Ken Harwood: Work harder on Wisconsin`s presence in I-39 association

Sep 23, 2015

Dear Editor: Regarding the new distribution center for Dollar General in Janesville.

This is great! And we can do more. The I-39 corridor is considered a mecca for distribution and Illinois has been capitalizing on this since I was working on projects in Deforest a decade ago. There is an organization with a website and WISCONSIN should be better represented!

I have talked to the organization (The I-39 Logistics Corridor Association) and they would love to work with Wisconsin. In fact the Rock County Planning, Economic & Community Development Agency and Helgesen Development are members. Our Illinois-is-the-enemy and anti-rail approach is not helping, though. With Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, St. Louis, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi as prime targets, I-39 and Madison are right in the middle, a distribution home run of sorts.

I challenge the state and Legislature to strengthen our presence to bring even more Dollar General-like centers to the area!

Ken Harwood

Evansville