Great Southern Wood-NC is moving forward with a $40 million manufacturing project in North Carolina that will include dedicated on-site rail infrastructure supported by a major investment from the North Carolina Railroad Company.
NCRR plans to contribute up to $600,000 toward rail infrastructure at Great Southern Wood-NC’s upcoming lumber treatment facility at Laurinburg-Maxton Airport in Scotland County, according to an Aug. 25 press release.
The investment will help finance the construction of rail infrastructure directly serving the new facility. Great Southern Wood-NC expects to invest approximately $40 million in the overall project.
Once the facility and rail connection are operational, the company expects to receive and distribute at least 421 railcar shipments annually by 2030, according to the release.
Great Southern Wood-NC manufactures and distributes building materials to residential, commercial and industrial dealers. The company also serves agricultural markets across 28 states and Washington, D.C.
For NCRR President and CEO Carl Warren, the project illustrates how rail infrastructure can provide businesses with both operational and market advantages.
“Rail-served businesses like Great Southern Wood-NC understand the benefits of lower transportation costs, greater supply chain efficiency and expanded market access,” Warren said in the release. “The track to sustained success is built on infrastructure.”
The project comes as shippers and manufacturers continue to make targeted investments in rail infrastructure to strengthen their supply chains and improve the movement of goods.
Last year, Hobby Lobby partnered with BNSF Railway to open an intermodal facility in Oklahoma City. The project was designed to simplify loaded container movements between the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and Hobby Lobby’s distribution network in Oklahoma.
In June, International Paper also broke ground on a packaging facility in Rankin County, Mississippi. Canadian Pacific Kansas City will manage inbound raw materials and outbound distribution for the facility, with the company aiming to streamline its supply chain, reduce handling requirements and improve transit reliability.
Great Southern Wood-NC’s investment similarly places rail at the center of its logistics strategy, with the planned connection expected to support hundreds of rail shipments each year once the facility reaches operations.
