Development Forward
Growth doesn’t wait.
Reshoring, rising trucking costs, and a potential freight-shifting rail merger are putting new industrial projects in play. The communities that win them are the ones who can show a prospect exactly how their site fits the freight network. Get the capabilities overview our rail & economic development strategists built for EDO boards and staff.
Two kinds of EDO. Each with a different need.
You have the mission, staff, & a strong site portfolio.
Rail integration and Class I engagement sit outside most teams’ expertise. Industrial recruitment increasingly depends on rail-served, shovel-ready sites — the technical case must be airtight, backed by the right market and commodity intelligence. The proposed rail merger (UP–NS) raises real questions about Class I access and corridor economics for your region.
The right move: a specialist partner that amplifies your team where rail and supply-chain depth matter most.
Real infrastructure advantages, lean staff.
Rail-ready sites and empty buildings sitting idle are opportunities waiting for the right target. Identifying which industries and commodities fit your sites is the difference between interest and a deal— and it’s exactly where an outside advisor creates the most leverage.
How we help your region grow.
Supply Chain 101 Education
A practical tutorial for EDO boards and staff — the fundamentals your team needs to position your community with confidence.
Community Supply Chain Audit
A structured assessment of your rail, highway, and site assets — benchmarked against best-in-class economic development operations.
Market & Commodity Intelligence
Identify the industries and commodities that fit your rail-served sites, and the shippers to target.
Class I Engagement
Navigate railroad industrial-development, carload, and real-estate contacts — and position dual-rail service where you have it.
Site Revitalization & Rail Design
Re-establish rail-ready sites and empty buildings that sit idle, with conceptual track design that makes them credible again.
Project Management
Once the strategy is set, we manage to completion — vendors, stakeholders, and milestones.
How we develop an industrial site.
Site Development Sequence
Steps 3, 6, and 10 — rail connectivity, Class I laddering, and rail design — are where PraxiChain’s railroad pedigree is impossible to replicate. Selected results across rail, industrial sites & funding.
20+
Target companies identified across five priority industries for a 1,500-acre rail-served site, backed by a phased development strategy and Class I partnership.$105M
CRISI grant secured for a state-owned rail corridor — the first award of its kind to that corridor.
33%
Productivity gains and 25% intermodal growth at a Gulf Coast port authority, backed by $7.3M in CRISI funding.Senior leaders from the organizations you’re trying to attract.
Former CEO, Pyxis Associates; CCO, North Carolina Railroad; VP Strategy & Industrial Development, Port of New Orleans.
Former VP of Strategic Business Development, CSX. 30+ years in private equity advisory and Class I commercial strategy.
Former Director of Equipment & Marketing, BNSF Railway. 30+ years in industrial products marketing/sales and equipment leadership.
Get the full Development Forward capabilities overview.
A complete look at how PraxiChain’s rail and economic development practitioners work with EDO boards and staff — direct, experience-based guidance, not a policy summary.
- The two objectives anchoring EDO strategy right now, and the market forces behind them
- Our proven ten-step process for developing a rail-served industrial site
- Where we help — education, community audits, market intelligence, Class I engagement, site revitalization, and project management
- Selected project results across rail, industrial sites, and infrastructure funding
- Meet the Development Collective — the practitioners behind the work