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Governor Quinn Announces Quad Cities’ MATCON Expands, Creates 150 New Jobs


New $10 Million East Moline Logistics Facility Will More Than Quadruple Company’s Illinois Workforce

EAST MOLINE–(ENEWSPF)–September 24, 2013.  Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by executives from Material Control Systems, Inc. (MATCON) to announce the business is building a $10 million logistics facility in East Moline and adding 150 new jobs, more than quadrupling their Illinois workforce as their business grows. The announcement is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to create jobs and drive Illinois’ economy forward.

“MATCON is a company with a long history in Illinois going back to the 1930s,” Governor Quinn said. “Its commitment to grow here in the heart of the heartland is a testament to Illinois’ skilled workforce and our longstanding role as the nation’s central transportation and distribution hub.”

The new 100,000-square-foot East Moline warehouse will assist in the distribution of the company’s packaging and shipping products. MATCON was established by the Larson family in the 1930s as a wood packaging company primarily for a local manufacturing firm. They have since expanded into the manufacturing of plastic returnable packaging systems and urethane products for shipping. The company is headquartered in Port Byron with another production facility in Cordova, Illinois and other facilities in Iowa and North Carolina. MATCON currently employs 37 people in Illinois.

“I’d like to thank the State of Illinois, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, and THE National Bank for making this new facility a reality and in the process creating 150 new jobs for the Quad Cities area,” MATCON owner and president Donn Larson said.

MATCON will receive a $1,015,000 loan through the state’s Advantage Illinois program, which helps small businesses gain access to capital and is federally funded. The Advantage Illinois loan is part of a total $10.15 million loan package through a private bank and the Small Business Administration. Funding for Advantage Illinois is provided by the U.S. Treasury through the State Small Business Credit Initiative, which was created as part of the Small Business Jobs Act signed into law by President Obama in 2010.

Since Advantage Illinois debuted in October 2011, Illinois has committed $48 million in federal funds to leverage $370 million in private investment for 154 projects, creating or retaining almost 2,800 jobs in Illinois. The program is administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO).

MATCON is also eligible for Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits, which are issued based on job creation. The EDGE tax credits are performance-based, meaning a company is not eligible for them unless it meets its commitment to create new jobs, keep existing jobs and make the agreed upon private investment.

“Small and medium sized business like MATCON play a vital role in creating jobs and fueling economic growth in Illinois,” DCEO Director Adam Pollet said.

Under Governor Quinn’s leadership, the state of Illinois has worked relentlessly to identify and recruit companies with strong potential to bring jobs and economic growth to Illinois. The state has added 251,000 private sector jobs since January 2010, when job growth returned to Illinois following a two-year period of declines during the recession.

For more information on why Illinois is the right place for business, please visit illinoisbiz.biz.

Source: illinois.gov

 


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