And the winner is ... Illinois. That announcement came recently
when Trim Masters Inc., an automobile parts manufacturing company, announced its
plans to build a new 100,000 square foot facility in Lawrenceville. The Kentucky-based
company, which makes seat trim covers, door trim and complete seats for automobiles,
will employ about 125 people at its Lawrenceville plant.
In searching for the right location, Trim Masters narrowed
its choices down to three states and chose Illinois largely because of its assistance.
The state will provide more than $187,000 in job training funds and $500,000 in infrastructure
assistance to help finance water and wastewater projects. In addition, the city of
Lawrenceville will donate the plant site.
"The enthusiasm of the people in the Lawrenceville
area was one of the reasons we chose to locate here," said Philip Ashcraft,
Trim Masters' senior vice president and general manager. "That local support,
combined with an excellent labor pool and the incentives offered by the state of
Illinois, helped to make locating in Lawrenceville an easy decision for Trim Masters."
Illinois was also the victor when Alcoa decided to build
its $48 million, 165,000 square foot manufacturing facility in the state. The company's
Aerospace/Commercial Rolled Products Division will locate an automotive aluminum
sheet finishing operation in Danville's Southgate Industrial Park, where it will
initially create 35 new jobs.
"Our need was for speed and Danville is a community
with a vision and the strategies to meet our needs," said Tim Wilkinson, division
vice president, explaining the company's decision to locate in Danville. "The
educational facilities are exactly what we need and there is a strong sense of family
values here. Danville is clearly the No. 1 place to build a facility in the Midwest."
Alcoa was also attracted to Danville because of important
incentives. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) and
the Illinois Department of Transportation offered nearly $1 million for road, sewer
and water line development. Also, the DCCA offered as much as $700,000 for worker
training.
Productive work force
The state's work force played a role in persuading Tenneco
Packaging to build its corporate headquarters in suburban Chicago. The company, which
produces single-use food containers made from clear plastic, aluminum foil, pressed
paperboard and polystyrene foam, announced in 1996 its decision to consolidate five
office sites in Lake Forest.
The Bloomington-Normal area in central Illinois stands as
a good example of the state's business advantages. Three interstates--I-39, I-55
and I-74--converge in the area and it is served by Union Pacific, Amtrak and five
commercial air carriers. Both Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University
are in the Bloomington-Normal area, and the area is also served by the state's community
college system. The area's education system contributes to its educated population.
More than 65 percent of the work force has some post-scholastic education.
Quincy is another Illinois city that attracts business.
With state and local assistance, Knapheide Manufacturing
Co. built a 400,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Quincy. The Illinois DCCA
provided a $500,000 grant to help install water and sanitary sewer lines. It also
offered job training and loan funds. The Illinois Department of Transportation provided
nearly $500,000, a figure matched by Adams County, to upgrade and construct surrounding
roads. And the city of Quincy provided a $500,000 loan plus $83,000 for water and
sewer improvements. Also, the Quincy and Adams County Enterprise Zone was expanded
to include the Knapheide project.
Basic Manufacturing
One advantage that attracts business to Illinois is certainly
its position as an ideal warehousing and distribution location. Nearly 300 Fortune
500 companies have regional or national distribution centers in the state. Illinois's
superior transportation system complements its inventory of public warehousing facilities.
Illinois boasts a competitive supply of energy resources.
It ranks high in the nation in coal production and has an extensive natural gas pipeline
network. Also, the state offers a state utility tax exemption on gas and electricity
and investor-owned electric and gas utilities offer economic development incentive
rates.
A pro-business climate in Illinois helped attract Zenith
Electronics Corp. to the state.
The company is building a $100 million state-of-the-art
picture tube manufacturing facility in Woodridge and investing $80 million in its
Melrose Park manufacturing facility. The Woodridge operation will create about 280
new jobs, and with the Melrose Park expansion, the company will add 120 to its current
payroll of 2,800.
Illinois' assistance played a role in Zenith's decision.
The Illinois DCCA will provide as much as $600,000 in Industrial Training Program
grant funds, and the Illinois DOT will finance half of the cost of construction of
an access road for the company's Woodridge site. In addition, the Village of Woodridge
will help finance the road and will offer the company utility tax rebates.
"We at Zenith are proud of our reputation as an Illinois
business leader, a reputation that no doubt will be enhanced by our new state-of-the-art
operation in Woodridge," said Zenith President and CEO Peter S. Willmott. "We
appreciate the tremendous assistance from the state of Illinois, Will County and
the village on this important Zenith competitiveness initiative."
Illinois' assistance programs also helped attract Weber-Stephen
Products Co.
The company, which manufactures charcoal and gas grills
and accessories for international distribution, announced in 1996 its plan to invest
$14 million in a 300,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Huntley.
The combined manufacturing facility and Midwest/international distribution facility
represents a cooperative effort between Weber and The Prime Group, Inc.
The Illinois DCCA provided a $287,500 Industrial Training
Program grant for worker training, and the Illinois DOT provided $530,000 for road
construction and improvement.
"We are delighted to be expanding our operations into
Huntley and look forward to a long relationship with the village of Huntley,"
said Jim Stephen, president of Weber-Stephen Products Co. "We are thankful to
the state of Illinois for its assistance."
Illinois also boasts a competitive edge when it comes technology.
The state ranks high in the country in the total number of industrial research and
technology labs. Among these labs are Abbott Laboratories, Amoco, Archer Daniels
Midland, Caterpillar, FMC, General Electric, Illinois Tool Works, The Marmon Group,
Motorola, Nalco, Staley, Stone Container, Sunstrand, Underwriters Laboratories, Universal
Oil Products, WMX Technologies, and Zenith Electronics.
As a matter of fact, science and technology are tools by
which Illinois is strengthening its economy.
The Illinois Coalition, a not-for-profit organization of
business, higher education, labor and government leaders, advises state government
officials in technology and helps increase publicly- and privately-supported research
and development.
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