The President's Letter

I am pleased to report that we've reached 140 registrants for our "Gather in the Grove" event scheduled for June 11th.  IL DCEO's new director, Warren Ribley and CLC's new president, Dr. Jerry Weber are wonderful additions to our annual picnic and I encourage all of you to come out and meet them.

For those of you who haven't already, please make your reservations soon.  We're quickly running out of room!

Real estate developer and managment company, Van Vlissingen and Company, announced last week that it had broken ground on a 129,000 sq. ft. build-to-suit expansion for ZF Services North America at the Corporate Woods Business Park in Vernon Hills. ZF Services North America is a strategic business unit of Germany-based ZF Friedrichshafen AG.

ZF develops and produces transmissions, steering systems, axles, and chassis components as well as complete systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and off-road machinery. ZF is also an important transmission specialist for special and rail vehicles, marine craft, and helicopters.

When completed, the 289,000 sq. ft facility will house a distribution and remanufacturing center for ZF Services’ aftermarket operations, consolidating activities from the current distribution center in Sheffield Village, Ohio and bring 40 jobs to the Corporate Woods site.

Congratulations to Chuck Lamphere and his team at Van Vlissingen for making this expansion happen!

Trifinity Partners, a manufacturer of consumer auto, home and office air freshener products and fine fragrance personal care products, announced plans to relocate to Waukegan from Baltimore, MD. Paine Wetzel Oncor International completed the 202,000 sq. ft. industrial lease at 3600 Sunset Ave. for the company.

Trifinity also leased a 131,000 sq. ft. distribution facility at 3731 Sunset Ave.

Waukegan was selected as the new base of operations because of its strategic location, its infrastructure and its large available workforce.

Scientist Magazine's “Best Places To Work in Industry” list has a Lake County company among its top 10.

Abbott was ranked No. 6 on the list of large companies (more than 5,000 employees). This is the sixth time that Abbott has made the list since the inception of the survey in 2003. Scientist Magazine surveyed scientists at life science companies throughout the nation regarding 45 criteria that assess corporate work environments. These include job satisfaction, benefits, training, career development and integrity.

Congratulations to Abbott for making this prestigious list again!

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin announced that the US Department of Transportation awarded the State of Illinois $5.3 million in stimulus funding for airport improvements. Of that amount, $2.6 million will fund the rehabilitation of Runway 14/32 at Waukegan Regional Airport.

Waukegan Regional Airport is a general aviation facility that is categorized by the FAA as a reliever facility for O'Hare International Airport.  It is also the base for 50 corporate jets serving many of Illinois' major corporations - a key selling point for companies looking at the area as a business location.

Crain's Chicago released its list of the 50 fastest growing companies headquartered in the six county area that includes Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties. These companies all 2008 revenues of at least $20 million, experienced revenue growth in the last year and no more than one year of declining revenue between 2003 and 2008.

This year, five Lake County – based companies made the list: MNJ Technologies, Buffalo Grove (31); Coleman Cable, Waukegan (34); WMS Industries, Waukegan (39); Impact Networking, Waukegan (42); and CF Industries Holding Inc., Deerfield (50).

Two other companies made the list that have Lake County presences: Little Lady Foods is based in Elk Grove Village but has a manufacturing facility in Gurnee. It is ranked at No. 37 on the list. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. is based in Chicago but does significant work in the Lake County market and is ranked at No. 48.

The Chicago Metro region continues to outperform other areas of the country in terms economic dynamism and its cluster life science industries.

In its 2009 rankings of the economic strength of metropolitan areas in the US, POLICOM Corp., recently reported that the Chicago Metropolitan Area ranked 21st out of the 366 metropolitan areas in the US. The strength of the economy is measured by the growth in size and quality of the local economy and the flow of money coming into the local economy. POLICOM Corporation is an independent economic research firm which specializes in analyzing local and state economies.

The Milken Institute  released a ranking of the top 11 regions for life science companies in the US. The Chicago area was ranked No. 7 on the list due to its strength in medical devices, health care services and pharmaceuticals. The study is based on numbers derived between 2000 and 2007. This ranking is significant for Lake County, in particular, because of the high concentration of life science companies and employment located here.

We’re a great location to do business and the national rankings bear this out!

The US Commerce Department reported that orders for big ticket manufactured items rose by 1.9% in April, four times higher than economists had predicted. This is the second increase in the past three months and the biggest increase in 16 months.

Gross Domestic Product decreased at an annual rate of 5.7% in the first quarter, following a decrease of 6.3% in fourth quarter of 2008. Economists are predicting that the worst of the recession may be coming to an end. More than 90% of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics are predicting that the recession may end in either the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Other National Economic Indicators:

• New home sales increased 0.3% in April.
• Personal income in April increased 0.5% from March. Real and nominal personal consumption expenditures declined 1.1%. Real and disposable personal income increased 1.1%. The personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable personal income was 5.7%.
• Construction spending in April 2009 increased 0.8% from the prior month to $968.7 billion.

 Source: EconomicIndicators.gov, US Department of Commerce

Only two days left to register!  Small Business Success in Lake County is a program that you cannot afford to miss:

Thursday, June 4, 2009

7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

College of Lake County – Grayslake Campus

19351 West Washington Street
Grayslake, Illinois 60030

Cost: $25 for breakfast, speakers and information series (business panel discussion and lunch are an additional $10)

This all day event you brings you the best of business assistance in Lake County including programs through the College of Lake County’s Small Business Development Center, through Lake County Government and, of course, through Lake County Partners.  Other speakers will detail workforce development, marketing, municipal and chamber resources available throughout Lake County.

Join the Lake County experts and determine which resources you can take advantage of in your journey to success!

To register for this event or for more information, click here.

Remember, if you'd like to RSVP for the "Gather in the Grove" Summer Picnic & Networking Reception scheduled for June 11th, please contact Rita Lumadue here at our office.  Her email is rlumadue@lakecountypartners.com or you can call her at (847) 247-0137, ext. 221. 

This is an informal picnic so informal attire is encouraged. However, we know most of you will be coming from work so it's perfectly ok to show up in your finest business wear! 

I look forward to seeing and talking to as many of you as possible on the 11th. 

Best regards,

Frank Brisbois, Interim President

(847) 247-0137; fbrisbois@lakecountypartners.com