Rail is a crucial component of Ozinga's cement mill coming to northern Indiana 

By Jeff Stagl, Managing Editor 

Ozinga was launched in 1928 in Evergreen Park, Illinois, as a small coal and coke yard just south of Chicago. Now, the family-owned company is a major regional ready-mix concrete provider and a supplier of bulk materials and construction products in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and south Florida.  

Along the way, Ozinga became a significant rail shipper, too. The company survived the Great Depression, World War II and other trying periods by focusing on product expansion, pricing and commitment to customers.  

Those marching orders still stand nearly 100 years later, along with some more recent objectives: to drive sustainability to shrink the company’s environmental footprint and to use more rail to reduce air emissions. 

The many facets of its mission are incorporated into a major construction project Ozinga recently started in East Chicago, Indiana. The company is building North America's largest low-carbon cement mill, which will be rail served as well as have direct access to trucking and water transportation via the Great Lakes and various inland waterways. 

To open sometime in 2026, the mill will be served by the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Co. (IHB), which interchanges with all six Class Is and a number of other railroads in the Chicago area, says Ozinga Executive Vice President of Rail James Kornas. 

By producing domestic low-carbon cements, the mill will help reduce dependence on imports and dramatically lower embodied carbon in construction materials, Ozinga officials say. The company aims to produce concrete with net zero emissions by 2030. 

Once fully operational, the plant is projected to offset more than 700,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. 

Ozinga owns or leases 700 rail cars and operates two short lines in Illinois: the Chicago Port Railroad Co. in South Chicago and Mokena Illinois Railroad in Mokena. Ozinga

“The key point is this will be an emission-reducing, state-of-the-art facility, and that translates to the rail piece,” says Kornas, who joined Ozinga in late 2024 after a nearly 20-year railroading career that included stints at Patriot Rail, CN and Norfolk Southern Railway. 

To be equipped with one of North America's largest vertical roller mills, the mill is projected to produce 1 million tons of low-carbon cementitious materials annually. 

“This facility is more than a plant. It's a commitment to the future of American manufacturing, to sustainable building and to strengthening American communities for generations to come,” said Ozinga CEO Marty Ozinga in a press release. 

The mill will help meet growing demand for low-carbon concrete in data center construction and other mission-critical infrastructure projects across North America, Ozinga officials stress. 

Ozinga plans to use its own locomotives at the new mill to gather rail cars for pick up by IHB trains. All types of locomotives that operate on alternative power sources or fuels — such as batteries and hydrogen — are under analysis for mill operations, says Kornas. 

The East Chicago facility is an example of Ozinga’s push to use more rail throughout its operations, he adds. The company operates more than 80 facilities that are served by a host of railroads, including every Class I. Ozinga also owns and operates two short lines in Illinois: the Chicago Port Railroad Co. in South Chicago and Mokena Illinois Railroad in Mokena. 

“Rail is an important part of our portfolio and our growth initiatives,” says Kornas. 

Ozinga currently owns or leases 700 rail cars. Come next year, dozens of cars will be needed at the East Chicago mill. 

Excitement is building in the East Chicago and Chicago areas about the new facility because rail volume won’t be shifted from an existing plant to a new one, says Kornas. 

“It will be all new rail volume,” he says. “There isn’t another mill like this in the entire U.S.”