Shine Bros. receives DOT rail grant

The Iowa Department of Transportation on Tuesday included funding for a Spencer scrap recycling company in its latest round of Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant program awards.

A total of $311,071 was awarded to the Shine Bros. Corporation at an Iowa Department of Transportation Commission meeting Tuesday. The funding package includes a $206,071 loan and a $105,000 grant.

The incentive package will be used to rehabilitate some industrial rail track serving the Shine Bros. Corporation, according to Rose Wazny, a rail development manager within the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant program received $1.5 million in funding through I-JOBS, a $830 million, three-year initiative intended to create jobs and strengthen the state's economy while improving infrastructure in the state.

"It provides financial assistance to businesses and organizations seeking to upgrade or increase rail service," Wazny said.

The seven funded projects throughout the state are expected to support the creation of 84 new jobs and leverage nearly $25 million in new capital investment. It includes $1 million to reconstruct a rail bridge in Waterloo destroyed by floodwaters in 2008, according to the DOT. Other funding awards went to projects in Mount Pleasant, Burlington, Denison, Fort Dodge and Walford.

The Railroad Revolving Loan and Grant program was established in 2005 by the Iowa Legislature. Projects are scored based on job creation and wage quality. An applicant must provide a minimum 50 percent cash match for the cost of the proposed rail project.

Shine Bros. has been a part of the Spencer business community since 1902. The company's 38-acre operation is located along East Park Street in Spencer.