Minot Area Chamber EDC and Rail Modal Group, the facility operator, held a ribbon-cutting event to mark the milestone for the facility that opened in October 2020.

“We hit 100 trains in just a hair under four years. The next 100 will be less than two years from today,” said Chris Rehder, a Williston native and operations manager for Rail Modal Group.

The intermodal facility has shipped more than 20,000 containers, primarily 40-foot containers, on 100 trains to Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, seaports. The 100th train arrived this week and is scheduled to leave Minot for the West Coast today to be offloaded by The Northwest Seaport Alliance onto container ships that will transport the cargo to ports around the world.

Through the facility, products have been shipped to ports in more than 20 countries on four continents. The top commodities over the past four years include wheat, dried distiller’s grains, soybeans, pulses such as peas and lentils, bagged lignite and sugar beet pulp pellets.

Jill Schramm/MDN Participating in a celebration of the intermodal facility on which they have played a part in their various roles in the past or currently are, from left, Mark Lyman, economic developer with Minot Area Chamber EDC; Garton Slovacek, vice president of operations, Rail Modal Group; Chris Rehder, operations manager, RMG; Sen. Randy Burckhard, R-Minot; Rep. Jay Fisher, R-Minot; Brekka Kramer, president/CEO, MACEDC; Minot Mayor Tom Ross; and Tom Bodine, deputy commissioner, N.D. Agriculture Department.

An average of three to five trains, with 200-220 containers each, leave the Minot facility each month, according to MACEDC and Rail Modal Group.

Tom Bodine, deputy commissioner in the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, said the facility provides a huge service in the state.

“We continue to grow and open up markets all throughout the world. A big part of that is the logistics part of getting it out, getting it to different countries and making sure it gets there properly. And that’s a big service that you guys provide North Dakota, not only the Minot region but statewide,” he said. “It’s only going to grow from here.”

Brekka Kramer, president/CEO of Minot Area Chamber EDC, which developed the facility, spoke about the many partnerships required to make the facility happen.

She highlighted BNSF Railway, which has been a partner from the start. The Minot port is the only BNSF site-certified location in North Dakota and was one of only 14 nationwide at the time it was designated, she said.

Minot Mayor Tom Ross said the project wasn’t without hiccups.

“We have had opportunities at any point in this process to pull back. We didn’t. We pushed on,” he said, calling the intermodal facility a “game changer.”

“This is a huge victory for us,” he said.

Kristin Ang, Port of Tacoma Commission president and The Northwest Seaport Alliance co-chair, sent remarks stating, “The Minot Intermodal Facility marks the first project in The Northwest Seaport Alliance’s Inland Rail Hub Strategic Initiative and has proved to be a great success. By providing a seamless connection via rail for inland agriculture producers to reach international markets, inland farmers are able to expand their distribution white also limiting logistics time and costs. We look forward to our continued partnership with Rail Modal Group and the Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation and expansion of this important rail hub.”

Rail Modal Group also recognized five of its employees who have been with the company in Minot from the beginning.