At a glance

While the 650 jobs to be created by Alabama-based Progress Rail Services' railroad locomotive facility -- to be located in the former ABB building on Cowan Road -- will have an impact on the Muncie community as a whole, hopes are especially high for the potential boost to the city's south side.

Some southside spots that could feel the effects:

Industria Centre: The city's oldest industrial park could get a boost from its just-across-the-street location from Progress Rail. Will supplier companies spring up?

South Madison Street: The mostly commercial strip running about 30 blocks from downtown to the southern city limits is dotted with fast-food restaurants, used car lots and bars. Will hundreds of workers fill those businesses and clamor for more?

Southway Centre and former Kmart plaza, including A Taste of the South Restaurant: The shopping plazas, hit by vacancies, and the restaurant hope for an influx of customers and businesses to cater to them.

Walmart and the Shoppes at Southside, at 29th St. and Ind. 3: Dating back only to 2006, will the city's newest commercial development continue to grow?

Southside housing: A once-announced plan to build a new housing addition along Fuson Road near Walmart fell through. Will new workers in the area prompt a demand for new housing?

About Progress Rail -- and those 650 jobs

Alabama-based Progress Rail Services, a division of Caterpillar, announced on Oct. 29 that it would open a railroad locomotive manufacturing facility in the former ABB building along Cowan Road on Muncie's southwest side.

How many jobs: Progress Rail promised to employ 650 people, and officials have cited $20 hourly wages for an average.

How to get hired: Progress Rail Services HR director Wade Brown told The Star Press that a local point of contact for hiring could be announced as early as this week.

MUNCIE -- The atmosphere at A Taste of The South, a homestyle restaurant at the southern edge of Muncie, is usually relaxed. Banjos and mandolins decorate the walls, and customers -- office employees and blue collar workers alike -- linger over lunches of fried chicken livers, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

But there's been a buzz at Donna Slaven's eatery since the Oct. 29 announcement that Alabama-based Progress Rail Services planned to move into the old ABB building not far away and hire 650 people to build railroad locomotives.

"Those jobs are jobs that people can actually support their families on," Slaven said. "I think it will be a big shot in the arm for the community in general and I think it will help out the entire south side of Muncie.
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