Two railroads diverged in an industrial park.

What could make all the difference is a spur connecting the two, according to John Kramer, president of the Development Corporation of Fort Dodge and Webster County.

Plans are afoot to expand the Webster County Ag-Industrial Center, located west of Fort Dodge off Iowa Highway 7. The industrial park is currently home to Valero Energy and the mothballed Tate & Lyle corn wet mill plant.

In the future, additional development could bring industry to the land directly southeast of Tate & Lyle and Valero.

However, concrete details of the proposed growth, including precise determination of land involved, have yet to be finalized.

A key component of the proposed expansion is a county-owned rail spur connecting the north-south Union Pacific and east-west Canadian National lines, which intersect at a point adjacent to the ag center.

The spur, which would be owned by Webster County, would contain a rail car drop and staging yard in which a series of sidings would be used for rail car staging to transport materials produced by industries within the center.

The project comes with an approximately $10.8 million price tag, according to estimates.

The county is applying for money through the Iowa Department of Transportation Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant Program.

That would be one piece in the money puzzle, said Webster County Supervisor Kim Motl.

Motl said she has pushed for the rail project since she was elected to the supervisors in 2006, including a presentation to members of Iowa's congressional delegation during annual lobbying trips undertaken by local leaders.

"We have kept them informed of our progress," Motl said. "We want to keep it on the front burner for them."

The Webster County Board of Supervisors recently approved a professional services proposal with Vin Sickle, Allen & Associates of Plymouth, Minn., to develop a conceptual design for the center.

This will expand upon a broader outline developed by R.A. Smith National of Brookfield, Wis., as part of a series of studies begun in 2006.

When the conceptual design is completed, supervisors will discuss the plan during a public meeting, Motl said.

The ultimate goal of the center expansion, according to proponents, is to bring economic investment - and hundreds of good-paying jobs - to the region.

The rail spur could help attract potential clients to the center by providing easy access to two railroads, thereby cutting transportation costs and eliminating the need for businesses to build their own staging areas, Kramer said.

Beyond the immediate local impact, the spur could serve as a regional staging center.

"The railroad companies generally don't own railroad cars anymore," he said. Rather, locomotives back into staging areas, pick up unitrains consisting of more than 100 cars, and haul them away, Kramer said.

The Webster County spur would facilitate this, according to Kramer.

Kramer said negotiations are under way with an unnamed company to build a railcar maintenance and certification facility, which could bring a $10 to $15 million investment and up to 150 jobs to the area.

To facilitate growth of the center, on July 28 supervisors approved rezoning more than 600 acres of land to an Agriculture/Industrial District.

That plan met opposition from some land owners in the affected area, whose properties were ultimately exempted from the rezoned area.

During public hearings, opponents questioned the need to rezone such a large area in the wake of current economic conditions.

Despite setbacks, Kramer remains optimistic about the future of biotechnology - which will go far beyond corn ethanol in the years to come, he said.

"We have three of the biggest players in the industry right here," said Kramer, referring to Valero, Tate & Lyle, and POET Energy, which operates an ethanol plant near Gowrie. "We need to grow or die - and we should be sick of dying."

Contact Jesse Helling at (515) 573-2141 or jhelling@messengernews.net