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2018 Illinois Manufacturing Day / Month

Huge thanks to all of our local companies who opened up their doors for tours in celebration of Manufacturing Day and Illinois Manufacturing Month! More than 175 attendees joined us for tours at local companies, including several area high school students.

Advanced Filtration Systems Inc.
Champaign, IL
Established in June 1986, Advanced Filtration Systems Inc. (AFSI), manufactures liquid filters using automated, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) techniques. Highly automated production techniques enable AFSI to manufacture filters of the highest quality at competitive prices. The filters are used in lube, fuel, and hydraulic applications. Learn more at http://www.afsifilters.com/.

Litania Sports Group 
Champaign, IL 
Litania Sports Group is the parent company of two market-leading brands in the sports facility market, Gill Athletics and Porter Athletic. Learn more at http://www.litaniasports.com/.

ShapeMaster, Inc. 
Ogden, IL 
In January 1990, ShapeMaster was formed because they saw a need to provide buyers, engineers, inventors, and designers with the ability to order small or large quantities of solutions in plastics and other materials for the manufacturing of their products; regardless of their size, they receive the same high level quality of service. Learn more at https://www.shape-master.com/.

Illinois MakerLab 
Champaign, IL 
The Illinois MakerLab is the world’s first Business School 3D Printing Lab. The lab was co-founded by Dr. Aric Rindfleisch (Executive Director) and Dr. Vishal Sachdev (Director) and opened in Spring 2013. Learn more at https://makerlab.illinois.edu/.

Riggs Beer Company
Urbana, IL
Riggs Beer Company, opened in June 2016, is a family-owned production brewery and tap room in Urbana, Illinois that features Lagers and other German and American beer styles. Learn more at http://www.riggsbeer.com/.

The Product Manufactory
Urbana, IL 
The Product Manufactory (TPM) is a product design and R&D firm composed of highly skilled engineers, designers, coders, and fabricators. The products they’ve developed have ranged from research instrumentation to consumer electronics to railroad power supplies. Learn more at https://www.theproductmanufactory.com/.

Inprentus, Inc. 
Champaign, IL 
Inprentus manufactures the most efficient high line density diffraction gratings in the world. Inprentus was founded in June 2012 by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign physics professor Peter Abbamonte to commercialize an innovative nano-scale scribing technology, which is a technique for carrying out precision lithography via mechanical deformation of metallic surfaces. Learn more at https://www.inprentus.com/.

What is Manufacturing Day?
Manufacturing Day® is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers and occurs on the first Friday in October. Manufacturing Day addresses common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is – and what it isn’t. Learn more at http://www.mfgday.com/.
Illinois Manufacturing Highlights:
* Manufacturing is the third largest industry in Illinois by employment with more than 580,000 workers.
* Illinois is the fourth largest manufacturing state in the nation by output.
* Manufacturing makes up 93.6% of all Illinois goods exported.

Special thanks to The Atkins Group, our official sponsor of Illinois Manufacturing Day / Month in Champaign County.

Grand Opening: Clarkson Soy Products

On Monday, October 23rd, we celebrated the grand opening of Clarkson Soy Products, located at 101 Mercury Drive in Champaign.

Located at Titan Warehouse, this new 30,000 SF facility is the first of its kind in North America. The company processes, distributes, and exports high-quality Certified Organic and non-GMO lecithins for the food, personal care, nutritional, supplement, pet care, animal nutrition, and industrial markets.

Tours of the facility were provided. View event photos here.
 
Want to learn more about Soy Lecithin and why it is used in products? View this article. 
 
The City of Champaign, Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, and Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty assisted Clarkson Soy, LLC in finding a suitable site. Clarkson Soy Products, LLC worked with The Atkins Group and other contractors to complete the project. The February 2017 project announcement can be viewed here. 
 
About Clarkson Soy Products:
 
Clarkson Soy Products, LLC was founded in 2002, offering the world’s first certified organic soy lecithin. It used an entirely natural process without any synthetic solvents, offering commercial quantities with excellent quality.
 
During their first 10 years, they focused on growth in the certified organic food ingredient market. In their second decade of business, they continue to expand their ability to meet the needs of our customers by offering a growing list of lecithin products that meet their requirements for quality and food safety. Clarkson Soy Products, LLC is a subsidiary of Clarkson Grain Company, Inc., an employee-owned company. Learn more at http://clarksonsoy.com/.

New Processing Facility Coming to Central Illinois for Organic and Non-GMO Sunflower and Soy Products

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Curtis Bennett
Vice President, Sales & Operations
Clarkson Soy Products, LLC
217-763-9511 – Ext. 124
Curtis.Bennett@clarksonsoy.com
www.clarksonsoy.com

CHAMPAIGN, IL, February 21, 2017 – A new state-of-the-art 30,000 sq ft processing facility for organic and non-GMO sunflower and soy lecithin is slated to open in August 2017 at Titan Warehouse in northeast Champaign.

This is the second Midwest facility owned and operated by Clarkson Soy Products, LLC. In 2004, the company became the first in the worldwide market to produce Certified Organic soy lecithin, an ingredient found in chocolate, ice cream, infant formula and numerous other edible products. Their current processing facility is located in Cherokee, Iowa.

The new processing plant in Champaign will be the first of its kind in North America and will employ four people. Clarkson Soy Products, LLC, plans to seek Organic, Kosher, and SQF Food Safety Certification for the facility.

According to Curtis Bennett, Vice President of Sales and Operations at Clarkson Soy, LLC, “The new facility will give our customers assurances of U.S. origin under the new FSMA (Food Safety Modernization Act) Regulations. We have evolved to become North America’s leader in specialty lecithins.”

The City of Champaign, Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, and Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty assisted Clarkson Soy, LLC, in finding a suitable site. Clarkson Soy Products, LLC, will be working with The Atkins Group to complete the project.

Clarkson Soy Products, LLC, an employee-owned company located in Cerro Gordo, Illinois, was founded in 2002. The company processes, distributes, and exports high-quality Certified Organic and non-GMO lecithins for the food, personal care, nutritional, supplement, pet care, animal nutrition, and industrial markets.

 

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