St. Charles-based Compact Industries breaks ground on warehouse expansion

Ceremonial shovels hit the ground Wednesday outside the Compact Industries distribution center in St. Charles, signifying the beginning of a 33,000-square-foot expansion project.

The real work is expected to beginon Monday, May 12. The $3.2 million project will increase the warehouse’s capacity from 43,000-square-feet to 76,000-square-feet, and is expected to take about five months to complete.

Compact Industries is a powdered food and beverage manufacturer and distributor. The family-owned business was founded in 1963 as an instant coffee, cocoa and soup packer and relocated to St. Charles in the early 1970s.

The company has been operating out of the industrial sector on the city’s east side for decades, where it now manufactures and distributes products nationally.

Sibling owners, President Michael Brown and CEO Tracey Brown-Miller, held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 7, where they spoke briefly in front of shareholders and neighboring business owners before planting the first shovels into the the project site.

Brown said Compact Industries has around 200 employees, and expects to add 10 to 20 employees shortly after the expansion is complete.

The family purchased the facility at 420 37th Ave. in 2021, to operate as a distribution center, just down the road from the manufacturing plant at 3945 Ohio Ave.

The addition will connect to the existing distribution warehouse, adding four new docks and vastly expanding their inventory capacity. The project will also improve the existing parking lot and entryway off of 37th Ave., and add 60 additional parking spaces.

“This building expansion is what is going to allow us to meet customers’ needs more than ever before,” Brown-Miller said. “I’m so excited about the potential that this brings to Compact Industries; more space, more jobs to the area, more growth for our company, and just so many opportunities.”

Michael Brown said the new space will give the company the opportunity to expand their manufacturing processes in the future, as well as to rent out portions of the facility as office space to other businesses.

“This project is great because it’s going to enable Compact to expand in the future,” Brown said. “It’s been a long haul, but we’re almost at the finish line.”

Former Compact Industries owners and parents of Brown and Brown-Miller, Don and Dale Brown were at the event. John and Jim Maffia, of DeJames Builders, representatives of Harris Architects, financiers from Wintrust Bank and owners of neighboring businesses were also in attendance.