A La Porte County industrial park is getting state help to connect the site to a major national railroad network.
The La Porte County Office of Community & Economic Development announced Jan. 30 the county reached an agreement with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. for a $1 million performance-based grant to support the connection of LaPorte County’s $6 million rail spur at Kingsbury Industrial Park with the CSX mainline, just south of the 600-plus acre industrial park’s southern border.
“With this increased connectivity, KIP, which was previously designated by CSX as a ‘select site’ for prospective developers will be one of the few industrial parks in the nation that can be served by two Class I rail carriers,” said Randy Novak, president of the La Porte County Redevelopment Commission. “This connection is expected to increase opportunities for economic investment and job creation in LaPorte County and the surrounding region.”
Novak said the project is key to opening the industrial park to the entire CSX logistics chain.
“By now having the north/south rail spur at KIP connected on the south edge of the park to CSX, we’re also working hard at the getting the north end of the spur connected directly with the CN Railroad that runs along the north side of the park,” he said.
The IEDC offered La Porte County up to $1 million from the Industrial Development Grant Fund, which assists communities making infrastructure investments in support of economic development. These incentives are performance-based, meaning the county must meet certain milestones to collect and maintain funds.
