By PraxiChain’s Rail & Economic Development Experts
Supply chains across North America are being redrawn, and the communities that understand what is happening will capture the jobs and tax base that follow. Production locations are shifting as tariffs and the lessons of the pandemic push manufacturing back toward the United States. Trucking costs are rising as driver availability tightens and fuel prices fluctuate, prompting more freight to move to rail, intermodal, and transload. And the proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern merger could restructure Class I rail access for a generation.
For economic development organizations, these forces are not a threat; they are an opening. Capturing that opportunity, however, requires something most economic development playbooks overlook: supply chain integration.
Why This Moment is Different
Every economic development organization already competes on land, incentives, and workforce. What almost no one competes on is supply chain fluency — the ability to show a prospect exactly how their community fits into that company’s freight network. Companies making relocation decisions today are asking harder logistics questions than they did five years ago. Not just “do you have rail,” but “which railroad, what service frequency, what are my transload options, and how do I reach my customers from here?”
“Build it, and they will come” is a hopeful phrase. Certainty comes from knowing what to build, for whom, and in the right geography.”
What You’ll Learn in This Brief
This brief from PraxiChain’s Rail & Economic Development practitioners covers what a community supply chain audit should look for, which industries actually fit rail-served sites, how to engage Class I railroads effectively, and what the UP-NS merger means for your corridor.
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We’ll identify your community’s highest-leverage growth opportunities and what it would take to pursue them. No obligation.
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