Kiely said the group has been talking with leaders in the Mexican border state of Coahuila because of its many maquiladoras, or assembly plants, and because Coahuila can provide a trade path to central Mexico.

Work on the portion spanning Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Colorado is expected to cost $2.3 billion over 20 years, generating $4.5 billion in new jobs, sales taxes, manufacturing and lodging. Estimates for the other states are under way.

In Limon, where the town center was nearly destroyed by a 1990 tornado, Kiely said Ports to Plains will lure manufacturing to supplement lodging and food, which employ roughly 300 people.

Limon's central Colorado location, cheap land prices, open space for trucks and lack of congestion can be attractive to companies, he said.

About 2 million trucks pass through Limon every year — 1.3 million on the corridor and 700,000 on Interstate 70, which runs west to Denver. The way Kiely sees it, a town created in 1888 as a water stop for trains can retain youth who now leave for better opportunities elsewhere.

"That's what keeps a town going," he said.

Del Rio, Texas, a Mexican border town of 45,000 about 160 miles northwest of Laredo, also has lost population to larger cities, said Sid Cauthorn, a banker who serves as coalition chairman. He's hoping the trade route changes that.

"I'm not knocking Denver, Dallas, San Antonio or anybody," he said. "I'm just saying our communities would be better off if our kids could stay."

Kiely has an answer for those who think 20 years is a long time to wait.

"If you don't start now, you don't get it," he said. "It was 1990 when the tornado came through here. ... Where are we from 1990 now? Almost 20 years."

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On the Net:

Ports to Plains Trade Corridor Alliance: www.portstoplains.com

Ports to Plains Studies: www.portstoplainscorridor.com