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To paraphrase Mr. Robinson in the movie, The Graduate, “Let me give you one word of advice,kid. `PLASTICS`. Plastics are the future.” Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois have certainly heeded these words.
Illinois is home to more than 1,000 plastics-related companies, the third-highest concentration in the United States. Chicago-Cook County is one of the top 5 metro areas for plastics companies. Illinois became home to 56 new or expanded plastics-related facilities in the last several years. One of these was Courtesy Corporation’s $23 million headquarters and distribution warehouse expansion in Buffalo Grove. Illinois Tool Works in Glenview is one of the nation’s top injection molders . Landis Plastics in Chicago Ridge also is a leading U.S. molder. Hoover Materials Handling Group is opening 120,000 square foot plant and cleaning facility.
Equally important are the county’s smaller manufacturing firms. These firms, generally employing 50 to 80 people, account for 85 percent of the companies producing plastics products. The state offers proximity to producers of primary and seconday plastics-related components and to suppliers of raw materials.
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The Illinois plastics industry
- Comprises 6 to 7 percent of the nation’s plastic business.
- Generates $16,600,000,000 (billion) in annual shipments
- Generates $2,450,000,000 (billion) in personal income.
- Employs 24,000 people in Cook County alone-- 93,900 in Illinois.
- Has seen sales rise an average of 4.8 percent annually since the 1960's- nearly double the rate of the GDP.
- Generates $1.41 in indirect sales for every dollar of plastic sales
- Exports $675 million worth of product. Two-fifths of that goes to Canada
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The Chicago area has been a great place for the plastics industry because many complementary industries thrive here also:
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The Transportation Industry
O’Hare International and Midway airports in Chicago provide business with the nation’s best access to national and international air routes. O’Hare ranks number one in the world in passenger travel, third in U.S. cargo volume, and fifth in international cargo volume. O’Hare’sCargo City covers 240 acres, with 1.2 million square feet of facilities. More than 140 domestic and 30 international non-stop destinations are available.
The Chicago-Cook County location offers excellent access to North America’s interstate highways. Major east-west routes include I-90/94 and I-80. Major north-south routes include I-55, I-57 and I-65. Illinois has over 2,000 miles of interstate highways.
The Chicago-Cook County region has the nation’s largest rail hub, with 14 freight lines and 11 trunk rail lines. The area is the world’s leading intermodal port , served by 21 intermodal facilities and 19 container depots, handling 8.8 million containers annually. Rail traffic between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico is booming.|
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Abundant energy
Chicago-Cook County offers reliable energy at competitive rates. Electrical generation capacity exceeds peak demand by 35 percent. ComEd and the other state electrical utilities offer inventive rates to lower plastic companies’ energy costs. Illinois has abundant natural gas storage capacity and natural gas supply through nine pipeline companies. The presence of companies such as Amoco, Dow Chemical and Mobil ensure constant supplies of raw materials.
Almost all of the state’s water needs are filled from surface water , mainly from Lake Michigan. The Illinois-Mississippi River System supplies additional water. Illinois has a high water table and currently uses only about 14 percent of its replenishable groundwater capacity.|
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Varied end use companies
The Chicago region is an industry leader in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, software development, manufacturing, and food processing and packaging among others. All of these industries use plastic in one way or another. When one considers that nearly 25% of all materials purchased nationwide are purchased from the 7 Great Lakes states, it is easy to see that there is no shortage of customers.|
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World Renowned Education
Approximately 400,000 students are enrolled in the region’s 57 institutions for higher learning. Some of those institutions include Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Loyola University, Depaul University, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. Those institutions award over 75,000 master’s degrees and 2,000 doctoral degrees annually. These degrees cover everything from business management to high level engineering.|
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