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* From a press release…

Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by company and local officials to open a new intermodal container facility at Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) in Decatur. The facility will enable businesses to tap into the company’s deep transportation and logistics expertise and provide a platform for economic growth in central Illinois. Today’s event is part of Governor Quinn’s commitment to creating jobs and driving Illinois’ economy forward.

“ADM is one of the key reasons Illinois is the largest exporting state in the Midwest, and this new facility will help even more businesses get their goods to domestic and foreign markets more easily and cost effectively,” Governor Quinn said. “Expanding markets for Illinois products creates jobs here at home and drives our economy forward.”

The intermodal ramp, located on 250 acres of land at ADM’s Decatur processing complex, offers direct access to three Class I railroads and close proximity to several major highways. This unique interchange offers ready access to coasts and export markets, and provides proximity to 95 million customers within a day’s drive. The facility itself has two high-capacity cranes that can handle 50,000 containers per year, with room to grow to 150,000.

* From the Decatur paper…

“Ten years from now, I hope we look back to see this as a turning point that ushered in a new wave of growth,” said Fredericksen, ADM Transportation president. “We look forward to seeing it reach its full potential.” […]

Intermodal freight has the potential to be shipped by truck, rail and ship, which means the facility’s location near interstates 72, 74, 55 and 57 and U.S. 51 also positions it to deliver efficient access for trucking. ADM operates a transportation network that contains 26,100 rail cars, 700 trucks and 1,500 trailers […]

The intermodal facility has two high-capacity cranes that can handle 50,000 containers per year, with room to grow. […]

Other companies can move products in and out of Decatur, said Craig Coil, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County. Decatur is less congested than larger nearby cities, Coil said.

The intermodal ramp is seen as the first step in the development of the Midwest Inland Port, Coil said.

“This opens the door to new opportunities,” Coil said. “We’ve been overlooked as a distribution hub. Nobody else has this.”

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn sees the opening of the facility as a chance for the Decatur area to improve on its global trade standing. It was recently ranked in the top 25 of cities by Global Trade Magazine.

Decatur obviously needs a new vision for the future. This could be part of it.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 10:45 am

Comments

Freight railroads are indeed the future of global logistics, combined with containers, ships, and local delivery by truck.

Warren Buffet has invested heavily in this sector, and so should Illinois.

Comment by cod Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 11:30 am
Decatur needed a kick start let’s hope this gets the ball rolling. The Gov. did a nice job. He deserves an ATTA-BOY.

Comment by mokenavince Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 11:36 am
Decatur has lost a lot of manufacturing jobs these past years. Many if not most of their students are eligible for free or reduced school lunches. This may be encouraging to keep the jobs already there and add new ones.

Comment by Nearly Normal Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 11:52 am
fingers are crossed - kudos to ADM, etc.

Comment by dupage dan Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 12:15 pm
I formerly lived in Decatur, and I have a real soft spot for the people there. I was just over there, and I’m very sad to say that it’s a shell of it’s former self.

They’re not perfect, but thank God for ADM and anything else that can help Decatur.

Comment by LincolnLounger Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 12:26 pm
Meanwhile, the Quinn administration and south suburban legislators are in the midst of a battle to construct another intermodal transportation link.

http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/news/kadner/22647489-452/kadner-forgotonia-may-lose-planned-illiana-expressway.html

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 12:28 pm
How many jobs will the ADM project create? (No snark — really want to know.)

Comment by Soccermom Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 12:34 pm
Great news for Decatur. Soy Boy lives up to his nickname.

Comment by Sir Reel Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 12:41 pm
I lived in Decatur for a decade and it has some of the best people in the state. I hope this gives a boost to the community. I have always wanted to return, but there’s got to be work.

Comment by Rayne of Terror Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 1:02 pm
Soccermom, I’ve got a little familiarity with Rochelle’s intermodal facility. I don’t think the original facility itself created very many jobs (due to a high level of automation) but it has attracted at least two manufacturers so far that have — hundreds of them.

Of course leadership is a very important factor in growth but I note that both the Decatur and Rochelle projects are Enterprise Zone projects and I wonder if there’s something about EZs that sets them apart from other incentive programs.

Comment by yinn Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 1:09 pm
Oops, meant to include this with the comment above:
http://dekalbcountyonline.com/2012/08/rochelle-sets-example-for-job-creation/

Comment by yinn Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 1:10 pm
Transportation improvements to facilitate commerce have been the lifeblood of prosperity for this state all the way back to Lincoln’s Decatur stump speech calling for widening the Sangamon.

All the more reason to quit the special interest piece-meal goodies for clouted companies here and there and instead push a broadbased infrastructure investment agenda for this state, whatever we have to do to make that happen if its expanding gambling or what have you.

Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 1:37 pm
For whatever its worth, I have from time to time shipped 40′ containers of supplies to Africa for charitable causes and his development is very helpful to me.

Comment by John Bambenek Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 1:45 pm
I’m told by past ADM/Tate & Lyle/Staley execs that the lines leading into Decatur’s rail yard has helped stunt growth there. Perhaps this will help clear some of that congestion?

Comment by Dirty Red Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 2:27 pm
= I’m told by past ADM/Tate & Lyle/Staley execs that the lines leading into Decatur’s rail yard has helped stunt growth there. =

Which yard, the Norfolk-Southern or the Canadian National? The NS yard is massive, especially for Central Illinois. The CN, on the other hand, I could see causing a bottleneck - the ADM facility on 22nd Street looks like it should connect to the CN yard but is missing a critical link; at least that’s how it looked to me when I pulled up the Google map.

Comment by cover Friday, Sep 20, 13 @ 3:02 pm