An Ontario-born corporation is transporting millions of dollars into Manitoba’s new rail park, becoming the first tenants and hailing the province a “gateway” for international trade.
Fastfrate Group, which deals in transportation and supply chains, announced plans to spend $55 million on CentrePort Canada Rail Park facilities for four of its companies.
“We think that… Winnipeg will be an important gateway, and that’s why we’re here,” said Manny Calandrino, Fastfrate Group’s president.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Premier Heather Stefanson announces the first tenant, Fastfrate Group, at the CentrePort Canada Rail Park.
Over the past 57 years, the corporation — which has revenues around $1 billion, according to Calandrino — has never brought its different companies into one location, until now.
“This is a template for what we’re going to build throughout the country,” Calandrino said. “Why CentrePort? Because this is a hub.”
The 20,000-acre inland port spans Winnipeg and the Rural Municipality of Rosser. Last year, CentrePort unveiled details of a 665-acre industrial rail park connecting businesses to the Canadian Pacific Kansas City (formerly Canadian Pacific Railway) main line northwest of Winnipeg.
Interchange points at CN and BNSF tracks will be in range.
Fastfrate Group has partnered with CP for more than 50 years. It plans to build about 140,000 square-feet of facilities on 25 acres in Rosser.
Its site will contain Canada Drayage Inc., which manages sea containers as they travel from ports, rail yards and distribution centres into the United States. It will also house Challenger Motor Freight, a trucking company new to Manitoba (but among North America’s largest cross-border truckload carriers); Fastfrate acquired the company last year.
The corporation has bought 200 new containers specifically for transport between Winnipeg and Mexico, with plans to double.
Fastfrate Group works with 5,000 active accounts, from retailers like Canadian Tire and The Home Depot to manufacturers and food producers, said Ron Tepper, the corporation’s chairman.
“We’re bringing a little bit of competition to the local truckers,” he added.
Still, the business isn’t new: Fastfrate Group has been in Winnipeg for 50 years and holds a space on Keewatin Street. It’s deciding what to do with the building, Tepper said.
He expects 150 new jobs will come during the first year of operation in Rosser. Fastfrate Group’s ground-breaking happened Tuesday; its facility could open in the fall of 2024.
The supply chain chaos during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some businesses to localize their processes, the heads of Fastfrate Group stated.
“It’s called nearshoring,” Tepper said. “We see there’s a push now from Asian companies, predominantly China, to come into… North America.”
It’s happening more in the United States and Mexico, he said. He believes Mexico will become the next big production hub.
Last March, the United States approved CP’s $31 billion acquisition of Kansas City Southern, creating a rail line linking Canada, the United States and Mexico.
That line travels into CentrePort. Fastfrate Group will likely benefit from the merger in Rosser, Calandrino said.
“We’re going to be working closely with the CPKC merger,” said Chris Reiter, senior project manager of Focus Equities, the company developing CentrePort Canada Rail Park.
Currently, Reiter is looking to ship commodities both ways. Mexico’s middle class is growing exponentially — Manitoba could send pork, grains and pea protein materials south, Reiter said. CentrePort could be a stop for Mexican fruits and vegetables.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Premier Stefanson shakes hands with executive chairman of Fastfrate Group, Ron Tepper.
“They want lithium, and we have deposits of lithium,” Reiter said, listing electric vehicle manufacturing plants in Mexico. “They’re looking at bringing it from overseas, but if we can bring it out of Canada and go straight down… that’s what we’re working closely on.”
Meantime, he’s liaising with future rail park tenants. The rail park is split into three phases. Phase one, which covers at least 193 acres west of CentrePort Canada Way and Rosser Road, is 60 per cent contracted, Reiter said.
The second phase might begin before the first ends, if companies want more space than they can obtain in phase one, Reiter added.
“(Fastfrate Group) is the first of many to come over the next few months,” said Carly Edmundson, CentrePort Canada’s CEO. “This kind of economic activity is what, I hope, CentrePort will continue to generate.”
Once complete, the rail park could elicit $1 billion in economic spinoff, Reiter said.
The sales director of 4Tracks, a trucking company in CentrePort, celebrated the arrival of Fastfrate Group. It’s not competition, he maintained.
“It’s going to provide a lot of growth in the area,” Adam Rath said.
A booming CentrePort will “ideally” bring more customers to 4Tracks, he added.
“Manitoba is in a unique position, being in the middle of North America,” Premier Heather Stefanson said in a speech Tuesday. “Our geography gives us the opportunity to be a leading trade corridor.”
The entire rail park is set to finish in the next 10 to 15 years, by March timelines. It will cover the south side of the CP Carberry subdivision with CentrePort Canada Way to the east and Four Mile Road / Selkirk Avenue to the south.
Phase one, which will cost around $100 million to develop, is mapped to have about nine acres of green parks.
Focus Equities is also looking for restaurants to open in the rail park, and commercial amenities like a gas bar.
In March, the federal government announced up to $18 million for the rail park, to cover infrastructure like train tracks and a lift station.
Gabrielle Piché
Reporter
Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and learning. She graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.
