January 21, 2018 - Texarkana Gazette -

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced last Thursday it would pledge $1.5 million to the city of Mount Vernon, Texas, toward railroad improvements to support business development and expansion in Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas. 

Some estimates show the project is expected to create 82 jobs, retain 55 of them and generate about $2 million in private investment.

"We put lots of effort into this. We had to raise funds in order to receive this money, as this was based on matching funds," said Brad Hyman, president of the Mount Vernon Economic Development Board. "Writing a grant proposal was just a small part of this, but we wanted to make this happen, and we did."

The money raised will mostly go toward building Franklin County Transload Terminal, where goods can be transferred from trains to trucks and vice versa. The terminal would give rail companies an alternative to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

Read more: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texarkana/story/2018/jan/21/rail-funds-will-go-terminal/709719/