Gonzalez Pitches Chicago Heights’ Manufacturing Future to Bloom Students

(Chicago Heights, IL) – While some communities may be moving away from manufacturing as an economic development strategy, Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez is championing “modern” industrial development for his south suburban city.

At Bloom High School’s recent “Manufacturing Day” event, Gonzalez, the keynote speaker, launched a full-throated defense and embrace of manufacturing as a viable career option for the area’s graduating high school students.

“Manufacturing Day recognizes the vast changes that have taken place in modern manufacturing and the new opportunities those changes create for a career in the manufacturing field,” Gonzalez told the school’s student body on October 3. “Students are being welcomed by manufacturers all over the country today to understand the opportunities that exist in manufacturing.”

The average hourly manufacturing wage in Illinois is $30.92, according to the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.

Gonzalez reminded the students manufacturing touches their lives “daily.”

“Manufacturing has an impact on our lives in ways we don’t even think about on a daily basis,” said Gonzalez. “The clothes you are wearing and the chairs you are sitting on were created by a manufacturing process.”

The two-term mayor also gave the school’s approximately 3,480 students a local history lesson.

“Chicago Heights is a city whose roots grew from industrial development,” Gonzalez explained. “We were a hub for industry, and plants manufactured everything from iron and steel to glass and construction materials. People settled in Chicago Heights to be close to the factories and the jobs manufacturing created.”

Gonzalez, first elected in 2011, also shared with the students that Chicago Heights’ manufacturing history was also a history of his own family.

“My father was a machine operator for CertainTeed, a factory that produced roofing shingles, and he operated a machine that created shingles and those shingles covered the roofs on many homes and businesses in Chicago Heights,” Gonzalez said. “My mother worked at the Owens Illinois Glass Company, a factory that made milk bottles and other glassware products that were sold throughout the country.”

Gonzalez explained that Chicago Heights’ focus on industrial development led to the creation of the Chicago Heights Development Corporation, a nonprofit partner for the city, whose basic aim is to invest in both businesses and people.

“The CHDC was created to invest in business and manufacturing development, and ultimately, it is an investment in you and every resident of Chicago Heights,” said Gonzalez.

The mayor ticked-off the CHDC’s successful efforts at both expanding existing industries as well as developing new ones in Chicago Heights:

• NuFarm, a leader in producing crop protection and seed technology solutions, consolidated their Canadian warehouse and has moved to Chicago Heights, spending $18 million to update their current facility. The firm created 50 new jobs.
• AAI Organic Food Recycler purchased a 215,000 square foot vacant building at 300 Joe Orr Road and created 40 new jobs.
• Gerresheimer Glass finished renovations at the former Owens Illinois Glass plant with renovations and upgrades to offices and equipment totaling $15 million. Their investment at the site now totals $50 million during the past two years.

Chicago Heights’ success at snagging those types of investments has convinced the city’s first Hispanic mayor that manufacturing is the community’s “economic engine” for the foreseeable future.

“I believe industry and manufacturing is a priority for Chicago Heights because it is the economic engine that will propel growth and economic stability in the city,” Gonzalez told the students. “And you have my commitment that we will continue to do our part to attract and retain industries and manufacturing that will keep Chicago Heights moving forward.”

davidormsby@davidormsby.com