Governor Quinn Breaks Ground on New Shipping Facility in Joliet Intermodal Park

JOLIET – August 1, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today joined global transportation and logistics leader APL to break ground on a new terminal at the Joliet intermodal facility, which is expected to create 150 construction jobs and help expand Illinois’ transportation and distribution capacity. The new facility is part of a larger development that will bring 27,000 jobs to the state and strengthen Illinois’ position as the nation’s inland port.

“Major investments that attract and keep businesses coming to Illinois ensure that we remain on the cutting edge,” said Governor Quinn. “This intermodal park will create and support tens of thousands of jobs, grow the state’s economy and even further strengthen our status as our country’s inland port.”

APL, the world’s third highest volume container ocean carrier, is building the new terminal at the largest inland port in the United States, the CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Joliet. APL’s new container yard will be located close to the Union Pacific’s Global IV facility and BNSF’s Logistics Park Chicago facility, as well as numerous warehouse and distribution centers.

This major investment will also include a 3,500 square foot administration building that will house APL’s regional operations team and an 18,500 square foot maintenance and repair building. Expected to be completed by Dec. 2011, it will function as APL’s Chicago Global Gateway, serving customers in Chicago and the surrounding areas, acting as a conduit for shipments from around the world.

Governor Quinn helped pave the way for this project by signing the Intermodal Facilities Promotion Act in 2009, which encourages business development along the freight rail systems of Illinois. CenterPoint Properties, developer of the Joliet and Elwood Logistics Parks, has invested nearly $3 billion in the development and estimates the overall project will produce 36 million square feet of industrial space to clients such as Home Depot, Walmart, Bissell, Delong, Georgia Pacific, NFI and Cypress Medical, and support 27,000 permanent jobs when fully complete.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Department of Transportation provided targeted investments for new water and sewer systems to improve the water quality in the community and upgrade system capabilities to the meet the needs of large businesses, as well as roadway improvements to handle greater traffic and heavier loads.