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6/16/2021
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) yesterday announced that a chocolate factory being built in the city of Milton will receive its sugar and oil by rail thanks to a project supported by a Transportation Economic Assistance (TEA) grant.
The $1 million rail project, 25% of which is funded by the recently approved grant, allows Milton to extend a Wisconsin & Southern Railroad/Watco rail line to Clasen Quality Chocolate (CQC), state officials said in a press release.
Construction of the new rail spur will occur later this year. CQC plans to spend $105 million to construct and equip the new 350,000-square-foot plant in Milton through multiple phases. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed and operational in fall 2022.
Based in Madison, CQC also owns manufacturing facilities in Middleton and Watertown, Wisconsin, as well as in Spanish Spring, Nevada.
Since 2020, Wisconsin’s TEA program has awarded 13 grants totaling $6.4 million to support transportation infrastructure improvements help attract new employers or encourage existing employers to expand.
Meanwhile, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced Sicut Enterprises Ltd., a London-based manufacturer and supplier of recycled plastic railroad ties, has selected Neodesha, Kansas, as the site of its North American manufacturing hub.
Kansas was chosen after the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) provided $343,000 in Economic Development Program grant funding to help attract Sicut to the state, according to a KDOT press release.
State funds will be provided to build a rail spur at the Sicut site. Watco, which operates the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad, announced plans to construct the spur this year. It will connect to the railroad’s tracks behind the Sicut plant.
To learn more about Watco's growth plans, click here to read Progressive Railroading's June cover story.