CORDELE – Were it not for the close loop shortline railroad that Heart of Georgia operates between here and Savannah, the inland port would have gone elsewhere.

Industrial Development Council Executive Director Bruce Drennan said the shortline railroad gave Cordele a distinct advantage. “It’s not economically feasible for other rail lines to make such short trips,” he told Cordele Kiwanians in an update this past Thursday.

The recent announcement that the inland intermodal facility will become a reality here in early 2010 is the culmination of seven years of work, Drennan explained. “We were very close in 2004,” he said, “when the state’s top administration changed from Democratic to Republican. Because of new leadership, we practically had to start over.”

When this past legislative session convened, the biggest hurdles standing in the way, he said, were deteriorated rail bridges over the Ocmulgee and Oconee Rivers that could not sustain rail traffic.

Local legislators, Representative Buddy Harden and Senator J. Dickey Crosby got money for the necessary repairs put in the budget, and in May, Governor Sonny Perdue signed the budget with those funds left in place.

“We also had to obtain permission from CSX Railroad to carry rail cars into Savannah,” Drennan said.

Many containers that come into the Port of Savannah are destined for areas along the Gulf of Mexico and in Alabama. Rather than having to ship them by truck all the way, now, they can come to Cordele on rail, then be transferred to trucks.

Likewise, containers headed to Savannah can be trucked here, then carried the remainder of the way by rail, and the costs will be much less.

Numerous companies already have agreed to use the inland port, Drennan said. It will be located on the east side of I-75, and he anticipates that operation of the actual facility will create about 100 jobs.

An even better possibility for job creation, however, lies in the number of warehouses that will be needed in the area.

A similar inland port has been operating in Virginia for several years, he said, and it accounts for a total of 15,000 jobs.

“We are excited about what the port can mean for the future of our community,” Drennan said. There will be road improvements, and at some point, possibly even a Cordele bypass.

Drennan also mentioned several other projects that are goodpossibilities possibilities for Crisp County.

He’s pretty certain, he said, that Latex Foam International will be bringing a plant here. They will ship liquid latex in containers through the inland port, then produce pillows and mattresses.

They will use a spec building and provide jobs for 130 to 150 people. These jobs should be good paying jobs, Drennan said, with hourly wages in the $12.50 to $15.50 range.