Lake County Businesses Spent $1.2B on Building Projects the Past 5 Years

By Steve Sadin
Lake County News-Sun
Published: Jan 16, 2024 at 2:11 pm

Money invested into new buildings — or renovation of existing facilities — in Lake County grew more last year than it did the previous four years, according to a year-in-review report by Lake County Partners.

Lake County Partners President and CEO Kevin Considine said the development of a strong workforce, particularly for 21st-century manufacturing, is due to a partnership with the College of Lake County and Lake County Workforce Development.

“Companies are coming here because our set of resources really lines up with what businesses need,” Considine said. “It starts with a strong workforce, proximity to O’Hare (International Airport) and a strong base of businesses already here.”

Capital investment in factories, job growth and keeping businesses in Lake County, rather than seeking a location elsewhere, are all factors contributing to strong economic growth in Lake Country in 2023.

In the past five years, businesses invested an aggregate of approximately $1.2 billion building new factories or repurposing existing buildings, according to the report. Of that amount, $610 million occurred in 2023.

Along with the expanded plants, 786 new jobs were created last year. Not only were the new positions established, but Considine said 512 jobs stayed in Lake County as 12 companies flirted with relocating — seven considered Wisconsin — but stayed.

One of the businesses remaining was RealWheels, which moved its plant from Waukegan to Zion and renovated a vacant building in the process. Its 60 employees make wheel covers and other automotive parts for companies around the world.

RealWheels founder Jan Polka said in October some of his employees in the family-owned and operated business are highly skilled machinists because of the precise nature of the work.

Henry Brock Foods, a Waukegan manufacturer of blended spices it sells other food companies, was approached by officials in Kenosha County in 2018. It decided to remain in Waukegan, expanding its local operations.

“It’s known as the cheddar curtain,” Edan Antonetti, the company’s vice president of business development, said in May. “We decided it was better to stay in Waukegan.”

By October, Henry Brock announced a merger with United Kingdom-based JDM Food Group. It will be making JDM’s products in its Gurnee plant, further fueling job growth.

One of the new companies to come to Lake County last year was Sweden-based Ymer Technology. Paul Mrzywka, its local facilities manager, said the company renovated a Buffalo Grove location and moved its American operations there from Houston.

Mrzywka said the Ymer makes thermo systems, such as radiators for large off-road vehicles like tractors. The move brought it closer to its local customer base. It now employs 10 people and anticipates 30 by the end of the year or early 2025.

Development of the workforce was also fueled by both the tech campus teaching high school students skilled manufacturing techniques and the College of Lake County’s Advanced Technology Center training students for modern factory jobs, Considine said.

“Lake County Workforce Development connects people with all the employers in Lake County,” he said.

Considine said businesses also like the opportunity for early childhood education, either in company-operated facilities like the one at Walgreens corporate campus in Deerfield, similar facilities at Abbott and AbbVie or those operated by the area’s public schools within Lake County.

“It’s great for getting children ready for kindergarten,” Considine said. “It helps parents have the ability to work when their children are young.”