SHAWNEETOWN, Ill.. (WFIE) – Shovels were in the dirt marking a new era for Shawneetown and Southern Illinois and the beginning of a new $23 million dollar fertilizer distribution center.

Those behind the project say it was all made possible by a grant awarded by the state of Illinois in 2022.

They say this investment in Southern Illinois is a big win.

“The new fertilizer terminal will be a will be a critical piece of our future,” Governor JB Pritzker says. “With prices skyrocketing, our agriculture industry needs relief. This project will cut costs for our farmers and will help them feed the US and the world.”

President Patrick Scates of Scates Group Intermodal River Terminal, who lives in White County, says the governor being there meant a lot.

“A lot of us in rural areas feel like we’re forgotten. So, when the Governor of Southern Illinois comes and helps us break ground, it means a lot that he’s hearing us, that he’s seeing us, that we need economic development. SO the grant dollars that Governor Pritzker brought to the port district means more than anything you could ever describe.”

He says this facility will also benefit those in surrounding areas.

“The bridge right there into Kentucky, there will be a lot of farmers coming over, picking up fertilizer, taking it back to Kentucky and then White County, Selene County, a lot of the area counties here in Southern Illinois will also utilize this facility to take fertilizer straight to the field instead of taking that other step to retail sight and then coming back,” Scates says.

He adds that while the facility itself will only run on about 8 new jobs, he says the impact is even larger.

“That’s not counting the trucking jobs that it’ll bring, the barge logistic jobs, we’re probably talking about 50 to 75 different jobs that’ll come into the region because of this facility,” Scates says.

While this groundbreaking did just take place, construction is already underway, and they expect to have this fertilizer facility completed within a year.

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