West Virginia Press Association Staff Report
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Legislature’s Joint Standing Committee on Economic Development and Tourism, on Tuesday, heard remarks from OmniTRAX Vice-presidents Nathan Brown and Stacey Posey, regarding the company’s background and plans for the South Branch Valley Railroad.
Brown, OmniTRAX’s senior VP of corporate strategy, was the first to address committee members, and explained the motivation behind his company’s interest in the South Branch Valley Railroad.
“OmniTRAX purchased the Winchester and Western Railroad […] in 2019 from our largest customer, Covia,” Brown said. “Since we purchased that line, we brought about $2.9 billion of economic development through bringing three major customers to the community. That includes Procter & Gamble, Clorox, and most recently, CMC.”
Brown said it is the merging of rail operations with economic development that makes OmniTRAX unique.
“Not only do we move the cars but we also bring customers to the communities,” Brown added. “I think the best example of where those have come together, I think, is recently Home Depot built a new distribution center in Colorado on our railroad. We built it for them, we own it for them, and we do the transportation.”
According to Brown, OmniTRAX was “running out of room to grow.” After their purchase of the Winchester and Western just 10 miles from the South Branch Valley, OmniTRAX determined the valley to be a suitable area for expansion.
“Why we were interested in South Branch, and why we were interested in partnering with the state is because we continue to see a lot of growth coming to West Virginia,” Brown said. “It moves at the pace of business.”
Next to the podium was Stacey Posey, OmniTRAX’s regional VP of operations, who said, “In 2022 and in 2023, we were ‘Best in Class’ for safety of all short-line holding companies, and not by a small margin.”
“That is due to having a very solid foundation, very clear and concise expectations when it comes to safety, and a lot of communication that goes along with that,” Posey noted. “We’re very proud of that. We work on safety every day. We have 400 employees working in all kinds of weather. I have a snowstorm right now in Amarillo, Texas, and it’s 70 degrees in California. We get a little bit of everything.”
According to Posey, the South Branch property had “a great safety record” even prior to its purchase by OmniTRAX, noting that to be a factor in the company’s purchasing decision.
“We talk about on-time delivery and service,” Posey added, moving away from safety. “We’re very proud of this. […] I’ve seen both sides of it, and what it can do to customers when you don’t service them. Our motto, as a short-line holding company, is we have ‘boutique service.’”
The next business before the committee was an operational-update regarding the Port Authority’s current projects and issues. On-hand to provide the update was W.Va. Dept. of Highways (DOH) Secretary Jimmy Wriston, and Division of Multi Modal Transportation Facilities Commissioner Cindy Butler. Wriston was first to address committee members.
“The public Port Authority is not as active today as it once was in the past,” Wriston said. “In the past, the main focus of the Port Authority was to get the Inter Modal facility in Wayne County up and running. That mission was accomplished several years ago.”
Wriston explained that after reaching operational status, the Legislature de-funded the Wayne County Inter Modal facility, prompting the Port Authority to de-vest themselves from it. Wayne County now has full financial and operational control of the facility.
“Even though the Port Authority has always been a small agency, it was part of the restructuring we did within the Department of Transportation,” Wriston said. “The Multi Modal Agency now consists of the State Rail, the Port Authority, Public Transit, and Aeronautics.”
Wriston added that the restructuring was “a real good move.”
Butler was next to address the committee, who said the majority of her time is spent with State Rail and Aeronautics.
“Moving forward, we’re going to look at some reorganization of transit,” Butler said, noting that her deputy commissioner, Steven Connelly, has been the point person for the reorganization effort. “We have had some talks in Martinsburg about a port of entry there. That’s going to be a big thing if that happens – there’s a lot to do there.”
“We’re willing to take on as much as you want us to do,” Butler told the committee. “We can start with doing some studies, or wherever we need to move. We’ve got a lot of opportunities in this state, and this agency is the one that will lead the charge.”