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![]() ILLINOIS SPOTLIGHT, page 2
State's Largest Industry Gets Bigger At an annual pace of $12.7 billion, food manufacturing is Illinois' largest industry. This sector saw several major plant openings and announcements in 2002.
In its bid to satisfy North America's seemingly insatiable sweet tooth, Krispy Kreme opened a 187,000-sq.-ft. (17,400-sq.-m.) manufacturing and distribution center in Effingham. The company's first production plant outside North Carolina doubles the doughnut specialist's North American capacity. The company chose Effingham for its Interstate access (the intersection of I-57 and I-70). The facility, designed and built by The Haskell Co., will serve the western half of North America and creates 100 jobs. Krispy Kreme's new plant soon attracted one of its suppliers to Effingham as Oracle Packaging of Thomaston, Ga., leased 30,000 square feet (2,800 sq. m.) of production and warehouse space to supply the company's familiar red, white and green boxes. Oracle began production last fall and initially employs 15.
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) will build a $25-million margarine plant south of Quincy. The 106,000-sq.-ft. (9,800-sq.-m.) factory will take a year to complete and will employ about 24 when it opens in early 2004. The plant will be vertically integrated into Quincy Soybean Co., which ADM acquired in 1997. The site also houses a vegetable oil refinery, which will allow crushing, refining and packaging to take place at one location. Chicago chewing gum icon Wrigley plans a $84.3-million research and production complex on Chicago's Goose Island. The Wrigley Innovation Center will be built in three phases and include 300,000 square feet (27,900 sq. m.) of office, lab and manufacturing space. It will eventually employ 388. The facility will support Wrigley's increased focus on innovation by testing manufacture of small batches of confectionary products prior to their full-scale release. Erie Foods International is building a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,500-sq.-m.) distribution center next to its plant in Rochelle to take advantage of the Union Pacific Intermodal Railport. Erie manufactures milk protein products for a variety of markets. "We see a lot of potential for growth with this new addition to our facility," says David Reisenbigler, Erie's owner. "The intermodal shipping of Erie products is an important part of our operation, and this facility will save the cost of shipping in and out of Chicago. We receive many of our primary ingredients from overseas." Little Lady Foods will expand an existing facility in Gurnee to 80,000 square feet (7,400 sq. m.) to manufacture customized frozen food products. The plant will initially create 100 jobs and will add 275 more workers over the next three to four years as it approaches capacity. Little Lady was started in 1985 and supplies private label products to customers including Heinz, Wal-Mart, Denny's, Six Flags and United Airlines. American Premium Foods Cooperative, a consortium of about 240 hog farmers, is building a $30-million hog processing plant in Rantoul that will initially employ 210. The facility is being built with the assistance of a $19.7 million loan from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. Flavors of North America, a fast-growing manufacturer of flavoring products for many markets, plans to move from Carol Stream to Geneva after it builds a 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,400-sq.-m.) facility. |
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