Franklin Park saw its number of manufacturing jobs decrease last year, although the bulk of the decline is due the exit of a single business.
From November 2012 to November 2013, there were 10,409 people employed in manufacturing in Franklin Park. Those numbers are according to Manufacturer’s News, an Evanston-based publisher that surveys manufacturers around the country.
By November 2014, that number had dropped to 9,530. Of that, 696 jobs were from Fresh Express Corporation, which moved to Streamwood around August 2013. Fresh Express officials said at the time that they were moving so they could consolidate operations, although the village of Streamwood also offered them an undefined benefit package.
During the same time period, Northlake, Chicago, Cook County and Illinois as a whole also saw minor increases in the number of manufacturing employees.
John Schneider, economic development director for Franklin Park, said the village’s numbers might be partly due to a lack of qualified employees.
“A lot of our businesses are small- and middle-sized and they don’t have human resources departments,” Schneider said. “Manufacturing jobs are being filled because they can’t find people who are trained and ready to work.”
Franklin Park ranks sixth in Illinois in its number of manufacturing jobs, particularly in the area of metal finishing. Chicago has the most, while Northlake ranks 90th in the state.
Schneider and village staff apply for grants to help local businesses, post information on their website to help businesses considering relocating to Franklin Park, and work with associations that help manufacturers like the Chicago Metals Consortium.
Their biggest asset, however, might be communication. He, village planners Eric Richard and Zoe Heidorn, and Village President Barrett Pedersen spend a lot of time talking to businesses, he says.
“We’re very responsive to them,” Schneider said. “When someone calls us and says they’re looking for a 10,000 square-foot building, we give them a listing of every building in their category. We work with them on zoning and stay involved with them.”
The slight uptick in manufacturing jobs statewide has a lot to do with improvement in the overall economy, said Mark Denzler, vice president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers Association.
“We’re coming out of economic recess and seeing growth,” Denzler said. “I think Illinois had a perception problem. We are centrally located, have a good workforce, world class airport and good transportation, colleges and universities.”
Denzler thinks the Illinois Legislature could help by working on issues of workers compensation, pensions, debt and taxes.
“Businesses need stability and predictability,” he said.
Professor Robert Bruno, who teaches labor and industrial relations at University of Illinois-Chicago, said there are various reasons for the slight increase in jobs statewide including an improving economy, increase in construction that requires materials and increased wages in China.
“The biggest reason, these new manufacturing jobs are at roughly half the [pay] rate of the pay they used to be,” Bruno said. “The entry wage has changed very significantly. That incentivized businesses to bring some work back onshore but also to expand.”
Bruno thinks the number of manufacturing jobs could continue to increase.
“There’s a lot of infrastructure work — road work, bridge work — that needs to be done,” Bruno said. “The automobile industry has done well and there’s a lot of unrealized demand [for cars].”
