“We just passed it tonight so they could get started on it as soon as possible,” Council President Marty Hess said. “I’m glad they’re coming to Urbana. Urbana is finally getting a reputation for being business-friendly.”
The site will become Rittal’s North American headquarters and will combine its training and customer showrooms all on one site in the $6.7-million expansion, said Michael Morris, director of Champaign County Economic Development. It is unknown if Rittal will build a new facility or retrofit the interior of its current building on an 140-acre complex near Ohio 55 and Edgewood Avenue, he said.
Employees there will earn on average of $18.22 an hour, Morris said.
The expansion of Rittal, which moved to 1 Rittal Place near Ohio 55 and Edgewood Avenue in the 1980s from Springfield, is contingent on the state’s approval of a loan to Tech II Inc., a maker of plastic food packaging, to purchase its former plant on Baker Road in Springfield.
The Development Financing Advisory Council on Monday approved the $1.7 million loan for Tech II Inc. The loan has several more steps before it is finalized, including approval by the state Controlling Board, and the company is still negotiating the purchase with Rittal and the city of Springfield.
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