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Three Champaign County Companies Make Inc. 5000 – Fastest Revenue Growth

Three companies headquartered in  Champaign County, IL made the Inc. 5000 list for fastest revenue growth in 2011.  EP Technology Company, maker of video surveillance equipment including digital video recorders and network video recorders, came in a No. 636 experiencing 569% revenue growth from 2008 to 2011.   Midwest Underground Technology Inc., developer, constructor and maintenance provider of telecommunications towers and antenna, is No. 3,891 experiencing 50%+ revenue growth from 2008-2011.  Prominic.NET, provider of secure managed hosting and flexible cloud environment for software, as well as other IT service, is No. 4,212 experienced 30%+ growth from 2008-2011.      These companies are among six representing the broader east central Illinois area.  Many of these represent current and future potential for job growth.

Yahoo! adds jobs at UI Research Park

Article Source: The News-Gaztte, Don Dodson, June 14, 2012

CHAMPAIGN — Yahoo’s office in the University of Illinois Research Park is adding 15 new software engineering jobs, park director Laura Frerichs said Wednesday.

The expansion comes just two months after Yahoo announced it would cut 2,000 jobs worldwide, or roughly 14 percent of its staff.

Frerichs said the local office, which works on Yahoo’s data-processing infrastructure, did not lose any jobs as the result of those cuts.

It’s the second time in the last half-year the local Yahoo office has sought to fill new positions.

Last December, the office — which employed 80 to 85 software engineers — sought to hire six to nine more and was successful in recruiting them.

Speaking to the Champaign County Economic Development Corp. board, Frerichs also commented on last week’s announcement that Bytemobile agreed to be acquired by Citrix Systems.

Bytemobile, a company that helps mobile networks operate faster and more efficiently, had its origins in the old Technology Commercialization Lab on the UI campus, Frerichs said. Since establishing a research and development facility in the UI park, Bytemobile has expanded twice.

“We’re excited to welcome another publicly traded company with this acquisition,” she said of Citrix, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company whose stock trades on the Nasdaq exchange.

Frerichs was approved Wednesday as the new chair of the EDC’s board of directors, effective in July. She will succeed Gary Burgett, who is completing a one-year term as chair. Chris Shroyer will continue as the board’s treasurer.

The economic development group is in the last stages of a search to replace its chief executive officer, John Dimit, who plans to retire this year.

On Wednesday, Dimit outlined a $656,339 budget for the fiscal year that begins in July.

The budget includes $398,060 in salaries for the eight-person staff — which includes three people assigned to the local Small Business Development Center, as well as compensation for the Urbana Champaign Angel Network’s executive director.

In compiling the budget, Dimit said, he anticipated a 3 percent across-the-board increase for staff, as well as increased compensation for the new CEO.

Public-sector agencies contribute about $285,000 toward the group’s budget, with the city of Champaign the largest of those at $115,815 and the University of Illinois second-largest at $75,000.

The private sector — which includes utilities, area companies and the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce — is expected to contribute about $84,000.

The economic development group also expects to get about $220,000 in state and federal grants, primarily for operating the Small Business Development Center.

Yahoo Adding 15 New Engineering Positions in the Research Park

Article Source: Research Park, University of Illinois, June 8, 2012

Yahoo!’s Champaign, Ill., office in the Research Park announced an expansion of their current workforce to include 15 new software engineering positions. The positions will work on the Yahoo! data processing infrastructure.  The positions including challneging responsibilities in designing and implementing high-performance algorithms that can scale to handle petabytes of data. Their environment runs within the Yahoo!’s Hadoop Grid using both Java Map/Reduce and PIG languages as well as Perl scripting.  Yahoo! impacts one out of every two people online through advertising and content delivery.

For more information on the available jobs, see the Research Park Job Board listing.

Hobbico picks up three new radio-control lines

Article Source: The News-Gazette

Fri, 01/13/2012 – 12:00pm | The News-Gazette

CHAMPAIGN — Hobbico has acquired three new lines of radio-controlled cars — one from California and the other two from the United Kingdom.

The Champaign-based manufacturer and marketer of model hobby products announced this week that it had acquired Irvine, Calif.-based Axial Racing, which focuses on rock-crawling and rock-racing products.

Axial, with a staff of 17, will continue to operate from Irvine as a Hobbico subsidiary. Axial was founded in 2005.

Hobbico also acquired Team Durango and ARRMA, which are known for radio-control racing and ready-to-run vehicles.

Both are based in Ashby, England. With a staff of 11, they will continue to operate from there as a Hobbico subsidiary.

Team Durango holds world and national championship titles, according to a Hobbico release.

Hobbico, with offices at 1608 Interstate Drive, C, sells products through several subsidiaries, including Great Planes Model Distributors, Estes, Revell-United Model and Tower Hobbies.

The company employs 600 in Champaign, Urbana and Elk Grove Village, plus 70 at a distribution center in Reno, Nev., and 40 at an Estes facility in Penrose, Colo.

Hobbico’s products include radio-controlled models, plastic model kits, rockets and other hobby products.

Herff Jones Creates Jobs in Champaign County

Champaign, IL– Herff Jones has announced plans to consolidate various product lines and brand identity at their North Market Streetlocation in Champaign. This project will help to retain local jobs and potentially create additional employment in Champaign County. This announcement came last night whenDonald Agin, Vice President/General Manager, Cap & Gown Division of Herff Jones, spoke in front of the Champaign City Council.

“Herff Jones/Collegiate Cap and Gown has been proud to be part of the Champaign community since 1926. We remain committed to providing life-enriching experiences for our customers, our employees and the communities where we conduct our businesses. We are excited about this opportunity and the ongoing growth opportunities here in Champaign,” Agin said.

This project has been in the works for a few years and with the help of the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation it will finally begin. The EDC had a significant role in bringing the appropriate parties together and identifying the necessary resources to assist the company in this endeavor.

In addition to Agin, the local project team included John Dimit of the Champaign County EDC, Craig Rost of the City of Champaign, Seamus Reilly and Triss Henderson of Parkland College, Al Anderson of Champaign Consortium, Paul Faraci of the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Mark Dixon of The Atkins Group, State Senator Mike Frerichs, and U.S. Representative Tim Johnson’s office.

Approximately $50,000 in State ETIP funding will be provided through Parkland College’s “On the Job” training programs to both retrain existing employees and to train new employees. Herff Jones will spend $2 million on building improvements and additional equipment.

Expansion will take place within the current facility; however, additional parking will be needed due to the expected increase in employees. Herff Jones will rent an adjacent parking lot from the City of Champaign for $1 per year as long as Herff Jones employs a minimum of 250 people. If the project is successful, Herff Jones’ Champaign County workforce will grow to over 300 people.

Herff Jones, headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, was founded in 1920.  While Herff Jones started out manufacturing class rings, medals and pins, over the years the company has added yearbooks, caps and gowns, graduation announcements, diplomas, frames and educational learning materials to the list of products it manufactures.  The company employs approximately 3,100 workers around the country and has been 100% employee owned since 1996.

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