Hyundai Translead, a leading manufacturer of truck trailers and flatbeds, is firing up two shuttered industrial plants along the Des Plaines River in Will County, with a commitment to bring thousands of jobs to the region.
Backed by an initial investment of $450 million, the California-based subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. is launching two manufacturing sites across 52 acres, breathing new life into both the short-lived Lion Electric bus facility in Channahon and the nearby former Caterpillar plant in Joliet.
The company is planning to repurpose the existing facilities and begin operations by 2027. By 2029, Hyundai Translead has committed to creating 2,500 full-time jobs between the two sites, according to an EDGE tax credit agreement with the state of Illinois.
“We are proud to welcome Hyundai Translead to Illinois as a new manufacturer in our state,” Gov. JB Pritzker said in a news release Monday evening. “Their investment represents a long-term commitment that will create 2,500 new jobs and opportunities for working families in Will County and beyond.”
Founded in 1989, Hyundai Translead is planning to focus on dry and refrigerated trailer manufacturing as well as truck bodies at the two Will County facilities. Both locations offer “capacity for future expansion,” the company said in a news release.
Announced at an American Trucking Associations conference in Nashville, the new Illinois facilities will both increase production for Hyundai Translead and improve logistics for its dealer network, moving manufacturing closer to hundreds of its customers in the Midwest.
“For more than 37 years, we’ve expanded our capabilities and refined our products to deliver solutions that support the customers and communities we serve,” Sean Kenney, CEO of Hyundai Translead, said in the release. “The new facilities mark the next chapter in our journey and underscores the strength of our partnership with the leaders of Illinois who share our vision for long-term growth.”
The state’s Economic Development for a Growing Economy program offers annual corporate tax credits to qualifying businesses that create jobs, investment and training programs in Illinois. In addition to meeting the hiring and investment targets, Hyundai Translead has to maintain operations for 15 years, according to the EDGE agreement.
One of the manufacturers it is supplanting fell far short of that goal.
In 2021, Lion Electric, a Canadian EV truck manufacturer, announced its electric school bus factory near Joliet with great fanfare, committing to a $70 million investment to repurpose a newly built 900,000-square-foot warehouse into a production facility.
Opened in 2023, with plans to ramp up production and create 1,400 jobs, Lion Electric shuttered the plant and suspended operations in December 2024, laying off 400 workers.
Meanwhile, the Caterpillar plant, located about 5 miles to the northeast along the Des Plaines River in Joliet, was a manufacturing mainstay for years.
Opened in 1951, the Joliet Caterpillar plant employed nearly 7,000 workers at its peak in the late ’70s. But operations wound down over the years, employment dwindled and Peoria-based Caterpillar closed the plant in 2019. The property has been shuttered since then.
The commitment to revive the manufacturing fortunes of both idled sites is a potential boon for the Will County economy.
“Hyundai Translead represents a major investment in the future of our community and a powerful signal of continued manufacturing job growth in Will County,” Doug Pryor, president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development, said in the news release. “Seeing these two facilities return to productive manufacturing use is especially meaningful.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
