March, 2003
Southeastern Illinois Major Player in Bike, Auto Parts Distribution
OLNEY – The story of U.S. manufacturing and distribution of bicycle and automotive parts would hardly be complete without mentioning Richland County’s robust activity in both of these industries.

Positioned in Southeastern Illinois on Illinois Route 50, south of Interstate 70 and north of Interstate 64, Olney’s population of almost 10,000 may lead map-reader to believe it’s just another small town. But look closer, and Olney – along with surrounding communities – has grown more than 1,400 jobs over the past five years, most of those specific to the distribution sector.

“At one point, Olney was known as the bicycle capital of the U.S.,” said Mary Heitzig, executive director of the Richland County Development Corp. “Although manufacturing – and in most cases assembly – has gone overseas, we still have a contingent of bicycle distribution here.”

A vivid example is Pacific Cycle, which bough Olney’s former Brunswick company in December 2000. Heitzig said Pacific is rapidly becoming the largest seller and distributor in the U.S., employing 250 workers in Olney alone.

And when times got tough in the bicycle manufacturing industry, it spurred the spin-off of several smaller manufacturers and distributors by some of those local employees who left the giant cycle first including Roadmaster and Brunswick.

Sigma Sport USA is a major cycle supplier and distributor in the region.

“Illini Wireworks is an example as a wire forming and cold heading supplier that today employs about 30 workers,” she said. “U.S. Weights, another sports-related equipment manufacturer, has approximately 35 employees and was recently purchased by Evansville, Indiana-based Escalade Sports.”

Escalade is preparing to occupy a 100,000-square-foot facility in Olney’s second industrial park to accommodate its growth.

Wal-Mart opened an 880,000-square-foot foods distribution center in Olney in 1997, creating 300 jobs. Today, the center employs 600 workers and serves Sam’s Clubs and Wal-Mart super centers in nine states. Wal-Mart chose the Olney center two ears running (2000 and 2001) as its number-one distribution outlet.

“Wal-Mart says it attributes this award to the quality of our local workforce,” Heitzig said. “Five years ago, the center distributed to 16 states. Getting this (facility) was a real coup for Olney and for Richland County.”

Residential growth continues in the area, with several new subdivisions and development along the 1,300-acre East Fork Lake.

North American Lighting, one of the nation’s largest manufacturer of automotive lighting, is a major employer in neighboring Flora and Salem.

Eagle Wings Industries, another automotive sports supplier based in Rantoul, purchased a vacated bicycle parts manufacturing facility two years ago for expansion. Today it has 110 employees in Olney. Under the dba Richland Manufacturing, Eagle Wings produces parts for Mitsubishi.

Sharing labor forces with neighboring communities maximizes the region’s strength, Heitzig said. The key to survival of a region, she and others in her profession agree, is maintaining a solid local workforce, attracting new business and industry, and remaining as flexible as possible in embracing whatever core industries comprise Richland County.

“Our area’s reemergence as a hub for manufacturing and distribution was born out of a need to embrace the future, once this community’s base economy – the oil industry – folded,” she said. “When it tanked and unemployment increased, three local banks got together (15 years ago) with the city of Olney and Richland County leaders and established the Richland County Development Corp., a public-private partnership…and these entities are still funding our organization today. We’re blessed with incredibly dedicated leadership and progressive vision.”

A detailed linked industry analysis by one of the nation’s leading site consultant organizations is now under way to help Richland County and surrounding areas identify their ideal industry or industries, and to know specifically how to market those resources to prospective companies looking to expand or relocate.

At the same time, every effort is being made to seek out additional commercial development opportunities, she said.

“Our unemployment is between 5 percent and 6 percent and we’re holding our own,” Heitzig said. “But we’ve got to continue working as a region and not let up. Relying on the state and the utility companies to bring us projects isn’t realistic. The name of the game is (jobs) retention, and it’s got a lifespan all its own.”