Mick Swasko, TribLocal reporter
Naperville will set aside some federal stimulus funds to help keep Navistar in the area.
The city council voted unanimously Tuesday to transfer its allocation of Recovery Zone Utility Bonds it received in early 2010 to be used by Navistar, which will pay the city $14,965 to use the $11,965,000 in financing for their move to Lisle. Recovery Zone Bonds are low-interest bonds issued by the federal government to encourage economic development and capital investment.
“What it is, is a mechanism that allows the State of Illinois to have an economic development vehicle that allows private entities to issue low cost debt,” City Manager Doug Krieger said, adding that Naperville received an allocation because of its size.
Mayor George Pradel, Krieger and other city officials met with Navistar officials August 25 to discuss use of the bonds. The program expires at the end of the year, and if the bonds are not given out, the city would lose the near $15,000 in revenue.
Navistar International Corp. announced plans Wednesday morning to move the engine manufacturing company’s headquarters to Lisle. The company is currently located in Warrenville, but officials have talked about moving to Alabama, Texas and South Carolina in recent months.
Navistar scrapped plans to move to Lisle after protests from neighbors worried about air pollution, noise, traffic and safety issues at the former Alcatel-Lucent East campus on Warrenville Road.
Council members said Navistar’s choice to locate in Lisle will benefit Naperville because it will bring jobs to the area. They note many employees could choose to live and shop in Naperville, so it makes sense to support the Navistar plan.
“It’s without question it is going to be a huge economic boon for the Naperville area,” Councilman Jim Boyajian said. “It would be short-sighted on our part to not do everything we could to support this effort.”
Councilman Robert Fieseler said the company brings the potential for 3,100 jobs to the area at the new headquarters, and will benefit the city into the future.
“This is the future of jobs, the future of employment,” he said. “I would venture to say that at least some of the offspring of kids and grandkids in this room will be happy with the decision we make to support this, because those kids and grandkids are going to find good, productive, fulfilling jobs at Navistar.”
