April 25, 2024
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Springboard Manufacturing, Heartland Cabinet Supply seek $10K in grants from Crystal Lake

By Aaron Dorman
Employees arrive and exit Cardinal Health on Tuesday Nov. 1, 2022. The company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act notice that it planned to lay off 236 people at the facility at 815 Tek Drive in Crystal Lake starting Dec. 31, but city officials said a lease with a new company should save those jobs.

The next tenants of the current Cardinal Health facility in Crystal Lake, Springboard Manufacturing, could receive a $10,000 grant from the city of Crystal Lake if approved at Tuesday's City Council meeting. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Springboard Manufacturing, the company set to replace Cardinal Health in Crystal Lake, has requested $10,000 in a city grant to help it move into its new Tek Drive facility.

The application is one of two set to be considered by the Crystal Lake City Council at its meeting Tuesday evening.

The other request, also for $10,000, came from Heartland Cabinet Supply, which said it would use the funds to help it expand into a long-time vacant building and grow the company by 20%, according to council documents.

The new building, located at 301 Industrial Ave. in Crystal Lake, has had past environmental contamination issues, Crystal Lake Economic Development Director Heather Maieritsch said, although those concerns have since been mitigated.

While grant funds can technically be applied toward anything, Springboard Manufacturing CEO Douglas Constable said in a letter to Mayor Haig Haleblian in mid-November that the company was looking at spending $35,000 immediately on new office equipment and furniture.

The grant application also states that the average salary for employees at the facility would be $80,000.

Constable told the Northwest Herald Springboard Manufacturing intends to retain the roughy 240 employees at the Cardinal Health plant.

Some training will be required for new company protocols, as well as new products that will be produced at the facility, Maieritsch said.

Springboard will continue to produce the medical supplies – like syringes and sharps container products, council documents state – that Cardinal Health made at the facility but will look to expand over the next few years, Maieritsch said.

“The city was very excited to welcome Springboard and not see that facility close,” Maieritsch said. “Especially during the holiday time; that was a big win.”

This year’s recipients of the grant, officially titled the Retailer and Manufacturer Job Creation and Investment Program grants, have included Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters, Rookies Restaurant, Jalsa Bar & Restaurant, Vine & Plate Wine Bar, and General Kinematics, according to council documents. Overall, the city budgeted $80,000 for the 2022-23 fiscal year for the grant program.

The Crystal Lake City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday evening in City Hall, 100 W. Woodstock St.