Sage Products in Cary plans 27-acre expansion, expects to add 350 jobs

CARY – A 27-acre expansion of Sage Products in Cary is expected to create 350 jobs within five years, Village Administrator Chris Clark said.

Mike Nygren, director of marketing communications with Sage Products, said because the company has seen 12 straight years of double-digit growth, it is now seeking more space to continue its work.

“We’re very, very connected with the community and McHenry County,” Nygren said. “There’s an excellent workforce, good community relationships and we’re proud to call Cary home.”

The medical device maker at 3909 Three Oaks Road plans to buy the vacant land east of its property in the first phase of the project, Clark said Tuesday at the Cary Village Board meeting, where he introduced the project.

The first phase also would include building a 200,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution expansion with relocated shipping docks and added parking, Clark said.

About 50 new warehousing and distribution jobs are expected to be created by 2018, he said.

By 2021, the company expects to finish the project by adding 610,000 square feet of warehouse, manufacturing, office and parking space, Clark said. About 300 jobs would be created through phase two, he said.

“It would be a significant step forward,” Clark said. “We have hundreds of residents that work at Sage, and the county has many hundreds of residents that work at Sage – and the best part of it is job retention and job creation.”

Clark said the village receives about $40,000 a year in property taxes from Sage Products, and he does not yet know how much that number would increase with the new facility.

Michigan-based Stryker Corp. bought Sage Products in February for about $2.78 billion. More than 700 area residents are employed at Sage Products, and the company maintains a visible community presence since relocating to Cary in 1980.

Through donations and sponsorships, Sage estimated earlier that its employees have supplied area nonprofits with $3.71 million over the past 10 years.

The Sage name appears often on numerous buildings throughout the county, from the Sage YMCA in Crystal Lake to the Centegra Sage Cancer Center in McHenry.

While McHenry County Economic Development Corp. President Pam Cumpata said the county has seen growth with other companies, such as Fabrik Industries in McHenry, it hasn't been to the level Sage Products is proposing.

“It’s tremendously exciting because with the acquisition by Stryker, this shows that the new company, the new ownership is committed to staying and growing in McHenry County and, in this case, in Cary,” Cumpata said.

For the expansion to happen, the village must rezone the property Sage Products is looking to buy, and vacate Sage Parkway to allow for construction, Clark said.

By the Nov. 1 Cary Village Board meeting, Clark said he expects trustees will hear the board of zoning, planning and appeal’s decision on the zoning classification and the roadway vacation.

Sage Products will be reaching out to neighbors of the property, and holding a citizen engagement open house at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 28 at its facility to discuss the project with the public.