Strategic Assets
The Knox County Area’s Competitive Advantages
Transportation Infrastructure
Rail: 7 class-1 rail lines enter Galesburg and converge at the BNSF classification yard in Southeast Galesburg. Strategic grade separations within the city allow trains to get in and out of the city quickly and easily without disrupting local automobile traffic. Over 100 trains enter and leave the community each day.
Interstate: The Knox County Area is served by Interstate 74 running from Indianapolis and the Quad Cities and by Interstate 80 connecting Des Moines and Chicago, In addition, US-34 serves the area as well as US-150.
Air Service: Galesburg is conveniently located approximately 45 minutes from both Peoria International Airport and Quad Cities International Airport. Residents and businesses can connect with direct flights to more than a dozen cities through these two airports.
Regional Water Supply
Drawn from an aquifer below the Mississippi River, our region’s water supply is excellent in both quality and quantity. Our source water is clean, uncontaminated, and suitable for a variety of applications including food processing. Galesburg has nine million gallons of storage capacity and average daily pumpage of six million gallons.
View the most recent water quality report here.
Agricultural Resources
The Knox County Area is home to a wealth of agricultural resources. When combined with other assets such as regional education centers and our transportation infrastructure, the area becomes competitive for ag-related projects such as R&D and food processing.
Just how good is our soil?
For more information on Knox County’s Agricultural climate click here.
Regional Education Center
The Knox County Area is home to strong educational institutions that provide a consistent talent pipeline to employers in the region. Combined, these educational institutions have over 25,000 students enrolled annually. For more information on these cutting edge institutions, click in the upper left corner of the selection below.
