DevelopmentArchive for the ‘’ Category

Final plat approved for distribution center site

Article Source: The News-Gazette, Dave Hinton, May 31, 2012

RANTOUL — The village board will be asked to approve the final plat for a subdivision of land that could be the site of a nearly 800,000-square-foot distribution center west of the village.

The name of the company and what would be distributed from the new plant has not been disclosed.

Members of the Rantoul Plan Commission this week unanimously approved a preliminary plat for the two-lot subdivision and recommended the final plat be approved by the village board.

Village Inspector Dan Culkin said the proposed distribution facility would span 792,000 square feet “with a future expansion (possible) of 428,000 square feet.”

The two-lot subdivision would be located east of Evans Road, north of the current village limits and west of Interstate 57 on the Milton R. Ingleman Trust and Beth Kirchner Trust properties, east of the Jeld-Wen plant, which is in the village industrial park.

Village Attorney Ken Beth said the property is not within village limits, but it is contiguous.

“There is a proposed annexation agreement with the owners of this property that they will annex this property,” Beth said.

As part of the annexation agreement, Beth said, the owners would seek to have both lots rezoned I-2 (industrial). Currently they are zoned agricultural.

Culkin said Lot 1 would encompass about 71 acres and would be the site of the distribution center, and lot 2 would be about 84 acres and would remain farmland, at least initially. An additional 5 acres would be dedicated for a street right of way.

“Lot 1 will be used for industrial, which is in line with our comprehensive plan,” Culkin said.

He said construction of a new east-west street called Gravity Court Road off of Evans Road is also proposed and would include an 80-foot right of way. Culkin said village staff reviewed the project regarding easements, drainage and other plans, and recommended the plan commission approve the preliminary plat.

He said the project, which is being called Project Gravity, will be developed by Rantoul 57 Development Inc.

Asked by plan commission member Bonnie Moran why it is being called Project Gravity, Culkin said there is no significance in the name.

“I guess that’s as good as any (name) at this time,” Culkin said.

Asked by commission member Jeff Schlueter what would be distributed at the plant, Village Administrator Bruce Sandahl said that information can’t be released at this time. Sandahl also said the number of employees can’t be released.

Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Champaign, representing the land owners, told the commission that “at this point … at this particular meeting, what we need to focus on … are the horizontal issues dealing with the property, the subdivision, the platting.”

He said discussions are ongoing with the state of Illinois regarding the development.

“We’ve got to work through some issues there, but we hope to be back soon before your community, and at that time we can disclose all of the relevant details and hopefully be part of the Rantoul, Illinois, community.”

‘Big Broadband’ progress reported

Article Source: The News-Gazette, Thursday, 4/12/2012, Don Dodson

Mike Smeltzer of the Urbana Champaign Big Broadband project said 75 percent of the conduits for the project have been installed so far, with the first fiber installed in February.

He said the first customers are expected to “go live” in June and July, with grant-funded construction slated to be complete by February 2013.

The $30 million project will result in a fiber-optic broadband network that will make fast connections available to a wide swath of the Champaign-Urbana area. The project is installing fiber-to-the-premises in 11 census block groups in C-U that have low rates of broadband adoption.

Smeltzer said if area leaders decide to wire the whole community, a private investment opportunity is available for accomplishing that.

Solo Cup plant looking forward to planned merger with Dart

Article Source: The News-Gazette, Thursday, 4/12/2012, Don Dodson

CHAMPAIGN — Local economic development officials say it’s “business as usual” at Urbana’s Solo Cup plant following the recent announcement that Dart Container plans to acquire Solo.

Representatives of the Champaign County Economic Development Corp. met with local Solo officials on April 5, two weeks after the planned merger was announced.

Reporting to the economic development group’s board of directors Wednesday, Deputy Director Erik Kotewa said Solo feels the local plant is “operationally efficient” and “complementary” to the plants Dart already has.

John Dimit, the economic development group’s CEO, added that Solo expects some of its temporary workers to become permanent employees.

“That’s a very, very good sign,” Dimit said.

Solo, which makes plastic cups, lids and containers at its plant at 1505 E. Main St., has about 600 employees, more than a third of them temporary workers.

Angie Gorman, a spokeswoman for Solo, said the Urbana plant scheduled a job fair Wednesday night in hopes of filling 25 to 30 new machine operator positions and 50 packer and product-handler positions.

She said many of the packer and product-handler jobs are held by temporary workers, and the company would like to see some of those employees move to full-time positions.

Gorman added that Solo doesn’t expect any dramatic changes for the first six to 12 months after the Dart deal closes.

She said much of Solo’s product portfolio is complementary to Dart’s products, and Dart officials have said they don’t see much overlap. However, Gorman said she couldn’t predict what decisions might be made down the road.

On another front, Dimit said he met with Wolfram Research officials March 15 and was told they felt they were finished with job cuts. The company cut about 20 jobs last fall as the result of restructuring.

Any future actions would likely be hiring, rather than cuts, he added.

Last November, Wolfram Research reported having about 650 employees worldwide, with about 450 of them in the Champaign area.

Dimit and Kotewa also mentioned two cases in which local employers are considering expansion.

One Champaign County employer is considering doubling the size of its workforce to 100 by 2013, and possibly adding 200 more jobs by 2016, Kotewa said.

The other employer might add 50 or so workers if training for “lean production” — or super-efficient production — can be arranged. That company might also invest up to $800,000 in machinery.

Orthopedic Implant Company lands in Champaign

Article Source: The News-Gazette, Sat, 04/07/2012 – 11:00am | Don Dodson

CHAMPAIGN — A company that makes surgical implants has decided to base its U.S. headquarters in Champaign.

CarboFix Orthopedics Ltd., which makes orthopedic trauma implants from carbon fiber, plans to base its U.S. subsidiary — CarboFix Inc. — at 3362 Big Pine Trail in the Pinehurst Commons office park in north Champaign.

For now, the company is operating from a temporary office at 1701 Broadmoor Drive, C, said John Alleman, CarboFix’s U.S. vice president. CarboFix hopes to move to the Big Pine Trail office later this month or in early May, he said.

CarboFix Orthopedics, based in Herzeliya, Israel, makes orthopedic trauma implants, such as rods, plates and screws, from carbon fiber and polymer — rather than the conventional materials of stainless steel, titanium and titanium alloys.

Alleman said carbon fiber allows the implant to bear a heavier load and to weather “the motion of the human body” better.

It’s helpful in orthopedic oncology situations where the patient has had significant bone loss, he said.

While high-tech implants address serious fractures, everyday foot care is essential for preventing discomfort. Our feet are complex structures with intricate arches, muscles, and tendons.

There are some simple steps that can significantly improve foot health. Proper footwear is crucial. Also, regularly stretching your calves and feet throughout the day helps reduce tension and improve circulation in these hardworking structures.

If you’ve tried these strategies and foot pain persists, consulting a podiatrist is recommended. They can assess your gait, posture, and any underlying conditions to determine the cause of your discomfort.

In some cases, orthotics from a company like Ease The Feet may be a valuable option. Whether you need extra arch support for flat feet, cushioning for running, or correction for biomechanical imbalances like overpronation or supination, a podiatrist can recommend orthotics from Ease The Feet or a similar provider to help you move with greater comfort and ease throughout your day.

Plus, carbon fiber implants are “radiolucent,” giving doctors a clearer image on what’s going on in the body. Without the image distortions caused by conventional implants, doctors are better able to monitor fracture healing, he said.

The Champaign office is expected to handle sales, marketing and logistics at the outset, and Alleman said he plans to start with four U.S. employees and grow to six to 10 in a couple years.

Depending on how well the U.S. market takes off, the company may consider adding manufacturing and engineering functions in the U.S.

At this point, all manufacturing is done in Israel and Canada, and much of CarboFix’s business has been in Europe.

The company’s products have also been used in the U.S., but until recently CarboFix didn’t have sales and technical support people here.

Alleman said he chose Champaign as the U.S. base for CarboFix operations, partly because:

— He had ties to the area.

— It’s centrally located.

— The company wants to build relations with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois.

Alleman grew up in Kankakee, and his parents, Jim and Janet Barker Alleman, were from the Champaign-Urbana area.

John Alleman’s maternal grandfather, Tom Barker Jr., farmed in the Bondville area. Alleman’s paternal grandfather, Norville James Alleman, was a mechanical engineer employed by the UI.

John Alleman once worked in field sales for Synthes, a Swiss-based maker of orthopedic trauma implants, and later worked as sales manager and sales director for DePuy, the orthopedic company of Johnson & Johnson. Alleman said CarboFix recruited him for the new position.

CarboFix has regional sales managers and distributes its products through independent medical-device distributors around the country. Those distributors, in turn, work with surgeons and hospitals.

On the Web:

http://www.carbo-fix.com

Data-analysis firm coming to UI

Article Source: The News-Gazette, Thu, 03/29/2012 – 8:00am, Don Dodson

CHAMPAIGN — Another publicly traded company is establishing an office in the University of Illinois Research Park.

This time, it’s Neustar Inc., which hopes to make strides in data analytics with the help of local employees and student interns.

The company plans to hire and recruit people with expertise in computer science, computer engineering, mathematics and statistics, said Joe Pasqua, vice president of the Neustar Labs division.

Neustar hasn’t determined exactly how many people it will employ at its “innovation center” at 2001 S. First St., C, Pasqua said.

But it will be in the neighborhood of a dozen or so the first year, he added. The company should have a better idea later this year of how much — and how quickly — it will ramp up operations.

Laura Frerichs, director of the research park, said the size of the space Neustar took “reflects optimism about the growth of the operation.”

The 3,550-square-foot space has seats for about 20 people already, she said.

The innovation center is to be dedicated this afternoon, with UI Chancellor Phyllis Wise and Neustar Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman expected to attend.

Neustar, based in Sterling, Va., is probably best known for what it does to enable phone calls and Internet communications.

“If you’re going to make a phone call or look up something on the Web, we’re the first step in the process,” Pasqua said.

Neustar determines which phone numbers go to which carrier networks, he said. Plus, when people type in Web addresses, Neustar helps computers figure out how to get to the right place.

“We’re intimately involved in both the processes — completing telephone calls and Internet Web activity,” Pasqua said. “Those are just two of the services we do.”

Neustar collects “tons and tons of data” as it processes billions of queries a day from people’s computers, he said.

The company believes the data has “tremendous value” that can be used in providing new services to customers, he added.

Until now, Neustar Labs has mainly been concentrated in Sterling, Va., and San Diego and Mountain View, Calif.

Now it’s getting an outpost in the Midwest at a university well-known for computational talent.

“We did quite a bit of looking to find a place that has the right mix of university programs,” Pasqua said. “We made our final go-ahead plans toward the end of last year, in October and November.”

The goal of the Champaign innovation center will be “to generate new research results that will enhance product offerings,” he said.

But Neustar also wants to create a hiring pipeline for operations nationwide.

“We’re going to need more engineers and scientists in the company over the years, and we want to create a long-term relationship,” Pasqua said.

Pasqua cited two examples of projects the local center might handle.

In the first, Neustar has to determine where to put servers around the world to handle the billions of queries its gets each day.

“We have to look at and predict where the growth is going to be,” he said. “We have to analyze terabytes of data — what the trends are, where the load is, what the speed constraints are.”

A second project example involves helping Neustar customers detect fraud.

“How do we bring data to bear to better understand where fraudulent transactions might be taking place? It’s like finding the needle in the haystack,” Pasqua said.

To do that, Neustar needs to look closely at transactions from unusual places, transactions made at unusual times and transactions made from unfamiliar computers, he said.

 

About the company

NEUSTAR INC.

Business: Provider of real-time information and analytics to more than 13,000 companies, many of them in the communications field.

Headquarters: Sterling, Va.

History: Once part of Lockheed Martin, it was divested in 1999. Neustar became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005. In 2009, it was listed among Forbes magazine’s “25 Fastest Growing Tech Companies.”

Employees: 1,488 as of Dec. 31, 2011.

Revenues: $620 million in 2011.

Net income: $161 million in 2011.

Web address: http://www.neustar.biz

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