Tech business, health care among companies honored as McHenry County Business Champions

High tech companies, including a company founded in a basement less than 20 years ago, were among the those honored Tuesday by the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation with its annual Business Champion award.

For the past 14 years, the economic development agency has given area companies the designation. A total of 30 nominations were submitted for the program this year, with 17 named as finalists.

The Community Foundation of McHenry County also named its Philanthropists of the Year, Greg and Dana Gliniecki.

The couple raised their family in Cary, where much of their philanthropy has been centered, said Marcey Ciaccio, the foundation’s senior director for community engagement. Those projects include downtown streetscaping, a pavilion in Rotary Park, and a drone for the Cary Police Department. They were a driving force behind Bernie’s Book Bank’s expansion into McHenry County, where it is now in 36 schools.

The award recipient in the small business category, with up to 24 employees, was Crystal Lake’s Vo-Tech Inc.

The company is an original equipment and design manufacturer serving the nuclear, industrial and medical industries, according to materials provided by McHenry County Economic Development Corporation. Originally founded to serve the needs of the nuclear power industry, the company provides field machining services to power plants across the country. Its team of engineers and machinists work with both metals and plastics to provide precision machine, doing design, prototypes and production.

Cary’s Duraflex Inc. was honored in the category for mid-sized companies of 25 to 100 employees.

Founded in a basement in 2004, the company designs, manufacturers and tests highly engineered flexible metal components, called bellows, that are used in the aerospace, off-road vehicle, performance racing and defense industries, the materials state. Their products help explore this planets and others, with designs to aid in emissions control and clean energy development including SAFE nuclear and fusion.

Crystal Lake’s Technipaq Inc. was honored in the large business category of 100 to 300 employees.

The company manufactures packaging for the health care and medical devices market, providing flexible, sterilized packaging solutions. Technipaq is just one of four North American that converts DuPont’s Tyvek foils, films and surgical papers into high-barrier ETO-, radiation- and autoclave-compatible packaging.

In the past year, Technipaq teamed up with DuPont Tyvek and Freepoint Eco-Systems to recycle medical packaging plastic waste, diverting its mixed material plastic waste stream away from landfills, the materials state.

Mercyhealth and McHenry County College were both named champions in the category for entities with over 300 employees.

Construction began last year on the new Mercyhealth hospital in Crystal Lake.

Once completed, the hospital will include a large new multi-specialty clinic with private inpatient and intensive care suites, surgery suites and diagnostic services. Set to open in 2023, the project is expected to have a large economic impact as well, bringing permanent health care jobs to the local economy.

McHenry County College has focused on the skills that students, and future employers, will need by partnering with industries, adopting STEM-inspiring engagement and blending work and learning through expanded internships and work-based class projects.

The college recently broke ground on the Foglia Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation, with a target opening in spring 2024. This building will house labs for heating, ventilation and air conditioning; welding; and computer numerical control, along with a community innovation lab for prototype production and a small business incubator designed to allow businesses to collaborate with MCC faculty and students.