DANVILLE —
Successes in Vermilion County’s manufacturing arena are expected to continue into the new year, according to Vermilion Advantage.
In 2011, the county witnessed the expansion of Full-Fill LLC in Henning as the company entered into a long-term agreement with ConAgra Foods to produce all the cooking sprays made at ConAgra’s Rossville plant, which closed.
In addition, ThyssenKrupp Presta announced in July the creation of as many as 100 jobs with the investment of a little more than $38 million into the expansion of the local facility.
The two are just the big announcements in a positive year for the county, according to Vermilion Advantage CEO and President Vicki Haugen in an e-mail interview.
Haugen contends the fourth quarter of this year already is showing renewed interested in Vermilion County from various manufacturers. She indicated the county saw more requests for information and for proposals in the last quarter than in all of 2011.
Even opportunities to bid on new manufacturing improved during the last months of the year. Five specific proposals that have come through this quarter all required existing facilities. Of those, Haugen said a Danville building met the requirements for one proposal and officials are waiting to see if Danville made the first cut.
She hopes a second round of proposals will open new construction opportunities locally.
In the meantime, Haugen noted that there have been other, smaller but still important manufacturing improvements in the city and county.
“There are other manufacturers that have continued to grow in their own quiet way and will be making continued investments throughout 2012 that will become more visible to the populace over time,” she said
She pointed to several local business expansions, including longtime company Th Snyder that grew in 2011 by purchasing Philo works and bringing it to Vermilion County. In addition, Towne Machine and Watchfire signs continue to add workers.
The Full-Fill expansion in Henning and an agreement with ConAgra allowed the retention of 150 jobs in the county that would have potentially been lost by the closing of Con Agra in Rossville. The job total almost doubled Full-Fill’s recent headcount, which had stood at around 90 employees.
Construction as a result of the Full-Fill expansion was to include doubling the size of the plant at the site of the former Henning High School, adding three more product lines, another warehouse and three new gas houses.
According to Haugen, ConAgra’s other options after deciding to close its Rossville plant were all out-of-state locations.
At ThyssenKrupp Presta, the $38.8 million investment included the purchase and installation of new assembly lines, grinding machines and reflected increasing customer orders. Installation of all new equipment was originally scheduled to be completed by this month.
The company handles the manufacturing of assembled and ground cam shafts for the automotive and light- and heavy-truck markets.
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County sees plants expand
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