Vactor breaks ground on new addition in Streator

Preparation for the new addition at Vactor Manufacturing began Wednesday but workers and community leaders gathered a day later outside of the back assembly building for the ceremonial groundbreaking.

Vactor Vice President and General Manager Sam Miceli addressed the crowd and thanked the city of Streator as well as the employees that made the expansion possible.

"We're excited about what it means for our company, our employees and we're certainly excited about what this means for the community," Miceli said. "The city has been steadfast supporters of Vactor over the years, helping in the past and helping us continue to grow. Without them, we wouldn't be where we are."

The opportunity for a $25 million expansion was brought to the attention of Mayor Jimmie Lansford and former City Manager Scot Wrighton a year and a half ago when Miceli called City Hall to make the proposal. The expansion looks to add 90 jobs to the city's largest employer.

"I said, 'Sam, we can make this thing happen,' " Lansford said. "This isn't the first project we've had with Vactor that started with just a handshake. This project is going to be extremely important to Streator's future."

Of the 90 incoming jobs, 78 of them will pay more than $44,000 per year and a dozen of them will pay $67,000 or more. The new facilities will be used for developing hydro-excavation machines that will be used as a safer alternative to using backhoes.

These machines, called TRUVAC, are meant to be more precise and more customizable than a typical digging machine; they use water to remove soil from the ground similar to a drill.

Federal Signal President Jennifer Sherman said she gets asked all the time why she favors Vactor over other Federal Signal factories.

"The team they have here gets things done and works together, and they've been doing it for years," Sherman said. "This is the beginning of a new era for Vactor."

Vactor specializes in creating sewer cleaning systems that attach to the back of semis and they've called Streator home since the 1930s when they opened as Meyers-Sherman.

"It's another example of when good workers work for a good company and they decide to invest in our communities," said state Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa. "They understand that Illinois and the United States has the best workers in the world and if we keep investing in manufacturing in our communities it'll be better growth and better for the United States."

The project was made possible after Federal Signal purchased the land from Streator Industrial Development, Inc. in February; $1.5 million in funds coming from bonds as a result of a Streator tax incremented finance (TIF) district will be paid back over the next 20 years and there will also be a new road built around the back end of the factory, connecting Illinois Street with Livingston Road a block north of the factory.

Vactor is aiming to have construction completed within a year, dependent on the weather.