World Trade - November 2008 - (Page 49)

Courtesy of Norfolk Southern Corp., image by Wes Cheney Moving from concept to creation Ohio and surrounding states are investing heavily in logistics and other emerging industries to offset manufacturing job losses. BY LARA L. SOWINSKI Courtesy of Norfolk Southern Corp., image by Wes Cheney and J. Alex Lang. Governor Ted Strickland asserted that the tax reform would yield signiﬁcant results for the state. “By 2010, Ohio will be one of only two states without a general tax on corporation proﬁts or a property tax on business machinery, equipment, and inventories. This year is the last for Ohio’s business property tax; next year is the last for the corporation proﬁts tax. And, Ohio’s personal income tax rates are falling by 21 percent across the board.” “Between 2005 and 2007, Ohio’s per capita state tax burden has already fallen to 38th in the nation, from 27th, according to the Federation for Tax Administrators. When the new tax cuts are phased in, Ohio’s business taxes will be the lowest in the Midwest.” The Governor also pointed out that exports are up sharply. Last year, the state’s exports totaled more than $42 billion—an 11.1 percent increase over 2006— making it the only state in which exports have grown each year since 1998. It’s great to have a vision, but it’s even better to put it into action, and the major logistics players in the Columbus region and throughout the state are beginning to see the results of this combined effort from the various interests in a number of ways. Undoubtedly, one of the most important projects has been the Norfolk Southern railroad’s Heartland Corridor, a three-year railway improvement project scheduled for completion in 2010 that will signiﬁcantly increase the speed of containerized freight moving in double-stack trains between the East Coast and Midwest. Currently, double-stack trains are routed through Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or Knoxville, Tennessee. However once it’s completed, the Heartland Corridor will move doublestack trains from Norfolk, Virginia’s seaports to Chicago, via West Virginia and Ohio. The centerpiece of the Heartland Corridor is the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal located just outside of Columbus, which opened in March. “The construction of the Rickenbacker terminal punctuates Norfolk Southern’s commitment to serve the growing intermodal demands of central Ohio and Midwest shippers,” said Wick Moorman, Norfolk Southern’s chief executive ofﬁcer, earlier this year. “Rickenbacker, one of ﬁve Norfolk Southern intermodal terminals in Ohio, will anchor our Heartland Corridor when that project is completed.” Elaine Roberts, A.A.E., president and CEO of the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, added that, “We have already witnessed the start of the intermodal terminal’s economic impact with new industrial development in the Rickenbacker area. We expect 20,000 new jobs over the next 30 years as a direct result of the new intermodal facility.” The initial footprint of the Rickenbacker Intermodal Terminal will comprise approximately 175 acres with a handling capacity of more than 250,000 containers and trailers annually. However, it was designed to accommo- Norfolk Southern’s Heartland Corridor project requires the expansion of 28 Appalachian rail tunnels to accommodate double-stack trains. WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM 49 http://WWW.WORLDTRADEMAG.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - November 2008

World Trade - November 2008 Contents Unexpected Responses to Unanticipated Change Reading the States of Risk in Today’s Global Economy Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Failed Promise: Mexico and NAFTA, 15 Years Later The Short Tale Marrying Trade Finance and Transportation into a Single Transaction Trucking Gets a Double Whammy Are We Safe Yet? Logistics Resurrects the Rust Belt Keep on Compressing

World Trade - November 2008

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