The rail project, intended to benefit area farmers, could entice biotechnical companies, energy companies or any company with freight shipping needs, Protexter said.
“I would see the Harrold Grain rail project having some potential for a tie-in with some energy development,” Protexter said. “I’m aware of one German company that is considering South Dakota for solar panel manufacturing.
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“If there is a way to bring in product or ship product for something like that, maybe it will make Pierre more viable.”
Near the end of September, the Hughes County Commission approved the project by agreeing to have the Hughes County Regional Railroad Authority assume costs for a $2 million loan in case of a default.
In the past, PEDCO has courted ethanol processing plants. Protexter said PEDCO has changed its focus, but the rail loop could play a part in attracting other kinds of processing plants.
“If they come to a point where there is switch grass or other materials that make sense, we would certainly pursue that,” he said. “We would probably tie in a processing facility — maybe it’s soybeans, oil.”
Dale Gilyard, one of the owners of Harrold Grain, said the project has been under way for about two weeks. He expects it to be completed by wheat harvest, around mid-summer.
He agrees with Protexter that there are advantages for companies to have access to the rail line.
“It really comes down to economics,” he said. “Train sizes have just gotten larger with time. Railroads have figured out the larger the train, the longer the haul, the more economic the moves are. That’s the change we’re really witnessing today. The economics are driving the larger more economical trains.”
Though the loop project carries potential benefits for economic development, Gilyard said it will have an immediate impact for area farmers in providing lower transportation costs to get crops to rails.
“We’re confident it’s going to add value to the area producers, which is in turn going to generate more dollars in our economy,” he said. “And we’re expecting to add new jobs with this facility.”
Gilyard said a loop allows railcars to be loaded more quickly.
“A loop eliminates the need to have to switch cars,” he said. “If you’re loading a 120-car train and you have straight tracks. You generally have to load in 10, 15 or 20 car chunks, move those loads out of the way, get empty cars, load 20 cars and so on and so forth. All that switch time takes time. With a loop track you start loading the train, you just keep pushing the cars around the circle. You never have to stop to switch cars.”
The rail project is part of the picture of area economic development.
PEDCO continues to focus on attracting information technology industries, agricultural ones, biotech and medical companies, energy companies and retail. The six industries were part of a Governor’s Office of Economic Development analysis that recommended targeting them.
Protexter said he is encouraged by talks with a firearms company that might come to the area. Protexter did not provide the company’s name.
“If we can pull that deal together it could be another six, seven, eight jobs in that industry, he said.
More than a year ago, the Hughes County Commission Board of Adjustment granted Dakota Fisheries a conditional-use permit for a tilapia growing and processing plant capable of holding 12 million pounds of live fish.
The facility is set to be built 3.5 miles north of Pierre, 3 miles east of Grey Goose Road on the west side of Beastrom Road.
Protexter said work for the project remains behind-the-scenes from the general public and does not have a timeline for construction.
“They have been very active,” he said. “But what they are doing is not shovel-in-the-ground or hiring. They’re having to match up their engineering with some of the permit requirements. They have several cost proposals out for financing. We might get to a point where we might look locally, if there is some local investment group or agency.”
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