By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor
The Sedalia Rail Industrial Park (SRIP) in Missouri now is rail served. On May 13, Union Pacific Railroad began delivering the first freight cars to the 2,900-acre park.
The SRIP was established in December 2018 through a joint venture between the city of Sedalia, Pettis County and Economic Development Sedalia-Pettis County (EDSPC). When fully developed, it will be one of the largest exclusively rail-served industrial parks in the United States, city officials say.
In 2019, the city obtained a $10 million Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the construction of 11,900 feet of track and a wye track to connect the park to UP’s mainline. With that infrastructure now in place, the Class I can provide service to both existing and future tenants.
Several years ago, the city engaged UP to evaluate the park’s potential site. The Class I developed and vetted various rail connectivity options, solutions and engineering concepts that confirmed the potential for rail service, which enabled city officials to proceed in attaining the necessary land and pursue their economic development objectives.
UP’s role in the SRIP was an outgrowth of its “Rail Within Reach” program, which calls for developing a long-term vision of a project; involving the railroad early in the project development phase to support rail-centric development; building a large and broad coalition of stakeholders to foster collaboration; and advocating for a project by understanding its strengths and potential.
Located between the growing Kansas City and St. Louis markets, the Sedalia Rail Industrial Park’s highway and interstate access provides effective routes to distribute freight for both east-west and north-south final deliveries, said Union Pacific spokeswoman Robynn Tysver. Credit: Union Pacific Railroad The railroad now aims to fully tap the economic development opportunity posed by the park. Located between the rapidly growing Kansas City and St. Louis markets, the SRIP’s highway and interstate access provides highly effective routes to distribute freight for both east-west and north-south final deliveries, said UP spokeswoman Robynn Tysver in an email.
“With more than 2,500 developable greenfield acres, a large variety of businesses ranging from agricultural products to electrical vehicles could locate in the park,” she wrote. “The park’s recently completed rail infrastructure … provides new prospective rail customers with an excellent, cost-effective and robust speed-to-market site solution.”
Through coordinated efforts between SRIP partners, the city in late 2017 was able to secure a $250 million Nucor steel rebar micro-mill as the park’s first facility and anchor tenant. In January 2020, Nucor Steel Sedalia — one of Missouri’s largest industrial projects in over a decade — opened. TMS International later became the park’s second tenant, co-locating a plant with the Nucor facility.
“We are looking forward to serving Nucor and all future tenants at this industrial park,” said Linda Brandl, UP’s vice president of marketing and sales operations.
There has been a “phenomenal” amount of interest in the park, said EDSPC Executive Director Jessica Craig.
“The overarching goal with the rail park is to spur interest from new companies to locate there and create more jobs for the regional economy. It is the ‘crown jewel’ in our recruitment toolbox,” she said. “A nice byproduct is the interest some of our existing companies have expressed in also utilizing rail service in their current operations.”
A recently received local recovery grant will enable SRIP partners to move forward with the design, engineering and master planning of further development, including the rail design and master plan for future phases.
The partners plan to hold an official ribbon cutting ceremony for the park soon.
