Garick Purchases Railroad Line in South Charleston, Ohio
06/28/07
(SOUTH CHARLESTON, OH) Garick, a nationwide distributor and processor of sustainable natural resource products, is the proud owner of a rail line in South Charleston, Ohio. The tracks are located next to Paygro®, Garick’s manufacturing facility in South Charleston. Although the tracks have been abandoned for over ten years, Garick purchased the railroad because of the opportunity to aid in transportation of raw materials and finished products, such as compost, mulch, soil, and aggregates, in and out of Garick’s Paygro facility.
The rail line consists of 7.3 acres of land and runs 1.9 miles, and it will reduce Paygro’s and the Village of South Charleston’s truck traffic. Also using the rail line will be Southwest Landmark, a farm supply cooperative that sells feed, propane, biodiesel, seed, and fertilizer. Southwest Landmark is building a new fertilizer processing plant along the rail line. Both Garick and Southwest Landmark will share in the cost of repairing and rehabilitating the tracks.
Two key players that helped Garick with the purchase of the tracks were The West Central Ohio Port Authority and The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC). The West Central Port Ohio Port Authority operates the main rail line through South Charleston and was instrumental in writing the specifications for the track rehabilitation and overseeing the bidding process. Because ORDC’s mission is to facilitate continued or new usage of rail transportation in Ohio, it agreed to drop its contingent ownership of the rail line if Garick operates the line for ten years.
Gary Trinetti, President and CEO of Garick, said, “Very rarely does a project become a ‘win’ for everyone involved. But I think in this case, everyone does win: Paygro and Southwest Landmark are able to ship and receive via rail; the railroad can attract new businesses in the area. The Village of South Charleston and Clark County benefit from increased economic activity; the West Central Ohio Port Authority gets new track usage fees; the Ohio Rail Development Commission succeeds in the railroad being used rather than removed; the truck traffic is reduced in the area; and the environment benefits from less energy usage.”
Doug Alderman, Garick’s Director of Agriculture and Environmental Business, said, “We, at Garick, really appreciate the help of the West Central Ohio Port Authority. The Management and Board of Directors have supported and overseen this project from the beginning. I can’t imagine we could have done this without them.”
Garick, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, services the landscape, recreation, lawn, garden, and construction industries. Garick prides itself on its commitment to sustainability and environmental practices. Using organic and green waste streams, such as lawn and garden, food, agriculture, and forest by-products, Garick diverts hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from landfills and reproduces it into organic mulches and soils. Garick's composting facilities are Paygro® in South Charleston, Ohio; Smith Garden Products® in Cumming, Georgia; New Milford Farms® in New Milford, Connecticut; and Tarheel Bark in Harrisburg, North Carolina. These facilities make nationally branded products Nature's Helper® organic soil amendment, Black Satin® Mulch, Designated Dryer® sports turf conditioner, Hydrocks® soil enhancer, Kids Karpet® recreational surfacing, and Moo-Nure® organic compost. With these composting facilities and other terminals and ports located throughout the United States, Garick has the capability to supply a complete range of products in bags, bales, or bulk.
