A $175 million dollar project in North Baltimore, Ohio is expected to have a major economic impact on the entire northwest part of the state.
Hundreds of people got an up close look at the CSX Northwest Ohio Intermodal Terminal during an open house. The goal of the greatly upgraded rail yard is to improve the region's ability to ship and transfer goods from one place to the next.
"This is going to help out businesses. Everybody in Northwest Ohio-- be it in Lima, Wapak, Delphos-- wherever you are in Northwest Ohio. This is going to put Northwest Ohio in touch with the rest of the world," said John Hirschfeld, who attended the open house.
Hirschfeld is banking on the success of the rail yard. The Lima businessman is president of Quality Ready Mix. The company is building a new site in North Baltimore because of the expected economic growth.
"From factories to warehouses and places like that building facilities and with us supplying the concrete," said Hirschfeld.
The 500 acre CSX Transportation facility, opened in February and currently employs about 200 people.
"They can pick up and reshuffle the trains, take the containers off of one and put it on another," said Michael Ward, President of CSX. "So, it's a very sophisticated mixing center if you will."
At peak the rail yard is expected to serve about 30 trains a day. Two million containers of goods are expected to pass through the terminal each year.
"What we're able to do with this is bring in train loads from Boston, New York, Norfolk, and Baltimore and bring them in here and combine them into big trains," said Ward.
Containers can also be taken from or put onto semis and transported to nearby towns.
Like Hirschfeld, area leaders are preparing for increased economic development because of the facility.
"Hold onto your hat because it's going to take some time, but I really believe that this will attract new business. That means jobs, and that's what we need in the state of Ohio," said John Hohn, Director of Economic Development in Hardin County.
The CSX terminal is a major component of what's being called the National Gateway.
Once completed, the national rail corridor is expected to improve the flow and efficiency of rail transportation in the United States. The gateway is an $842 million public-private partnership. Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor spoke at the open house. She says public- private partnerships are an important part of economic development.
"That's what the future is about. It's government and the public sector working with the private sector. Getting out of the way if that is what you need us to do. Helping These companies expand and grow and ultimately create more jobs and employ more Ohioans," said Taylor.
According to information from National Gateway, every dollar of public money invested in the project is expected to yield 22 dollars in public benefits.
