Business bubbling? You better believe it
E-commerce driving force in Will County’s steady growth
Business is booming in Will County despite the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic, economic development officials said Friday.
The region’s emergence as a hub for e-commerce activity may help explain why the county is seeing growth in jobs, commercial construction and housing while most other areas are experiencing declines.
“The economy has changed,” Doug Pryor, vice president of economic development for the Will County Center for Economic Development, said during an online presentation of the nonprofit group’s annual report.
Developers of 90 different projects pumped $1.2 billion in new investment and added more than 1,600 jobs countywide this year, Pryor said. The county has added more than 8,000 jobs a year in other recent years, but the nation’s gross domestic product shrank by a historic 31.4% during the second quarter. Much of Will County’s
growth this year was related to warehouses that serve logistics operations. The region’s road and rail infrastructure has helped lure commercial development. New tenants leased more than 10.3 million square feet of warehouse space, while an additional 7 million square feet of space is under construction, Pryor said.
“Will County, in the middle of a pandemic, to see job growth here while the nation is still down about 7% in jobs fromthe January peak, is really something,” Pryor told about 330 people who watched the hourlong presentation.
Four of the county’s 11 largest transactions this year were fulfillment centers for Amazon, he said. The online retailer has built or leased two new facilities in Channahon and one each in University Park and Wilmington.
“Amazon has continued to grow their footprint here,” Pryor said.
The Wilmington facility will supply groceries for online deliveries and Amazon Fresh retail stores, he said. The company opened its first grocery store in Illinois Thursday in Naperville.
“E-commerce is the story of 2020, and in particular grocery delivery at home,” Pryor said.
Amazon nowhas 11 facilities covering more than 7 million square feet in Will County and is the county’s largest employer. The company also is building massive new facilities in Markham and Matteson in southern Cook County.
“These things are just not happening anywhere else,” Pryor said of the growth in giant warehouse and logistics centers. “Will County continues to be a unique growth engine in Illinois.”
Developers have praised the quality of the construction workforce, Pryor said.
“We have the labor force right here in Will County to build anything,” he said. “These are incredibly complex projects, difficult to pull off.”
Health care is another growth sector in the county. Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox opened a new pavilion in March and is nearing completion of new heart care and neonatal intensive care centers set to open next year, Pryor said.
Public buildings were part of the county’s growth story in 2020, with the openings of a new courthouse and new health department facility in Joliet. Residential construction will be part of the story in 2021, Pryor said, when developers break ground in the spring on Lincoln Station Rowhomes inNew Lenox.
The 220-unit transitoriented development will be built on 16 acres near a Metra station at Route 30 and Cedar Road.
“As we’ve talked about as a county diversifying our housing stock, this is a great example,” Pryor said.
“Diversity helps creates economic resilience,” he said. “In a year like this, I think that’s an important message.”
Growth has affected conditions on the county’s highways. The Center for Economic Development hasworked with planners this year on various land use and traffic studies.
“Transportation and infrastructure is a big part of what we do,” Pryor said.
Work is set to begin soon on a $170 million private bridge that will extend Houbolt Road from Interstate 80 to intermodal facilities in southern Joliet and Elwood.
“That will take a lot of pressure off the existing roadway network,” Pryor said. “This is one of those projects that just isn’t happening anywhere else.”
Crews are about two years into a three-year project to widen about a mile of Interstate 80 and improve an interchange at Route 30 in New Lenox. A diverging diamond interchange project at Interstate 55 and Weber Road in Bolingbrook and Romeoville also is nearing completion.
Preliminary engineering and design work is nearly finished for a project to widen and improve Interstate 80 through Will County, including new bridges over the Des Plaines River. The state has authorized more than $1 billion in funding for construction.
“It is a sorely needed capital project,” he said. “We would all like it to be done immediately.”
Also underway is the Eastern Will County Freight Mobility Corridor Study that is examining truck routes throughUniversity Park, Crete, Monee and other towns.
“There is still a lot more work to do,” Pryor said.
Typically, the Center for Economic Development presents its annual report during awell-attended breakfast event. A year ago, the group honored the late Will County Executive Larry Walsh, who died in June of cancer at age 72.
“Larry was a tremendous champion for the county and for the CED,” Pryor said. “His commitment to Will County and its residents left a tremendous legacy. We are all better off because of his work.”
Pryor presented this year’s report as a last-minute stand-in for John Greuling, the group’s longtime president and chief executive, who missed the online event due to illness, Pryor said.
Business leaders formed the group in 1981. More than 200 different public and private investors contribute, said Julie Wilkinson, vice president of investor relations. The center charges no fees for providing services that help retain and attract businesses, she said.
“It’s really a powerful testament to the impact that a grassroots organization can make,” Wilkinson said.