Maintenance Supply Maker Lawson Products To Move Into City
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As the CME Group and Sears warn that corporate income taxes might drive them out of Illinois, maintenance and repair supply distributor Lawson Products is staying – and moving into Chicago.
Lawson Products and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office announced Wednesday that the company will move its corporate headquarters from northwest suburban Des Plaines into the city of Chicago, in an area close to O'Hare International Airport, in the early summer of 2012.
Lawson also plans to sign a lease on a new, state-of-the-art Midwest packaging and distribution center in southwest suburban McCook. The facility will be constructed and owned by CenterPoint Properties, a leading national industrial real estate and development firm.
Lawson says the move into the city and the new packaging and distribution center will improve operating efficiencies and thus, draw customers.
"We are especially pleased to stay here in Illinois, where we can retain much of our current team, and continue to have access to a highly skilled labor force," Lawson chief executive officer Tom Neri said in a news release. "We considered locating to neighboring states, but we worked with the State of Illinois and found the governor's office to be very accommodating and supportive of our business needs."
The company's 400 employees will work at the new Chicago headquarters facility, a release from the mayor's office said.
The company will locate its new headquarters near O'Hare, in close proximity to the Kennedy Expressway as well as the CTA Blue Line.
Lawson was founded in 1952, and is publicly traded on NASDAQ. The company makes products from fuses to tools and industrial chemicals.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
