strategicinsight REGIONAL HUBS AND SITE SELECTION SERIES
regional airports (although three of them deal mainly in
personal and corporate aircraft).
St. Louis also benefits from competitive labor costs.
Approximately 80,000 people in the area are employed in
transportation or material movement jobs, and the median
hourly wage is $13.83, compared with the national median
of $14.06. “So we’ve got a very skilled workforce, and we
also have a workforce that is very competitive in terms of
wages,” says Alexander.
WILL COUNTY, ILL.
When you think of ports, Will County, Ill., probably is not
the first place that pops to mind. But the county, located 40
miles southwest of downtown Chicago, is home to the
nation’s largest inland port, which is also the third-busiest
port in the United States, according to Brian McKiernan,
senior vice president of
CenterPoint Properties,
which manages the sites.
The inland port contains
two large intermodal facilities: the Union Pacific Joliet
Intermodal Terminal in Joliet,
Ill., and BNSF Logistics Park-Chicago in Elwood, Ill. The
two facilities are minutes away from I-80, which runs from
San Francisco to the New York metropolitan area, and 1-55,
which runs from Louisiana to Chicago.
Opened in 2003 (Elwood) and 2010 (Joliet), the two
intermodal centers boast state-of-the-art facilities and
roads. The intermodal center currently has approximately
17 million square feet of warehousing space and serves
companies such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Georgia
Pacific, Honda, and McKesson.
As for what makes Will County an appealing location for
warehouses and DCs, it’s all about efficiency. According to
McKiernan, it takes 70 to 100 hours for freight to travel
from the West Coast to rail facilities in Joliet and Elwood,
By locating their distribu-
tion facilities at the intermodal
center, which is just a quarter
mile from the rail yard, companies can bypass the conges-
tion in Chicago. Plus, the yard is designed for easy access,
according to McKiernan. “You don’t have any residential
development off of the rail yard,” he says, “so you are able to
get through the yard and out on the highways as efficiently
as possible.”
Coming up: In the May issue, DC VELOCITY will look at
emerging logistics hubs in the U.S. Southeast. ;
For more information …
Want to learn more about the logistics clusters mentioned
in this article? Here’s where to find more information:
Kansas City
▪ KC SmartPort: This not-for-profit group is an excellent
source of information about logistics and supply chain
opportunities in the 18-county bistate Kansas City region.
www.kcsmartport.com/
▪ “Kansas City: Logistics powerhouse?”: Senior Editor
Mark Solomon’s online article looks at the city’s efforts to
become a supply chain success story. www.dcvelocity.com/
articles/20120404-kansas-city-logistics-powerhouse/
St. Louis
▪ St. Louis Regional Chamber: This group connects business and civic communities in the 16-county bistate
region. The chamber has identified “transportation and
distribution” as one of the five industry clusters that the
region is committed to strengthening. www.stlrcga.org/
x478.xml
Will County, Ill.
▪ CenterPoint Properties: The property management com-
pany and developer of the CenterPoint Intermodal Center
provides information on the center—including a drayage
calculator—on its website. www.centerpoint-inter-
modal.com/index.html
▪ Will County Center for Economic Development: This
organization brings together public and private groups to
encourage business development in the county. Its web-
site offers detailed information about the inland port.
www.willcountyced.com/MidwestEmpire/
