EAST CHICAGO | The East Chicago City Council gave a key approval for an unnamed Illinois company that's planning to hire 500 workers at an average salary of $55,000.
The high-tech advanced manufacturing company that's outgrown its space in the western Chicago suburbs now has employees who tote around iPads and a floor so clean you could eat off it, said Brad Migdal, a site-selection consultant with Transwestern Commercial Services, who represents the business.
Officials still aren't identifying the company that's looking to move into the East Chicago Enterprise Center or giving any information on how to apply for the jobs, other than that you can eventually sign up for customized classes at Ivy Tech to qualify. The company name likely won't be made public for 30 days, Migdal said.
East Chicago City Council members at Monday's meeting voted unanimously to say the redevelopment of a century-old building at 4407 Railroad Ave. complies with the city's economic plan, a necessary procedural step under state statute to advance the project.
"This is a project we've been working on with the city of East Chicago for approximately nine months," said Don Koliboski, vice president for economic development with the Lake County Economic Alliance. "It's a relocation from Illinois employing approximately 500 jobs by 2022. This is a great opportunity for the city of East Chicago and the residents of East Chicago."
Ivy Tech Community College is designing a program specifically to train prospective employees, similar to ArcelorMittal's Steelworker for the Future program. East Chicago residents and students will have ample opportunities for employment there, Koliboski said.
The advanced manufacturing company is moving into a 110-year-old building in the East Chicago Enterprise Center that was formerly occupied by Blaw-Knox Casting and Machinery, which made the hulls and turrets for military tanks there until 1986.
Electric Coating Technologies and another smaller company currently lease about half in the building. They will remain, with the unnamed business taking up the unoccupied space.
"The company intends to honor the leases, so those companies will not be shutting down," Koliboski said. "Many millions will be invested into the building."
The floors are buckling, the facade is in need of repair and the overhead crane is aged, but the redevelopment project should make the old factory a gem in the community, Migdal said.
"The company plans to rehabilitate the building to bring it up not just to modern standards, but to their standards, which are higher than I've ever seen in a manufacturing facility," he said.
"This is a manufacturing facility where you can eat off the floor. This is a completely integrated manufacturing company that uses high-tech innovation and will bring quality jobs to the East Chicago area."
The company plans to invest nearly $50 million overall in East Chicago and would pay workers an average of $55,000 a year, not including benefits.
East Chicago has consistently had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state in recent years. About 9.2 percent of the workforce was unemployed in May.
East Chicago resident Rudy Velasco, who serves on the mayor's committee for disabilities, said the investment was welcome.
"Thanks for these jobs that are coming to East Chicago. We really need them," he said. "We're on the rise."