A manufacturing company that has helped supply COVID-19 testing equipment plans to invest $4 million to expand its operations in south suburban Cook County.
Nancy Wilson, CEO of Morrison Container Handling Solutions, told Glenwood Village Board members Tuesday night that she considered relocating her 50-year-old company that employs 100 people.
“Indiana wooed us,” she said during a public meeting held on Zoom. Then economic development officials from Will County came knocking, she said.
Wilson told village officials she chose to remain in Glenwood because of its central location for her employees. The deciding factor, she said, was how village officials helped when she urgently needed more space last spring.
“They basically had no room,” Glenwood Mayor Ronald Gardiner said Thursday by phone. “When she called, we were able to find her some room.”
Morrison makes assembly and sorting equipment that enables other manufacturers to work more efficiently. Picture an episode of the TV series, “How It’s Made,” and how containers are filled, capped and sealed as they move along an assembly line.
Morrison shows its work in videos shared on social media channels.
“When we’re recruiting someone we ask, ‘Have you watched our videos?’ because it’s hard to describe,” Wilson said Thursday. “We don’t sell a product. We don’t have any single product that we build over and over. We solve a problem. Tell us what you need and we’ll invent it.”
A trade publication covering the packaging industry published a recent account about how Morrison helped a vendor ramp up its production of vials used to transport swabs taken for COVID-19 testing.
After a successful test, the U.S. government scaled up its order from 50,000 units per week to 10 million units per week. Morrison was called and immediately went to work designing and building equipment to meet demand and allow the vendor to fulfill its contract, according to the account.
The problem was that Morrison’s facility at 335 W. 194th St. was already full, thanks to successful growth over the years.
“If you go into their place they’re jam-packed in there,” Gardiner said. “The stuff they were doing for COVID, they needed more space.”
Wilson said she decided to invest in an 80,000-square-foot expansion of their Glenwood complex because of how village officials responded to the company’s need for space.
“When we needed space to built COVID testing equipment, I called the fire chief and said, ‘We need someplace to get this done,’ and he knew of space that was available,” Wilson said.
South suburban communities must work hard to retain existing businesses and attract new ones, Gardiner said.
“We’re responsive. You have to be,” Gardiner said. “We expedite things. We don’t allow delays. We streamline to make sure there’s no gap. When there’s a gap people look for alternatives.”
Village employees knew of some vacant industrial space near Morrison’s facility that was temporarily available after a building changed ownership, Gardiner said. A couple buildings located near Halsted Street and Holbrook Road were in play, he said. They were a former Walmart store acquired by U-Haul and a former tennis club acquired by United Rentals.
Village officials facilitated negotiations for Morrison to temporarily use the United Rentals space, he said.
“During transition they had some room in there, not for a long period of time, because they’re doing manufacturing in there, now, too,” Gardiner said. “They had space available at the time.”
Strong working relationships are key to success, said Reggie Greenwood, executive director of the Chicago Southland Economic Development Corporation.
“Nancy recognizes that the value of the community is important to the success of her company,” Greenwood said.
The company uses innovative technology, Greenwood said.
“Their repair technicians use virtual reality glasses in the field,” Greenwood said. “When they’re at a machine somewhere, the engineer back in the shop can see what’s going on.”
Wilson’s husband, Nick Wilson, founded the company in 1971 and serves as president. Nancy Wilson became CEO in 2013 after working for 25 years in corporate marketing for Ford Motor Company, according to the company website.
Wilson told village officials that about half her company’s 100 employees live in Indiana, and that she is involved in workforce development efforts through Purdue University Northwest, which has campuses in Hammond and Westville, Indiana.
“Indiana gave them a full-court press,” Gardiner said.
Glenwood is a short distance from the Indiana border. High tax rates in southern Cook County discourage business investment. Economic incentives are vital tools that towns like Glenwood use to negotiate private investments that create jobs and sustain communities.
A copy of the 20-page development agreement provided by the village in response to a request through the Freedom of Information Act indicated Morrison intends to acquire land in order to build its addition. The work is expected to be completed by Dec. 1.
The project is located within an enterprise zone and a tax increment financing district. The company has applied for a Class 8 tax incentive through Cook County, Gardiner said.
The village will use some of the anticipated increased tax revenues that will result from the project to reimburse the company for a portion of its investment costs, according to the agreement.
Economic incentives are necessary to attract private investment, Gardiner said.
“People think it’s a giveaway, but it really isn’t,” he said. “I always ask, ‘What jobs are you going to bring to the area?’ Morrison is bringing high-paying jobs into the area.”
Wilson said her company will ship the last of its COVID-19 testing machinery next week. As the company builds the addition, workers will continue fielding calls from other manufacturers seeking help solving production problems.
“We had a request yesterday to handle oysters in the shell,” Wilson said. “I don’t know yet if we’re going to be able to do it.”
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.
