October 23, 2006

Pryce Highlights Heartland Corridor/Rickenbacker Intermodal
Economic Boon  

Groveport , Ohio – Today, Congresswoman Deborah Pryce participated in an event celebrating the Heartland Corridor project and Rickenbacker Intermodal facility in Groveport. Pryce was instrumental in helping to secure more than $120 million in federal funds for the projects, and was joined at the event by Senator Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), and Congressmen Pat Tiberi
( R-Genoa Township) and David Hobson (R-Springfield). Together, the projects are expected to create 20,000 jobs and infuse more that $15 billion into our economy over the next 20 years.

Following the event, Pryce released the following statement about the enormity of the two projects to central Ohio’s economic future:

“In recent months we’ve seen companies blazing a trail to Groveport Ohio: more than 1200 new jobs from companies like McGraw-Hill, Build A Bear, Toys-R-Us, Yokohama, and Dell Computers, all of whom have identified the unique logistical and geographic benefits of Rickenbacker. I am thrilled that these job creators have chosen this site to grow their businesses and utilize this important asset to our central Ohio community.”

“The effort in Congress to secure the federal funding necessary to make this happen – more than $120 million during this Congressional session -- is the quintessential example of the cooperation and collaboration needed among public officials to deliver for a community. Only through the central Ohio delegation’s strength, persistence and advocacy could a project of this size and scope be accomplished.”

“And this is just the beginning – today we sit on an economic powder keg, a commercial colossus that will bring economic growth and job creation to this area on a scale we have not seen before. The Heartland Corridor and Rickenbacker Intermodal facility represent the fulfillment of Columbus’s dream of becoming an inland port, and will usher in a new generation of commercial activity in central Ohio that will forever impact our local and state economies and create tens of thousands of high paying jobs.”

Pryce worked with the central Ohio delegation to secure $30.2 million in the transportation reauthorization bill (TEA-LU) toward the construction of an intermodal hub at Rickenbacker --
a 300-acre yard on the facility’s south side where cargo can be transferred between different modes of transportation such as trains, planes and automobiles.

The $30.2 million complements an additional $90 million included in TEA-LU for the Heartland Corridor project, which provides the infrastructure enhancements necessary to connect southern Franklin County to Norfolk, Virginia via rail line. This money will go toward widening bridges and tunnels along that route to allow trains to carry double-stacked containers north from Norfolk. It is estimated that with a double-stacked route, the Rickenbacker Intermodal Facility will contribute more than $15 billion to the local and state economies over the next 20 years.