Wellsville Intermodal Facility continues area economic growth

July 5, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

WELLSVILLE

Step back in time a decade and operations along the Ohio River at the Wellsville Intermodal Facility were quite different.

Today’s operations hadn’t really started yet, but the idea for them was there.

Columbiana County Port Authority members saw the potential for an operation that would benefit the immediate and surrounding areas.

“We are a major maritime system,” said Tracy Drake, executive director of the port. “Some people don’t realize that.”

HISTORY

The Columbiana County Port Authority has owned 70 acres of the Wellsville Intermodal Facility property since the late 1990s.

Before becoming a major maritime system, it was essential to have a dedicated Clark Avenue interchange off state Route 7 for trucks coming in and out of the facility.

Next came the inclusion of rail.

And then the big project in 2011: a state-of-the-art 60-ton bridge crane.

This nearly $6 million crane allows a company to unload items from rail to truck to boat and vice versa.

“The first cargo we moved with that crane was NASA rocket components,” Drake said. “So, one of our advertisements is even if you aren’t a rocket scientist, we can move your cargo.”

Now, more investment is about to begin. Plans for an articulated scoop crane and a conveyor are underway. Its installation would mean more bulk cargo can be handled more efficiently, and it frees the bridge crane up for other cargo.

“Basically, it will scoop down into a barge and pull that cargo out,” Drake said.

The crane will cost $1.6 million, and the conveyor will cost $2.2 million. Both are expected to be in before the year ends.

Globex, a multi-disciplined engineering firm in Canfield, worked with the port authority on the bid specification for the new crane and conveyor. This document tells a company exactly what is needed for the project.

“It basically spells out everything for the company,” said Brad Garwacki, vice president of sales for Globex.

Globex will continue to work with the port authority and oversee the construction of the conveyor and crane. Ruhlin Co. of Sharon Center, Ohio, won the bid for the construction.

A majority of the funds to pay for the new crane and conveyor will come through the state’s logistics and distribution program.

Whatever costs remain will be covered by the port authority.

“We are not in the business to make money,” Drake said. “We are in the business to make jobs and upgrade the economy.”

MARITIME SYSTEM

Last year, more than 15 million tons of cargo moved at the Wellsville Intermodal Facility.

Here is how it works: Pier 48 operates the crane deck for the port. The company, owned by Larry Heck, works with customers, gets new customers and makes sure to develop a solid reputation for moving cargo in and out.

The company started working at the facility 21/2 years ago.

“Now, Pier 48 has a life of its own,” Heck said. “It is through being able to provide good service and being able to provide competitive quoting we really have done well.”

Cargo from all over the world comes up to the facility on a barge in containers.

“When I first started, we did five barges a month,” Heck said. “Today there are seven of us, and we do anywhere from 15 to 30 barges a month.”

The new scoop crane and conveyor are expected to bring that up to 40 to 50 barges per month.

Categories of cargo include special, bulk and break bulk.

The rockets would fall under “special.” Bulk would be any material unbagged, such as sand and minerals. Break bulk would include steel coil and minerals in bags or billets.

“There is stuff coming in all of the time,” Drake said. “It comes from everywhere.”

CIMBAR

When the local Utica Shale boom hit here, Cimbar Performance Minerals was able to answer the need for certain minerals used in drilling for oil and gas. Barite, or barium sulfate, is used in drilling mud. The mud helps in drilling in high-pressure zones and softens the damage done on drilling tools.

“We would like to think we were smart,” said Albert Wilson, president of the Georgia-based company. “I think it was more just luck.”

Cimbar came to the facility in 2011. The company works in the industrial mineral business providing materials used in products from cosmetics to automotive paints.

The process Cimbar used was to bring in product from New Orleans up to Indiana on barges and then truck it east.

It made sense to Cimbar to bring a plant to the area and process material there off the barges.

“Trucking and rail is much more expensive than barging,” Wilson said.

Cimbar’s investment started in about 2011. The company acquired the plant where it processes minerals for $3 million to $4 million.

Then Cimbar decided it was time for an expansion, so more land was purchased for $2 million. And more recently, the company spent $4 million to add another production line.

By the end of this year, Cimbar leaders hope to have a system in place to separate the production lines, so materials do not contaminate other materials.

“All of the investment we have talked about is because of the shale development,” Wilson said.

Cimbar’s investment has meant more for the facility and for the area. The local plant employs close to 40 employees who work to process rock minerals into powder minerals.

In this last year, Cimbar unloaded 300,000 tons of material, and the new conveyor will help grow that number.

“Unless something happens legislation-wise, that area should continue to grow quickly and expand and be good for job creation,” Wilson said.

IMPACT

As Wilson said, moving cargo on barges is cheaper than shipping by truck or rail. But it all comes down to timing.

Getting to Wellsville from New Orleans takes three weeks by barge and a couple of days by truck, but companies also have to think of the amount of product needed.

One single tow, which is the equivalent of 15 barges together, carries the equivalent of about 1,200 semi loads.

“Your warehouse is moving to you on the water,” Drake said.

So, there are benefits for local companies to move product in and out via barge.

TRADE

Mousa Kassis, director of the International Trade Assistance Center at Youngstown State University, said the area is “blessed” to have the Wellsville Intermodal Facility.

“We advise our companies to be a part of it,” Kassis said.

In January, the Youngs-town/Warren Regional Chamber, Youngstown State University and eight other economic-development organizations, including the Columbiana County Port Authority, joined forces for a 10-county, two-state global trade initiative.

The OH-PA Stateline Export Initiate aims to direct companies on international trade including export laws.

“We see more companies becoming more global oriented and more open to exporting ideas,” Kassis said.

The Wellsville facility is really in the middle of where the initiative is focused: in the Mahoning Valley and Ashtabula County in Ohio, and Erie, Crawford, Mercer, Lawrence, Beaver and Butler counties in Pennsylvania.

“In the 10-county area, we have a total of about $14 billion a year in exports,” Kassis said.

It is important for local companies to explore international trade because it translates to more revenue, and that translates to more money in the local economy.

“We have a lot to offer,” Kassis said. “We have sophisticated industries. And we have human capital and skills that will be able to participate in the global market.

FUTURE

Drake sees potential for even more in the operation at the intermodal facility. The new crane, he said, will double the capacity in handling bulk cargo.

The cargo may change, too. Agriculture may increase, and maybe liquid natural gas. Drake sees the potential for more exports to be handled there.

“It just increases the value of this region as a transportation asset for private-sector industry,” Drake said. “The intermodal facility was built to be a dynamic engine for growth that will evolve to meet opportunities. Because of the facility’s location, we anticipate development of the 2,000 to 2,300 adjacent acres above state Route 7.”