MAGIC Fund OKs Rail Upgrade - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

MAGIC Fund OKs Rail Upgrade

Minot's MAGIC Fund screening committee voted unanimously this morning to give the Minot Area Development Corporation more than three million dollars to improve rail operations at the Port of North Dakota.

The upgrades are needed to bring rail shipping ability to new parcels of land that are being developed for new business that is coming to the area.

The exact amount is three-point-four million dollars.

It would help the Port expand by adding more than one mile of track.

Jerry Chavez with MADC says in the past, MAGIC Fund money has helped get projects off the ground...and this is a re-investment that would help to bring upwards of 200 new jobs to the region, and upgrade what is already an asset to the city.

(Jerry Chavez - MADC President) "You put more dollars into that asset and you actually protect that asset that is already in place. It gives companies the opportunity to leverage that asset and reduce their risk but more importantly it reduces their cost of doing business. Think of it as a business partnership or relationship between the City of Minot and those businesses going forward."

The recommendation now moves to the full City Council for its approval.