More than $1 million in funding approved for Greenfield railroad improvements

The village of Greenfield received excellent news today with word that an Economic Development Administration grant for rail line improvements has been approved.

"We are elated!" Greenfield City Manager Betty Bishop told The Highland County Press.

"Greenfield has 29 miles of railroad in Highland and Clinton counties, encompassing villages of Greenfield, Leesburg and New Vienna. This supports businesses like Johnson Controls, Candle-lite, Huhtamaki, driving economic development and job growth of utmost importance to Greenfield and southern Ohio's businesses, industries and families," Bishop said.

"I believe our families are the most important of the three. This is vital to our transportation and infrastructure needs."

As previously reported by The Highland County Press, in April of this year the village of Greenfield was informed that an EDA grant had been rejected.

Bishop said at that time the village may have one more chance to bring the additional funds for the refurbishment of the rail system.

In March of this year, Greenfield faced another railroad crisis when anchors came loose on the railroad bridge, causing ties and spikes to space out and come apart, derailing some cars as they were crossing.

As that happened, the wheels of the cars came off the rails, and the underside came to a rest on top of the tracks.

"We needed to get all the offices, from the U.S. Senate, Congress, state and representatives together and have a meeting," Highland County Commissioner Tom Horst said in March. "It's getting desperate. That rail line has to be fixed. Some companies will not expand. Some may not even be here if we don't fix it."

"The railroad is crucial to hundreds of jobs in the area," Bishop agreed.

The EDA Investment Amount is $2,262,787, The Total Project Cost is $3,751,125. This is expected to create 72 jobs, save 812 jobs, and leverage $8.8 million in private investment.

“The Greenfield Rail Line is essential to the economic future of Greenfield and all of Highland County, including supporting both the existing jobs and job growth at local businesses like Johnson Controls, Huhtamaki, and Candle-lite," Sen. Rob Portman said.

"I am glad that the EDA has answered my calls to help join state, local, and private sector efforts to repair the rail line and preserve jobs at a time when Highland County is still struggling to recover from job losses over the past several years.”

Bishop, grant writer Peg Beekman and Michelle Throckmorton from the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC) began reviewing the comments from the EDA on why their application was rejected and held meetings with local and state elected officials to try to see what could be done to bring the much-needed funding to the village.

"When you've worked on something for this long ... I don't want to say I was stunned, but I was disappointed," Bishop said. "We worked hard.

"Then, (State Rep.) Cliff Rosenberger called me and we put together a meeting in Columbus. We got everybody together in the same room. We had the EDA, people from the offices of Sen. Sherrod Brown, Sen. Rob Portman, Congressman Mike Turner and Jean Schmidt, commissioners…We walked away from that meeting saying 'We're going to make it work.'"

Bishop thanked everyone who had a hand in securing the rail funding. She said OVRDC was instrumental in working on the project and grant writer Peg Beekman was "an absolute jewel."

"Peg wrote the grant and will help implement the plan," Bishop said.

"I don't want to miss anybody, but so many people worked to make it happen," Bishop said. "We needed a push, a real shot in the arm. And we got it. I am elated."

Rosenberger said he was delighted for the villages of Greenfield, Leesburg and New Vienna.

Bishop said additional information would be announced by the office of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.