The $350 Million Mile

National Steel Car, a rail car firm based in Ontario, announced today that they (along with the National Alabama Corporation) will be investing $350 million into building a Northern Alabama manufacturing plant. The company plans to employ 1,800 workers and manufacture up to 10,000 freight cars a year. The 2 million-square-foot (1 mile long!!!) facility, located in the Shoals area of Alabama, is scheduled to open in 2009.

Alabama, which has been notoriously successful in luring automotive manufactures and suppliers to the state, had pursued the rail company. In June, the state passed an amendment increasing its borrowing power from $350 million to $750 million to finance incentives packages for companies like National Steel Car. Economic developers in Alabama purchased extra land, and plan to build around 5 miles of rail track to link to the Norfolk Southern Line, as well as highway, sewage, and power upgrades.

National Steel Car, which is the leading North American rail-car supplier, had been searching for a Southern U.S. location for two years. After visiting 150 sites in 12 states, company executives began negotiating with Alabama officials in September 2006. The plant is expected to make an enormous impact in Colbert and Lauderdale counties, which has a combined population of 145,000 residents.

Sources: The Times Daily, Press Release