A third company from Illinois has announced plans to move north of the state line into the Salem Business Park in the village of Salem Lakes in Kenosha County. Currently located in Lake Villa, Illinois, R+D Custom Automation, a provider of customized automation systems, announced today that it will move its operations, and nearly 60
A third company from Illinois has announced plans to move north of the state line into the Salem Business Park in the village of Salem Lakes in Kenosha County.
Currently located in Lake Villa, Illinois, R+D Custom Automation, a provider of customized automation systems, announced today that it will move its operations, and nearly 60 jobs, from there to the Salem Business Park.
R+D will occupy a $6 million, 62,000-square-foot building in Salem Business Park. The facility will have 24 four-foot high ceilings, a centrally located engineering hub and a Waterjet machine.
The project is being supported by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance and Kenosha County through the Kenosha County High Impact Fund. The amount of funding provided by the fund was not immediately disclosed.
"(R+D) is a terrific addition to our manufacturing automation cluster, which has long been a regional sweet spot," said Jim Paetsch vice president of the Milwaukee 7 regional economic development group. "R+D designs and produces best-in-class automation systems that give its customers an edge. They are a perfect fit for our engineering-centric culture."
The 82-acre industrial park is located northeast of Wilmot Road (County Highway C) and 258th Court. It was developed in 2016 by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance, in partnership with the village.
The move to the business park will enable R+D to consolidate its operations.
"R+D currently operates out of two buildings," said chief executive officer Loren Esch. "Getting us under one roof will significantly increase equipment, tooling and hardware efficiencies."
The site also has enough space to expand the facility by up to 100,000 square feet in the future, Esch said.
Esch also said the state's manufacturing tax credit provides R+D with significant tax advantages gained from moving to Wisconsin.
"All of the labor, tax and layout advantages (of the future facility) ensure that our pricing will become even more competitive," he said.
R+D is the fourth manufacturer, and the third from Illinois, to make plans to move to Salem Business Park.
Earlier this year, Milwaukee-based Zilber Property Group announced that Antioch, Illinois-based thread and form milling tools maker Advent Tool & Manufacturing Inc. would lease 25,000 square feet of space at Salem Business Park.
Vonco Products LLC, a manufacturer of flexible packaging and promotional products announced in October 2016 it was moving its headquarters to the business park from Lake Villa, Illinois.
In addition, Zilber announced earlier this year that Bristol-based Stabio North America, a producer of cold-formed fasteners and components, will occupy a roughly 110,500-square-foot building at Salem Business Park.
The buildings for Advent and Stabio are expected to be completed in 2021.
"We're bullish on the Salem location and believe that the area's growing economic development will positively impact recruiting and the quality of our hires," said Esch. "We're excited to make the move to the great state of Wisconsin and look forward to providing expanded services to both our existing customers and prospective new clients."
