JOLIET – Candy giant Mars has plans to bring a new distribution facility to Joliet, which will be developed and owned by CenterPoint Properties, according to a Mars spokesman.
“We need more companies – good companies – coming into Will County to employ our residents,” County Board member Donald Moran, D-Romeoville, said Saturday when he confirmed Mars’ intent to come to CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Joliet.
The Mars spokesman stated in an email the move is being made to increase efficiency and scale. Mars currently uses third-party distribution services in Romeoville and Manteno, but in 2017, it will transition to Joliet.
“Our distribution partners are in the early stages of workforce planning for the new Joliet facility,” the spokesman stated. “As with Manteno and Romeoville operations, staffing at Joliet will be managed by a third-party and specific job numbers cannot be confirmed at this point.”
Neither Moran nor the company spokesman could provide specifics about the size of the facility or the number of jobs it would create.
However, financial and professional services firm JLL stated in a report from First Quarter 2015 that Mars was in lease negotiations for a 1.3 million-square-foot project to be developed by CenterPoint in Joliet.
Will County Center for Economic Development President and CEO John Greuling stated Saturday via email that he could not confirm Mars’ plans to come to the city.
Representatives of the city of Joliet and CenterPoint Properties did not respond Saturday to requests for comment.
Mars is one of several major companies to announce similar plans this year to come to Joliet. Both Amazon and Ikea intend to establish distribution centers in the city’s Laraway Crossings Business Park at Illinois Route 53 and Laraway Road.