BY MIKE HELENTHAL
DANVILLE — Vermilion Advantage leader Vicki Haugen said the number of commercial development prospects surfacing in the latter quarter of 2009 may be an early indicator business leaders are gaining confidence in the economy.
“The feedback we’re getting is very exciting,” she said at a monthly media briefing Wednesday. “It’s been a very, very busy time. It’s very surprising to me.”
Haugen announced her organization had this month supplied information to a developer seeking 300 acres of developable land and moved forward in negotiations for a separate, $75 million alternative energy project here.
She described the 300-acre development as being in the “manufacturing/energy” sector and said it could create nearly 140 jobs. As for location, she wouldn’t elaborate except to say neither of Danville’s industrial parks east of town had room for the project. She declined to provide a dollar amount for the project.
“We haven’t had one quite so extensive for a while,” she said of the request for information, which was submitted around Veterans Day and sent out two days later.
Vermilion County is one of two counties in Illinois vying for the project and the state is competing against sites in two other states.
“The counties that were chosen were actually handpicked,” Haugen said, adding Vermilion stood out because of its access to rail and “dual power” capabilities — meaning it has the ability to supply two separate electrical feeds and a large volume of water.
She said the project was on a “very fast timeline” and could be announced by January, though developers would still have to go through the land-acquisition process.
She said the second project was at the “serious” negotiation stage and could employ 40 people.
Haugen said two other development projects were “imminent,” though she declined to give other than general details.
The two “manufacturing-assembly” projects, she said, would be a combined $4 million-plus investment to existing plants and create up to 30 jobs. One of the projects is considered “green,” the other is linked to two existing area manufacturers.
“We’ll be ending 2009 on a strong note,” she said. “In the early days we used to see the fourth quarter trail off. (The climate) has definitely started to revive again.”
Haugen said other current Vermilion Advantage-contacted projects include four prospects in the downtown area, one being professional and three in the service sector. Three of the four would be “new” businesses.
Adding to the momentum, she said, is the fact two of the three wind-energy developers in the county had plans to start work in 2010 upon completing the permitting process.
“Right now there’s lots and lots of activity,” she said.
