Breaking News - Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation

Consultants See Yuma Potential

Jan. 28th, 2010
Joyce Lobeck

The Yuma area has some key ingredients to capitalize on the movement of massive amounts of goods across the U.S. by rail, agreed two consultants after visiting the community. "Yuma was on my radar after meeting with Julie (Engel, president and CEO of Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp.) at a national economic development conference," said Rodney Goulet. He is the vice president of supplyside strategy and infrastructure for Colliers International, a commercial real estate company. After spending a couple of days in the community this week touring the area and meeting with officials, he's even more sure Yuma has potential as a regional logistics hub or even intermodal facility for Union Pacific as the railroad carries goods from the port at Long Beach to markets throughout the nation. "There are opportunities to explore those things," he said. What the community has to do, Goulet said, is come up with a value proposition, a business case presenting the advantages of locating such a facility in Yuma rather than, say, in Long Beach, Calif., Phoenix or some other city. The plan has to offer a convincing argument on why Yuma should be the hub for the Southwest, he said. It also needs to answer the questions: Who is the target market for the flow of goods? What is the labor advantage? What is the cost advantage? Other concerns are available land and community support for such a project, he said. While here, he toured a 3,000-acre site east of Tacna where Arizona Clean Fuels originally was going to locate an oil refinery. The land is now owned by the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District, which is marketing the property. The site has potential for an intermodal center with access to both rail and Interstate 8, Goulet said. He also met with GYEDC investors, Border Patrol and the Port Authority and toured San Luis II, the new commercial port of entry. "That's another advantage ... the ability to move goods between the U.S. and Mexico," Goulet said. "The infrastructure is in place." Yuma's location in the marketplace also presents advantages, he said, with access to 30 million people in central Arizona, Southern California, Nevada and Mexico within a day or two of travel. With Yuma International Airport, UP's main southern route and Interstate 8, the Yuma area definitely has the transportation infrastructure to move goods to key marketplaces, he said. His advice to the community: "Develop those kinds of prospects. Put together a business plan." He's willing to help and promised to come back for the ribbon cutting. One thing that local advocates need to remember is that the railroad is a private, for-profit business, said Roger Nelson, senior consultant with Professional Logistics Group who has considerable experience with railroads, both with Burlington Northern and with a short rail system. "The railroad is not in economic development and it is not a public service," he said. There are two things about Union Pacific, he said. It wants to protect or expand its franchise and improve its bottom line by reducing its costs. Anything that UP would buy into has to make financial sense to the railroad, Nelson said. And it won't be the leader, although it would be a cheerleader for a promising project. He also suggested that the community needs to move beyond its previous poor experiences with UP and work toward building a new, more positive relationship. In this economic time, he said, he believes the railroad would be receptive to new business opportunities. Nelson, too, was impressed with what he learned while in Yuma. "The people are the greatest asset," he said. "I saw a sense of community. That's a great attribute to have. With a tough project, you need people who are willing to step up." After meeting with Goulet and Nelson, Engel said she was "very encouraged about Yuma's logistics potential. This validates that the community is looking in the right direction. We need to move forward. None of these projects happen overnight. They take 10 to 20 years. We have to be visionaries."

Joyce Lobeck
Sun Staff Writer
The Sun
Jan. 28th, 2010

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