The 300-acre Hershey Rail Park in Hershey, Nebraska, has been officially designated as the first Union Pacific (UP) Focus Sites in the state.
Union Pacific Focus Sites are strategically selected to give businesses greater access to rail, reduce uncertainty in connecting to the rail network, and speeding time to market.
“Being a focus site means that Union Pacific is ready to come in whenever industry is ready to come to us,” Said Darren Wisniski, Economic and Industrial Development Director for Union Pacific’s northern region.
To qualify as a UP Focus Site, properties must meet the following criteria:
- Rail designed approved by Union Pacific
- Large-scale development area (generally 125+ acres)
- Utilities and roads accessible to site
- Local development support
- Single controlling landowner
With more than 30 Focus Sites across Union Pacific’s 32,000-mile network, Hershey Rail Park is proud to be part of this program.
“This is a significant step forward in our ongoing effort to develop an industrial rail park,” said Gary Person, President and CEO of the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corp.
“We sincerely appreciate the partnership with Union Pacific and a big shout out to Darren Wisniski, who helped us attain this goal!”
Person notes that achieving the UP Focus Site designation was years in the making. “When we first started exploring the idea of an industrial rail park when we went through the NPPD Site Readiness Assistance Program (SRAP) back in 2020, we knew it would be a long-term goal with many challenges ahead, including the purchase of six parcels of land.”
“Lincoln County has been restricted from industrial rail access for decades because of the huge presence of Bailey Yard at North Platte, but to the Union Pacific leadership’s credit they stepped up and worked with the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corp., to develop our rail park site near Hershey, NE, 10 miles west of North Platte. Our team has put a ton of work into this project, and we are excited about its future,” Person said.
The Nebraska Legislature’s funding commitment to the Nebraska Rural Projects Act made it financially feasible. Person credited strong local cooperation from Lincoln County, the City 0f North Platte, the Village of Hershey, Dawson Public Power District and Nebraska Public Power District as key partners.
In addition to becoming a UP Focus Site, the Hershey Rail Park is also the first designated Inland Port Authority in Nebraska, through the creation of the Nebraska International Port of the Plains. A drop and pull yard and transload area are currently in the design phase and will soon be under construction, The first transload customer and the first industrial development project are close to being finalized.
“Being a UP FOCUS site will greatly enhance our marketing capability and give us the credibility of a shovel ready site that embraces development,” Person said. “Partnerships make developments successful!”
To learn more about Union Pacific Focus Sites, visit Focus Union Pacific.
