Transportation and Distribution
Cloud County’s position in the center of the country is attractive in and of itself, but more than that this region and the state invest in infrastructure. The state of Kansas ranks #3 for infrastructure by CNBC’s 2019 Top States for Business and #3 best roads in the nation (Reason Foundation, 2019).
Highway
Cloud County, Kansas is located on Highway 81, the only four-lane highway connecting I-70 and I-80, two of America’s main arteries for shipping and distribution. Within a 500-mile radius of Concordia, companies can reach nearly 50 million people in several major Midwest markets.
Rail
BNSF runs through Cloud County and has a terminal stop in Concordia. In 2019-2020, Concordia Terminal LLC had the largest volume of grain business on the BNSF Railway in the continental United States. The Terminal received a shuttle train of 112 cars on average every 2.5 days. Concordia Terminal LLC is considered a major shipper for BNSF and with this designation, train traffic and their ability to supply any form of additional revenue from this line is always welcomed.
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Kyle Short Line Railroad runs through Concordia, Kansas and interchanges with BNSF in Courtland, Kansas as well as with Union Pacific in Limon, Colorado and Salina, Kansas. Its top commodities are agricultural products, chemicals and plastics, food and kindred products, and mineral and stone.Â
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Concordia East Development property has dirt work completed for a rail spur and could be rail-served.
Air
Salina Regional Airport is within 45 miles of Concordia and offers direct flights to Denver and Chicago via United Airlines.
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Blosser Municipal Airport is located on the southern edge or Concordia on US-81 and has a a runway that is 75 feet wide and 4,000 feet long.
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Wind
Meridian Way Wind Farm. EDP Renewables North America is a renewable industry leader and the fourth-largest wind developer in the United States and is leading the Meridian Way Wind Farm located eight miles south of Concordia, Kansas. The wind farm has an installed capacity of 201 megawatts and represents a capital investment of approximately $442 million and 25 permanent jobs.
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 Existing Regional Employers:
Transportation and Distribution
Cloud County’s position in the center of the country is attractive in and of itself, but more than that this region and the state invest in infrastructure. The state of Kansas ranks #3 in infrastructure (CNBC, 2019) and #3 best roads in the nation (Reason Foundation, 2019).
Highway
Cloud County, Kansas is located on Highway 81, the only four-lane highway connecting I-70 and I-80, two of America’s main arteries for shipping and distribution. Highway 81 provides quick access to Denver, Kansas City, Dallas, Omaha and Chicago. Â
Within a 500-mile radius of Concordia, companies can reach nearly 50 million people in major Midwest markets:
- Dallas, TX
- Minneapolis, MN
- St. Lous, MO
- Oklahoma City, OK
- Denver, CO
- Kansas City, MO
Rail
BNSF runs through Cloud County and has a terminal stop in Concordia. In 2019-2020, Concordia Terminal LLC had the largest volume of grain business on the BNSF Railway in the continental United States. The Terminal received a shuttle train of 112 cars on average every 2.5 days. Concordia Terminal LLC is considered a major shipper for BNSF and with this designation, train traffic and their ability to supply any form of additional revenue from this line is always welcomed.
Kyle Short Line Railroad runs through Concordia, Kansas and interchanges with BNSF in Courtland, Kansas, as well as with Union Pacific in Limon, Colorado, and Salina, Kansas. Its top commodities are agricultural products, chemicals and plastics, food and kindred products, and mineral and stone.Â
Concordia East Development property has dirt work completed for a rail spur and could be rail-served.
Within a 500-mile radius of Concordia, companies can reach nearly 50 million people in major Midwest markets:
Air
For international air travel, airports in Kansas City and Omaha are just three hours outside of Cloud County.Â
Salina Regional Airport is within 45 miles of Concordia and offers direct flights to Denver and Chicago via United Airlines.Â
Blosser Municipal Airport is located on the southern edge of Concordia on US-81 and has a a runway that is 75 feet wide and 4,000 feet long.
Manhattan Regional Airport is just over 80 miles from Concordia and offers direct flights to Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago via American Airlines.
The Cloud County region is particularly strong in agricultural-related transportation and distribution. The table below highlights some of the region’s transportation and distribution industry strengths. Location quotient (LQ) is a way of quantifying how concentrated a particular sector is in a region as compared to the nation. For example, the Farm Product Warehousing and Storage LQ in CloudCorp’s region is 28.97, which means that this industry is nearly 29 times more concentrated in the CloudCorp region than the typical region.
| Industry | Greater Region LQ | Kansas LQ |
|---|---|---|
| General Freight Trucking, Long-Distance, Less Than Truckload (NAICS 484122) | 1.37 | 1.28 |
| Specialized Freight (except Used Goods) Trucking, Local (NAICS 484220) | 2.22 | 0.99 |
| Specialized Freight (except Used Goods) Trucking, Long-Distance (NAICS 484230) | 2.10 | 1.60 |
| Farm Product Warehousing and Storage (NAICS 493130) | 28.97 | 7.02 |
(Source: Emsi, 2020)
*View the chart on our desktop site.Â
North Central Kansas Technical College and Salina Area Technical College both offer Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) programs, as well as automotive technology, heavy equipment operation, etc.
Wages for transportation occupations are competitive when compared to Kansas and U.S. averages.
| Description | Cloud County Wages | Regional Wages | Kansas Wages | US Wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | $18.00 | $19.12 | $21.71 | $21.66 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | $14.71 | $14.69 | $15.32 | $14.18 |
| Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators | $17.47 | $17.70 | $17.99 | $17.39 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | $11.10 | $12.27 | $12.51 | $13.16 |
| First-Line Supervisors of Transportation and Material Moving Workers, Except Aircraft Cargo Handling Supervisors | $24.11 | $26.07 | $26.24 | $26.43 |
| Packers and Packagers, Hand | $12.96 | $12.62 | $11.38 | $12.45 |
| Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Clerks | $14.89 | $15.52 | $16.00 | $16.43 |
| Light Truck Drivers | $12.27 | $13.70 | $16.73 | $16.68 |
| Office Clerks, General | $12.69 | $12.83 | $13.45 | $16.37 |
| Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists | $19.89 | $21.09 | $21.55 | $23.13 |
(Source: Emsi, 2020)
*View the chart on our desktop site.Â
