TOLEDO, Ohio, April 29, 2009 – The Ohio Department of Development announced last night that the Lucas County Improvement Corporation (LCIC) will be the recipient of funding from the Ohio Bipartisan Job Stimulus Plan for a Public Grain Transfer and Multi-Modal Delivery System at Ironville Docks.

The LCIC award of $7.5 million is one of five announced yesterday and comes in the form of a Logistics and Distribution Stimulus loan. The loan may be forgiven upon attainment of the project’s specific terms. The loan is for the purchase and improvement of property and the acquisition of capital equipment in support of a project at Midwest Terminals at The Port of Toledo. The Midwest Terminals project will allow the LCIC to invest in specific conveyor and material transfer systems enabling it to improve efficiencies through rapid freight loading and unloading and multimodal conveyor capabilities. This $10.7 million project is expected to create more than 30,000 man hours in the construction phase of the project and create 40 permanent positions after the project’s completion. The project is expected to take 54 months to complete. The remaining project funding comes in the form of a $1.6 million contribution from Midwest Terminals and the LCIC is anticipating the remaining $1.6 million to come from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration in the form of a grant.

Blake Culver, Program Manger for the Regional Growth Partnership led the writing of the awarded Job Stimulus Logistics and Distribution grant proposal, titled “Building Ohio Supply Chains: A Multi-Modal Project.”

“Especially now, in a challenging economy, it is important to make strategic investments to spur job growth,” says Matthew A. Szollosi, State Representative, 49th House District. “This funding, along with the $22 million in federal stimulus money, represents the next step in making the Port of Toledo a world-class center of commerce. With the right tools, our Port has unlimited economic and industrial development potential.”

“This application demonstrates once again the benefits of the community working together. With the LCIC being the applicant for this grant, the State recognized that Lucas County - in its entirety -supported this project,” says Joseph Zerbey, Chairman, LCIC Board of Directors.

"We appreciate the opportunity to support our regional partners in securing this grant," said Steve Weathers, president and CEO of the Regional Growth Partnership. "This demonstrates that the northwest Ohio community is working proactively to create new jobs, investment and wealth in our region."

“This funding accelerates the plans for Ironville significantly and means the retention and creation of jobs in the Port of Toledo and our region,” says Michael J. Stolarczyk, President of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.

“This is yet another great example of the close working relationship between our State elected officials and our development agencies in northwest Ohio.”

Lucas County Commissioner Pete Gerken added, "I am very pleased that the State has awarded $7.5 million to the Midwest Terminals project, a project that will create many good-paying jobs for our residents. At a time when our economy is struggling, this loan is an important and positive step in the right direction."

Project Details –Public Grain Transfer and Multi-Modal Delivery System
The project will construct a grain transfer system that will facilitate the movement of grain between rail, truck, and vessel by charging silos with grain from one mode for temporary storage, and transferring back to another mode. The goal of this project is to expand the grain transfer infrastructure at The Port of Toledo, better and more efficiently leveraging its multi-modal capabilities to support existing grain business and to develop new business that can benefit from supply chain cost savings. The project is located on the 74-acre water side of Facility Four/Ironville Docks Terminal (182 acres) located adjacent to the Overseas Cargo Center within the Port of Toledo complex.

The key capabilities of the project include two million bushels of grain storage separated into four 500,000 bushel bins to facilitate flexibility of grain type storage and to accommodate up to 30,000 tons of grain. The storage will serve as a transfer point between truck, rail and water vessel. Several product and service components will be sourced locally including site preparation, foundation construction, bin construction, mechanical system installation, electrical system installation and system maintenance.

This facility will have the capacity to load 201,600 tons per week with a live load rate of 1200 tons per hour. Based on a nine-month shipping season, this equates to an annual capacity of 7.3 million tons. This would consist of 480 vessels which is the equivalent of 365,000 20-ton truckloads off the road. This funding will help retain and create new jobs.

“This is another giant step forward to complete the logistics infrastructure on the Ironville property,” says Alex Johnson, CEO, Midwest Terminals of Toledo. “The project will help us both increase cargo throughput and attract new business to the area and we are looking forward to a continuing private/public partnership with Lucas County and the Toledo Lucas County Port Authority.”

The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority’s business is transportation. That business is shaped by our mission to move people and cargo through the region while employing innovative finance programs to stimulate economic development. For more information, please visit www.toledoportauthority.org.