.cityofmiddletown.org Duke Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com JobsOhio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 https://www.jobsohio.com One Columbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 https://yescolumbusregion.com REDI Cincinnati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138 https://redicincinnati.com SOUTH CAROLINA Duke Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 https://www.locationdukeenergy.com Laurens County Development Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . .103 https://growlaurenscounty.com South Carolina State Ports Authority FTZ No . 21 & No . 38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 https://scspa.com/whyscports TENNESSEE Tennessee Valley Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 https://tvasites.com TEXAS City of Wilmer Economic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 https://wilmeredc.com Development Corporation of Abilene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 https://developedinabilene.com Frisco Economic Development Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 https://friscoedc.com Lubbock Economic Development Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 https://lubbockeda.org Pflugerville Community Development Corporation . . . . . . .17 https://www.pfdevelopment.com Port Houston Authority - FTZ No . 84 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 https://www.porthouston.com/ftz Texas Economic Development Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . .IBC https://businessintexas.com VIRGINIA Bedford County Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 https://bedfordeconomicdevelopment.com City of Norfolk Department of Development . . . . . . . . . . . .145 https://norfolkdevelopment.com City of Portsmouth Economic Development . . . . . . . . . . . .143 https://www.accessportsmouthva.com Economic Development Authority of Amherst County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148 https://amherstvabusiness.com Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance . . . . . . .149 https://hamptonroadsalliance.com Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147 https://yeslynchburgregion.org Tennessee Valley Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 https://tvasites.com Town of Bedford Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 https://www.betterinbedford.com Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89 https://www.yesvirginiabeach.com Virginia Economic Development Partnership . . . . . . . . .84-85 https://www.vedp.org WASHINGTON Greater Spokane Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157 https://advantagespokane.com WISCONSIN Dermody Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176 https://www.logisticenteratpleasantprairie.com Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation . . . . . . . . . . 9 https://wedc.org INTERNATIONAL CANADA ALBERTA City of Camrose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177 https://www.camrose.ca/growth MANITOBA CentrePort Canada Rail Park LP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174-175 https://centreportcanadarailpark.com COSTA RICA Evolution Free Zone S .A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 https://www.evolutionfz.com REPUBLIC OF KOREA Chungbuk Free Economic Zone Authority . . . . . . . . . . . .52-53 https://www.chungbuk.go.kr/eco/index.do Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 https://www.ulsan.go.kr/u/rep/main.ulsan UNITED KINGDOM Invest Northern Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13 https://www.investni.com/americas PAGEPAGEPAGENext >