Federal Grant to Improve Access at Indiana Agribusiness Park
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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced a $1.75 million grant to a rural Indiana county to provide better access for heavy trucks at an agricultural business park where fertilizer, corn, soybeans and cement are processed.
“This EDA investment in critical road infrastructure will strengthen Cass County Agribusiness Park’s role as an economic driver in the region for decades to come,” Raimondo noted recently.
The funding was made by an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant to Cass County with a $1.4 million match in local funds. Federal funds came from the Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC) initiative to help communities severely impacted by declining coal use by providing government relief through investments in economic diversification and workforce development.
“We look forward to helping increase capacity at the Cass County Agribusiness Park and provide a much-needed boost to the regional economy,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Castillo.
Householder
The federal funding is forecast to generate 200 jobs and attract $68.5 million in private investment.
Christy Householder, director of Cass County Economic Development, told Transport Topics that the project is primarily to rebuild a roadway in the agribusiness park in Clymers, a small north-central rural town in Clinton Township, by creating two entrances/exits linking it to the Hoosier Heartland Highway (State Road 25). That 200-mile freight corridor in Indiana extends from Lafayette to Toledo, Ohio.
“There is just one main entrance that meets truck standards from the Hoosier Heartland Highway into the ag park. The current roadway is a chip seal county road, approximately 18 feet wide with poor drainage, and is not sufficient for heavy trucks and commercial/industrial traffic,” Householder explained.
"The current roadway is a chip seal county road, approximately 18 feet wide with poor drainage, and is not sufficient for heavy trucks and commercial/industrial traffic,” Householder said. (Cass County Economic Development)
Funding will also pay to flatten a 90-degree roadway curve to enable semi-trailer trucks to pass through with less difficulty.
“We are working diligently to make the Cass Co Agribusiness Park trucking/freight transportation friendly since more than half of the traffic is semi-truck trailer traffic,” Householder said. “We are super excited about this EDA award. It will create more growth opportunities within the Cass County Agribusiness Park for existing and new companies with these road improvements made possible with this EDA grant award.”
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Located in the agricultural park are such businesses as a zinc reclamation plant, Redline Equipment, a fertilizer facility, an ethanol and corn oil processor, a corn/soybean processing plant, an excavating company, Miller Farm & Drainage for farm trucking and drainage, Heidelberg Materials Inc.’s cement/bioprocessing facility, M.H. Eby Inc. trailers for grain and hogs, and an excavating company.
Construction is taking place on a new BW Fusion fertilizer facility in the agribusiness park, Householder added.
Raimondo stated, “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is about empowering all communities with the resources they need to lift up working families. That’s precisely what this award will do by helping those impacted by shifts in the energy sector to grow and diversify their economies.”
