RCDC: Business News


		Richland County Continues Growth Pattern by Mary Heitzig, RCDC Executive Director As the Richland County Development Corporation begins its 22nd year of operations, a true sense of optimism exists for achieving continued success in its mission of job creation and job retention. Our work consists of industrial, retail and service development, which requires working with existing businesses, as well as being the primary point of contact for a company looking to grow into our community. We are optimistic about our potential for future growth, and we’re most excited about the growth possibilities that a rail-served industrial park will provide. Stories here features major economic growth activities of several employers in the Olney area, including Richland Memorial Hospital, SKS-USA Corporation, Richland Manufacturing, Highway 2 and the development of a third industrial park in Olney. But there also are many other success stories behind the headlines: The Wal-Mart Distribution Center continues to hire additional employees, taking them to a high of approximately 950 persons, with added employment at Schneider Trucking. We will feature the DC’s major investment in additional docks and parking for more trailers in upcoming Business News. Pacific Cycle experienced a good year, holding their employment numbers at peak season at approximately 225. Dorel Industries, their Montreal-based corporate ownership, has strengthened their marketing and sales capability. The City of Olney completed and closed out the cleanup on the property north of Pacific Cycle, and now offers a site of 70-plus acres. This site is accessible from both East Street and Whittle Avenue. Magura, a manufacturer of brake and clutch products for the bicycle, motorcycle and ATV industries, purchased and renovated a facility providing more room for warehousing and distribution, as well as potential manufacture of products. The former Magura building is being partially used by Highway 2, a new company supplying high-end bicycle tires and related products. Imperial Trailer has reached employment projections following purchase and relocation in 2004 to its 68,000-square-foot building in the Industrial Park. These companies have been joined by new retail and service operations such as AM Transport, CVS Pharmacy, Family Video, Wildwoods Gallery and Framing, Daylight Donuts, a new advanced open MRI center and other facilities.


		Richland Memorial Hospital Builds New Women’s Health Center, Front Entrance Expansion A major addition and remodeling project is nearing completion at Richland Memorial Hospital (RMH), one of the leading medical centers in southeastern Illinois. Construction of a new 16,400-square-foot Family Maternity Services (FMS) unit will incorporate the LDRP (labor-delivery-recovery-postpartum) concept, which allows all birth-related activities to occur in the same room. All patient rooms will have private bathrooms, and gynecological patients and newborns also will be cared for in the new Center. Several other benefits of the new Women’s Health Center will include private offices, a private imaging center for women and a new gift shop. The RMH board of directors also recognized the need for patients and visitors to have a clearly defined front entrance providing protection from the weather. A new ambulance building also is included in the overall project. The cost of the project is expected to total $5.1 million when completed. A fund drive by the RMH Foundation will defray much of the cost, which will allow hospital funds to be spent on operational and medical expenses. The fund drive began in April 2006 with a base goal of $3.5 million and a challenge goal of $4.0 million. “The Richland County community has really stepped forward to support the fund drive, raising more than $2.5 million since the drive began little more than a year ago,” says RMH Foundation Coordinator Karen Jameson. “The project offers something for everyone in the community since it affects entire families.” Jameson also believes the improvements will have a positive impact on recruitment of physicians in all fields. Richland Memorial Hospital, located in Olney, serves an eight-county area in southeastern Illinois and is one of only three hospitals in the area that offers full maternity services.

SKS-USA Moves to Larger Building in Olney

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KS-USA Corporation, a fully owned daughter company of SKS-Germany, recently moved to a larger facility in Olney to accommodate the company’s rapid growth.

Established in Olney in May 2000, SKS-USA operates through two business segments: SKS-Germany and Blomus. SKS-USA is exclusively responsible for sales and distribution of the SKS and Blomus brands within North America.

Blomus is an upscale line of stainless steel home accessories. Its products are sold to more than 350 independent specialty retailers and internet/ catalog companies.

Blomus brand joined SKS in February 2002 and, according to SKS-USA General Manager Mark Burgener, the company has experienced phenomenal growth.

SKS-Germany brand includes bicycle fenders and air pumps, and are sold at wholesale to regional and national distributors. The company is the global leader in the bicycle fender category.

The parent company, SKSGermany, was established in 1921 and is independently owned by the Blome family. Headquartered in Sundern, Germany, the company has approximately 600 employees, with 2005 group sales exceeding 50 million Euro.

Richland Manufacturing Installs New Press to Handle Growing Business

Richland Manufacturing opened in Olney in July 2002 as a subsidiary plant of Eagle Wings Industries (EWI), headquartered in Rantoul, Ill. EWI is working to become a world-class provider of stampings, assemblies and painted products for the automotive industry.

The Olney plant, a second-tier supplier to the automotive industry, provides the main plant in Rantoul with smaller stampings and nut-welded sub-assemblies. The plant is located in an 87,000-square-foot building formerly used by a supplier to the bicycle manufacturing industry. The front office, which is attached to the manufacturing facility, consists of an additional 6,000 square feet.

Business has been good for EWI and its Olney facility. The plant doubled its number of employees just two-and-a-half years after opening, and currently has a workforce of 100. The plant does an average of 3 million operations – whether welding or stamping - each month, or about 150,000 per day.

To keep up with growing demand, the Olney plant recently completed installation of a new 330-ton press, which will give needed capacity to EWI, a subsidiary of Japan-based Asteer Co., Ltd. The new press also will bring with it an increase in employees.

In 2001, faced with no room to expand at the Rantoul facility, EWI turned to the underutilized building in Olney, which already met many of the company’s requirements in a manufacturing facility.

The rest is history. “In addition to a facility that fit the company’s needs perfectly,” says Olney Plant Manager Joe Hunt, “the match was complete when EWI found out Olney had a really good work force.”

New Bicycle Tire, Seat Distributor Joins Olney Business Scene

Highway Two, LLC, was established in Olney in July 2006 as a joint venture between Continental AG and Selle Royal S.p.A. Continental is a German manufacturer of bicycle tires and Selle Royal is an Italian and British manufacturer of bicycle seats representing Brooks, fi ’zi:k, and Selle Royal branded seats. Highway Two acts as the importer and distributor for these brands in the North American market.

The company is new, but both Continental and Selle Royal have been selling products in the U.S. market for many years and were previously represented by independent distributors. The companies made the change to their own sales and distribution company in order to have a more direct path to customers from a marketing and distribution perspective.

Highway Two is housed in a 22,000-square-foot building in the West Industrial Park in Olney. The location was chosen because of its low-cost operating atmosphere and central access to its U.S. dealer-customers.

The company services more than 4,000 U.S. bicycle dealers and sporting goods stores with more than 90 percent receiving their orders in four days or less. Highway Two currently has 16 employees internally and 35 independent sales representatives, with plans to expand as business requires.

Olney Set to Open Third Industrial Park; Will Offer Rail Access

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he City of Olney is developing its third industrial park, allowing the community to offer rail-served industrial sites.

Located at the intersection of Holly Road and U.S. Route 50 – at the southeastern edge of the city – the new 120-acre East Industrial Park will provide businesses with access to the CSX Railroad. Preliminary rail spur and track is being completed by Design Nine, a railroad engineering firm from St. Louis.

The Richland County Development Corporation (RCDC) was successful in obtaining a $50,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to fund the Design Nine contract. Municipal water and sewer, as well as a high-rise water tower and access road, are being planned to further develop the site. Marketing efforts on the site are underway by the RCDC.

According to Mary Heitzig, executive director of the RCDC, the City of Olney owns its three industrial parks, as well as a large tract adjacent to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center on U.S. Route 50 west of the city.


		Richland County, Three Others Join Forces To Promote Overdue Expansion of Rt. 50 Business and civic leaders from Richland, Lawrence, Clay and Marion counties are working to encourage the State of Illinois to fulfill a commitment made to the citizens of southeastern Illinois more than 45 years ago. Following completion in the early 1960s of a four-lane strip of U.S. Route 50 between Lawrenceville and Vincennes, Ind., the plans called for additional construction of four lanes between Lawrenceville and Salem. However, even with much of the right-of-way purchased for the next phase, construction never began. Now, thanks to the work of a growing group of community leaders involved with the U.S. Route 50 Four-Lane Coalition, the pressure is mounting to finally get the concrete flowing. During the past four decades, communities in the four-county area, including Olney, prepared for industrial growth by spending millions on public water and sewer systems, built lakes for water supplies and recreation, modernized utilities and improved schools and colleges. Even without the four-lane highway, they have met with success in attracting national and international employers and demonstrated that the workforce in southeastern Illinois is skilled and productive. But members of the Coalition think the area is poised to realize its full economic potential if only the state and federal governments will help build the long-planned four-lane highway that will connect U.S. Route 41 at Vincennes with Interstate 57 at Salem. Southeastern Illinois offers many advantages and opportunities to business and industry. The companies locating and growing along Route 50 complement the area’s strong traditional agricultural base. An improved highway will offer not only increased economic development opportunities, but also greater highway safety for local residents and travelers passing through the area. “The Coalition is actively spreading the word to the public on the importance of a four-lane highway to southeastern Illinois, and Coalition leaders are meeting with state and federal legislators, as well as various state agencies such as the Illinois Department of Transportation,” says Mary Heitzig, executive director of the Richland County Development Corporation. The information also has been presented to representatives of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (ILDCEO), a partner agency with local economic development organizations. “Many of the projects that look at locating in a given area are handled by ILDCEO in coordination with local ED professionals,” Heitzig said. “We want them to know of our combined efforts to better prepare our communities for future economic growth.”