Business Year in Review – 2019
Flathead Beacon | December 26, 2019 | Maggie Dresser
Looking back at the year’s top business storylines
Glacier Rail Park Fills Up
In December, Northern Plastics Inc. announced it was moving into the last space of available real estate in Glacier Rail Park, the 40-acre, rail-served industrial area off Whitefish Stage Road in Evergreen.
The Flathead County Economic Development Authority completed construction of the park in 2018, and it became the new home for two Kalispell businesses long-reliant on rail service: Northwest Drywall and CHS Kalispell. Earlier this fall, CHS completed its move into the rail park and now trainloads of grain are loaded there.
With the construction of the rail park and removal of the rails through downtown, Kalispell will start building a long-awaited trail connecting Evergreen and Woodland Park with Meridian Road. City officials have said the trail could be “transformative” for the downtown area, kicking off a number of new developments in a long-underutilized section of town.