All is not well at the rail car manufacturing plant in Rochelle. On a recent Friday, the parking lot was nearly empty. Currently, employment is just a shadow of what used to be.
But that’s not the only unfortunate economic story coming out of the Hub City.
Two studies – one by Econ Works and the other by Insight Research Corporation – show that the Global III Intermodal has been quite a disappointment for Union Pacific and localjob-seekers.
The study’s numbers show that Rochelle’s intermodal complex has not brought the fortune that was predicted initially. Experts believed that 1,600 jobs would be created by 2010. Currently only 400 jobs are believed to be a direct result of the Global III. The prediction of 400,000 container lifts a day has turned out to be only about 148,000.
After the intermodal opened, land around the complex was priced at an average of $70,000 per acre. That same land now goes for around $17,000. Tax revenue created by the intermodal was predicted to reach $115.2 million annually, but it is only about $44 million today.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that average income in the Rochelle area was $47,109 before the intermodal; now it has dropped to $42,540.
The predictions about a mighty economic resurgence created investment in land an a belief that many new factories would be built. Actually, a sizable number of investors have lost money because of unrealistic predictions.
It’s a shame for the region that Global III and Nippon Sharyo have not come close to meeting expectations.
I’m Phillip LeFevre, and that’s my perspective.
