The ILC is expected to generate 600 construction jobs, 2,000 jobs on-site, and when combined with a nearby distribution center, 8,500 jobs over ten years.

In an industrial area adjacent to city wastewater treatment fields, CSX Transportation plans to build an Integrated Logistics Center (ILC) — or inland port — on 1,250 acres in Winter Haven, Florida.  This would be the first facility of its kind in the Southeastern United States.

The ILC will facilitate efficient freight movement in Florida which will benefit businesses and consumers along the I-4 corridor.  Winter Haven is almost exactly at the mid-point between Orlando and the seaport cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg.  The facility would include a truck, rail, and warehousing hub/terminal for the transfer and storage of containerized consumer goods and motor vehicles.  It will be the combination of a 318-acre terminal to be developed by Evansville Western Railway and a warehouse/distribution/light industrial development proposed for the adjoining 932-acre parcel.

About 600 people are expected to be employed during construction and another 2,000 on-site jobs will be created once it is up and running.  Along with the proposed development of the distribution center, a total of 8,500 jobs are expected to be created over a ten-year period.  The local chamber of commerce estimates there could be an additional five million square feet of development — warehouse, industrial and office, restaurants and retail — and another 2,000 jobs created around the intermodal center’s property.

The creation of the ILC is expected to bring a welcome shot in the arm to the area’s economy.  Winter Haven city officials expect the new ILC and adjacent business park to add $500 million in taxes and fees over 10 years.  It is estimated that over a 10-year period the ILC could create more than $10 billion in economic activity and add $900 million in state and federal tax revenue — of which about $400 million would be state/local revenue.

This could not have happened without the presence of the CSX freight rail lines.