Railex has announced plans to add a second train service to transport produce from Wallula, Wash. across the country to stops in the Northeast through Rotterdam.
The expansion will bring up to 20 new jobs to Rotterdam, adding to the current 120-member workforce it established four years ago when the shipping giant moved its Northeast base to the Rotterdam Industrial Park.
It’s fitting that Schenectady County, home to the first railroad in the nation, will continue to serve as the Eastcoast hub for Railex, said Susan E. Savage, Chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature. `This move is a sign of the continued and steady progress of job growth in our county.`
The Rotterdam site consists of a 200,000-square-foot office and refrigerated distribution complex. County officials said the expansion in Rotterdam brought approximately $40 million worth of investment in the area.
`Rotterdam is experiencing a great economic revival,` said Savage, who credits the county’s economic development plan.
County Legislator Joe Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, also credits Town Supervisor Steven Tommasone and other Rotterdam officials for their work with Railex.
`This is not something the county has done alone,` said Suhrada. `Town representatives deserve equal praise for the economic development in Rotterdam.`
Tommasone said he remembers when he was a member of the Town Board and the Railex project first came to his attention.
`We were on the bottom of the list for that site,` said Tommasone, `But the town very aggressively pursued Railex along with representatives from Metroplex because of the enormous opportunity it brought to Rotterdam.`
Tommasone also said Railex and other companies in Rotterdam’s Industrial Park bring jobs to the area and increase the tax base in the western end of town.
Since October 2006, Railex has been transporting potatoes, onions, apples and other produce from Wallula to Rotterdam. From Rotterdam, the produce is dispersed throughout the Northeast to customers including the Price Chopper supermarket chain, Hannaford supermarkets and Sysco foods.
The 55-car trains make the run between Washington and New York in approximately 124 hours.
Paul Esposito, Railex’s senior vice president, said the demand for service had forced the company to expand some trains to more than 70 cars.
He said the company hauls more than 220 truckloads of produce across the county each week, saving an estimated 100,000 gallons of diesal fuel per train and lowering emissions by 85,000 metric tons per year.
The 64-foot Railex cars feature fresh air exchange, GPS tracking and temperature control technologies.
`We use Union Pacific cars that are only a few years old,` said Esposito, `and the GPS system allows us to always know where they are.`
Esposito said the company has been expanding rapidly and plans to open another facility in California within a year that will initially make shipments to Wallula but will ship directly from California to New York in the near future.
`For now we’ll be utilizing the same commodity base,` said Esposito, `but once we tap into California, we’ll likely be expanding what goods we ship.“