BNSF's Economic Development Efforts Lead to $1.24 Billion in Investments and More Than 3,300 Jobs in 2004

BNSF's Economic Development Efforts Lead to $1.24 Billion in Investments and More Than 3,300 Jobs in 2004

FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Economic development efforts of BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) were instrumental in the location of 144 new or expanded facilities during 2004 in the areas served by the railway. These facilities involved investments of $1.24 billion and the creation of 3,350 new jobs.

The 144 facilities included ethanol facilities in Iowa, Nebraska and New Mexico; lumber yards and transload facilities in Arizona, California, Oklahoma, Oregon, Montana and Texas; and consumer and perishables products warehouses in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas, Utah and Washington. Other companies located along BNSF lines in 2004 include several facilities for building products, fertilizers, plastics, aggregates and printing paper.

Oregon Transfer, a supply chain and logistics management firm providing warehousing, distribution and logistics for food grade commodities in the Pacific Northwest, benefited from BNSF's Economic Development efforts with the recent opening of a 317,000-square-foot food-grade warehouse in Portland, Oregon.

"Consistent, efficient and cost effective transportation options are a cornerstone for our company's growth," says Steve Giering, senior vice president, Oregon Transfer. "Working with BNSF helped our company design this new efficient distribution center, which increases our capacity, enables broader access and deeper penetration into key markets."

"The ability of businesses to respond to rapidly changing market conditions is key to their continued success, and to the success of the communities in which they operate," says Vann Cunningham, Assistant Vice President, BNSF Economic Development. "BNSF continues to be among the transportation industry leaders in helping to manage that critical component for our customers. Our partnerships with state and local public and private economic development agencies help businesses accelerate improvements to their supply chain process -- from site selection to optimizing distribution networks."

A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI), BNSF Railway operates one of the largest railroad networks in North America, with about 32,000 route miles covering 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at http://www.bnsf.com/ . The railway is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, transports the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050124/DAM043LOGO-c
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: BNSF Railway Company

CONTACT: Suann Lundsberg of BNSF Railway Company, +1-817-867-6275

Web site: http://www.bnsf.com/


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