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Federal, private and local money continues Kalama’s decadeslong success at grain exports

Port lands $26M federal grant to expand operation’s capacity

By Henry Brannan, Columbian Murrow News Fellow
Published: December 10, 2024, 11:50am
2 Photos
A $26 million federal grant will help the Port of Kalama expand capacity at the Temco Rail Export Terminal.
A $26 million federal grant will help the Port of Kalama expand capacity at the Temco Rail Export Terminal. (Photo contributed by the Port of Kalama) Photo Gallery

A $26 million federal grant will help the Port of Kalama expand capacity at a local grain-export operation, potentially reducing railroad traffic and increasing local output of grains, oilseeds and wheat to markets around Asia.

The move is only the latest in a more than six-decade pattern of expansion for TEMCO, which will gain about 5 miles of track from the project. That will allow the facility to store four trains simultaneously, two loaded and two empty.

“The Port of Kalama’s TEMCO Rail Expansion Project represents yet another example of when the public and private sectors come together for the greater good of the community,” said Ted Sprague, president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council.

TEMCO is a joint operation between agricultural giants CHS and Cargill. The plant employs 125 people, agriculture trade publication Feed and Grain reported last month.

Exports from the facility made up half of the port’s 2023 output of 12.3 million metric tons, port spokesman Dan Polacek said in an email.

That’s a particularly significant figure because the port is the second-largest agricultural exporter on the West Coast, receiving more than 100,000 railcars of grain alone each year, leading to exports of about 15 million tons.

Those exports are important to the local economy because the port and its roughly 40 tenants are responsible for a little more than 40 percent of Cowlitz County’s $7.1 billion gross domestic product. (GDP is a useful economic measure that represents the total market value of goods and services produced within an area during a year.)

The Federal Railroad Association grant to Kalama was announced in late October by U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Washington Democrats, along with about $90 million for other projects around the state.

“These new replacement tracks are going to help the Port of Kalama transport even more goods, including grain, from rail to ship, faster than ever by allowing it to store empty trains at the port,” Murray said in a statement.

She emphasized the funding came from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Cantwell said the project will increase the port’s grain terminal efficiency by 25 percent to 30 percent, allowing farmers from around the country to get their products to markets faster.

Polacek, of the port, said the increased efficiency from the construction could drive additional hiring by TEMCO for grain handling, transportation and shipping operations.

“The economic ripple effect could also extend to local businesses, like equipment suppliers and service providers, further stimulating job growth in the region,” he said.

TEMCO Kalama Plant Manager Tom Rodman declined to comment for this story, saying he needed corporate approval first.

Cities around Cowlitz County have long relied on industrial and manufacturing jobs to support their populations, especially after the timber industry collapsed.

In its absence, the county’s location-based trade resources — a railroad mainline, interstate freeway and major river with deepwater ports — have helped immensely, Sprague said.

While only about half as many Kalama residents have a college degree compared with the rate for the U.S. at large, the city’s median household income is about 25 percent higher. That may reflect the presence of trade and industrial jobs in the city, as well as a larger population of retirees.

The project is expected to cost $33 million. In addition to the federal money, the port secured a $3.9 million grant from the Washington State Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board.

The remainder will be paid for by both the port and TEMCO. Polacek said he did not know the breakdown.

The project follows a similar expansion in 2013. The port expects construction to start in 2027.

A contractor to build the project will be selected by a formal public works process, with the Port of Kalama serving as project manager, Polacek said.


Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct TEMCO’s 2023 exports which were half of the Port of Kalama’s total yearly output 12.3 metric tons.

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About the project: The Murrow News Fellowship is a state-funded journalism project managed by Washington State University. Local partners are The Columbian and The Daily News. For more information, visit news-fellowship.murrow.wsu.edu.

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