When the Gurnee Village Board approved an ordinance waiving some building permit fees for AZ Polymers’ new location at its meeting Monday, it also helped to create 17 full-time jobs in the process.
AZ Polymers will add the positions when it opens up at its new location, and plans to eventually increase that number to 25. Each of the new positions will pay between $15 and $28 an hour, and will range in responsibilities, including sales, shipping, mechanics, operations, materials and warehouse workers.
The company said that it is planning its growth in phases, and the additional eight positions will be in phases following the initial opening of the new location.
AZ Polymers is a new business venture from the family that has been operating United Plastics, which has been based in Gurnee for 30 years. The new company will focus on the production of high-grade polycarbonate sheets.
Ellen Dean, the economic development director for the village of Gurnee, said that prior to establishing the new company, United Plastics had to ship in polycarbonate sheets from other countries.
“The uses of this product is windshields, equipment, aerospace, security,” she said. “These are high-precision products requiring a high-precision type of equipment and a very clean environment, which is why the facility is being proposed.”
While looking for a new location, company officials were in a competitive site search and were looking at locations throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. To help keep the company in Gurnee, both the state of Illinois and Lake County came together to come up with ideas to make the village the most attractive option, including waiving some of the building permit fees, an ordinance that was unanimously approved by the Village Board.
The ordinance will allow the village to waive either 50 % of the building permit fees, or up to $30,000. The building permit fees were estimated at between $45,000 and $50,000, Dean said.
“Because of the fact that there was this competitive situation, they needed from us an assurance, or at least as close as we could get, that there would be some participation,” she said.
In addition to waiving some building permit fees, the State of Illinois also offered an EDGE tax credit, which is offered to businesses that create new full-time jobs, retain existing full-time jobs and make capital investments in Illinois, according to the Illinois General Assembly.
The Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority also offered an enterprise zone, which would provide state tax incentives to eligible businesses.
“With those two things in hand, and the possibility of a waiver that we’re talking about tonight, AZ Polymers decided to shorten their site search and commit to Gurnee for many reasons,” Dean said at the meeting. “Of course, being home is one of them.”
United Plastics Manager Sahil Aggarwal, whose family owns the companies, is also an alum of Warren Township High School, and Mayor Kristina Kovarik commended him for giving back to his community after going through Gurnee schools.
“What an incredible success story. We’re so glad you’re staying with us,” Kovarik said. “This is a really smart use of incentives to bring jobs here. We really need jobs to fuel everything else.”
The new location, at 5675 Centerpoint Court, is on 4.8 acres of land, and the building will be 89,752 square feet. AZ Polymers has said that the construction will cost an estimated $5 million, and will house an additional $8 million in equipment.
Dean said that the property has never been developed previously, and it currently brings in $1,500 in property tax value. The property tax at the new location is estimated to be $100,000 annually once it is developed, according to Dean.
The village can expect to receive at least $75,000 back from the development through the remainder of the building permit fees that were not waived, as well as the CenterPoint Impact fee, which is estimated to be around $50,000. The sewer and water connection fees have not yet been determined.
“Me and my family are really happy to stay in Gurnee,” Aggarwal said. “I think it’s exciting for everybody — my family and Gurnee.”
Erin Yarnall is a freelance reporter.
