Block grant funds released for Adams Industries

Cheyenne County Commissioners approved a notice to the public of finding no significant impact and notice of intent to request release of funds for a community development block grant for Adams Industries Industrial Park Development Project at their meeting Monday morning.

In attendance at the meeting was Don Adams and his son Zach Adams, owners and operators of Adams Industries, Inc., as well as Gary Person and Megan McGown representing the Sidney-Cheyenne Economic Development Partnership.

“The economic development partnership is a consolidated effort by the city and county to work together countywide for economic development purposes and growth,” according to Person.

Adams hopes to expand his industry and in turn create more job opportunities for Sidney and Cheyenne County residents.

“As we move forward on this I think we are going to see additional opportunities for employment out there,” said Adams. “Right now we have about 140 employees total. Bell Lumber (and Pole Company) is going to bring in anywhere from 25-40 workers in on an additional project. We are anticipating another couple hundred people who will have jobs out there within the next three to four years. That all goes back to creative growth and luckily with what we are hearing on the housing market that’s going to help a lot too on the housing side of it.”

Person said that the company had received a letter from the state explaining their commitment to supporting Adams Industries and the company’s expansion plan.

“This is a very similar process as to what we went through with Bell Lumber,” Person said. “As a result of that recruitment of Bell Lumber, Adams Industries asked to make a very significant investment on their property to accommodate the Bell project and some other potential expansion opportunities that the company may have or that other industries looking to locate at the Adams Industries Industrial Park area had. It’s a very significant investment.”

“The legal notice says that they are going to anticipate spending approximately $6 million worth of improvements out there,” Person said.

The state of the Nebraska, which has worked very closely with Adams throughout the lumber project and numerous projects prior to that, is prepared to offer Adams Industries $850,000 towards their expansion project through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The company must comply with certain stipulations determined by the department such as invest a minimum of $6 million to the project and commit to hiring at least 25 additional employees from the time of the beginning of the CDBG contract.

Adams had to come before the board of commissioners in order to be able to apply for the $850,000 they would be rewarded with by the CDBG. The company needs a government sponsor in order to continue with the application, and because the company is located in Cheyenne County and not inside of Sidney city limits, the company needed to get the expansion project approved by board members.

“They (state department members) were very impressed with what the Adams Industry folks were doing out there as well as the potential they have to really have a logistics industrial park unequaled in the state of Nebraska and very few places across America where you have duel rail with two major railroads, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe tied together with the Shore Line Railroad which has priority status for shipping,” said Person.

Different companies throughout the state of Nebraska compete for the federal grant.

“Adams has built a reputation over the years in the trucking industry, so you have rail and trucking and warehousing out there and you have all the components that really make this a unique operation where you not only have the two major railroads but four major highways crossing through Cheyenne County as well,” Person said. “You really have the network that makes it all work.”

Person said that tremendous investment was needed by the company to keep Adams Industries going so strong over the years and their investment has paid off.

“The Adamses have now owned this area of land for about 12 years approximately and have definitely found a way to make this work, perhaps more successful than almost anybody since the time that the depot abandoned the facilities out there in 1967,” Person said.

“There are less than 50 sites in the entire U.S. that have what we have. We are a unique situation and as a community the more people that we can bring in, the higher the tax base is and everyone wins because you have more people buying homes. It helps the schools, it helps everybody, and that activity brings additional activity and that’s what we are striving to do here,” said Adams.

Adams said that oil manufacturers like the site because of their options.

“They buy oil and take the tankers into our facility and they will bring the oil in by truck. Then they load the tankers up and what is unique and why it is here is because when the tanker is full they will make a market decision on what refinery it goes to. If one is on BN and one is on UP they have the ability to do that. To transfer one car to a different track is $1,200 a car. This way they have access to both and the refinery will make a decision where it goes then,” said Adams.

Adams said that the expansion project will be pretty significant and that the company is looking at closer to $10 million worth of improvements, fulfilling the $6 million requirement by the state.

Among additional improvements, company officials are looking to add a new truck shop, budgeted at about $2 million alone.

“We have already done all the surveying for the top level and all the draining done, and ditches are in, but we still need to put a bridge in for a railroad crossing,” said Adams.

Adams said that the company has ran into some problems with the expansion, but none that are to go unfixed. It simply raised the budget amount, he said.

“We ran into some unsuspected problems as far as an environmental cleanup that was left over from the military and we just took care of it and moved on. That raised the budget a significant amount. But it will be a lot simpler moving forward,” said Adams.

Adams said that the company also conducted an engineer study for a 100-year flood and other tests.

Adams said that he hopes to continue with the expansion project as soon as possible.

“When the frost gets off the ground we can start. We hope to finish stabilization within the next 30 days,” he said.

“It’s an effort from everybody. From the county and from the city -- everybody is working hard to do this and it is appreciated. We are going to do our best to make it an attractive site as we can to bring in people. The idea will help the community grow,” said Adams.