Robotics firm to relocate in Sycamore
By DANA HERRA – dherra@daily-chronicle.com
Smart Motion Robotics Inc., a Gilberts-based company that builds machines used in creating consumer packaging and in palletizing merchandise, has agreed to relocate its entire operation to Sycamore, city officials said Wednesday.
The company had told Sycamore City Manager Bill Nicklas that it would relocate only if all of the local taxing bodies agreed to a package of property tax abatements, he said. On Tuesday night, the Cortland Township Board was the last taxing body to approve the abatements, he said.
Several messages left on the office voice mail of Smart Robotics CEO Scott Gilmore Wednesday were not immediately returned. In a written statement from the City of Sycamore, Gilmore was quoted thanking the city, county, school district, park district, library, Kishwaukee College and township boards for approving the abatements.
DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Paul Borek said having a high-tech company like Smart Motion will be “extremely beneficial” for both Sycamore and the county.
“Companies like Smart Motion design and produce equipment and technologies sold outside the region, throughout the United States and maybe the world,” he said. “They create wealth by generating income from outside the region. This also validates the ability of Sycamore and DeKalb County to support enterprises engaged in research and development and more technically sophisticated production.”
The presence of high-tech firms makes the area more appealing to other technology-based firms, Borek said, because such companies like to locate and expand in areas that have demonstrated their workforce is successful in creating and producing innovative new products.
Smart Motion was founded in Gilberts in 1996. When it began looking for a place to relocate late last year, it considered locations in Rochelle and Dixon as well as lots in the Sycamore Prairie Business Park, Nicklas said.
“When I was contacted late last fall, the CEO specifically wanted to know about any incentives for industrial companies,” he said. “I gave him the information and he said, ‘Thank you,’ but he knew the Lee County taxing bodies were offering more.”
In March, company officials told Nicklas they liked what Sycamore had to offer provided all taxing bodies could get on board with abatements, he said. Most of the taxing bodies, including the city and county, offer a standard three-year plan that abates 90 percent of property taxes in the first year, 75 percent in the second and 50 percent in the third.
Smart Motion is expected to build a new facility of 27,000 to 30,000 square feet, to eventually expand to about 40,000 square feet, according to the written statement. The company has 18 full-time employees and expects to hire eight to 12 more in the next three years. Skilled workers in the plant start at $40,000 per year, and more experienced workers make about $75,000 per year, the release said.
“It’s an interesting company,” Nicklas said. “It’s the kind of high-tech fit we’ve been looking for in Sycamore and in DeKalb County.”
