Auto Parts Manufacturer To Bring 300 Jobs at New South Side Facility

CHICAGO, IL -- An Urbana, IL-based auto parts supplier is planning to open a manufacturing facility that is expected bring nearly 300 jobs to Chicago’s South Side, the mayor’s office announced in a news release. Flex-N-Gate will lease a 288,000-square-foot facility at 2924 E. 126th St., near the Chicago Ford Assembly Plant on Torrence Avenue.

Plans are to convert an existing warehouse facility into a modern automotive operation that will serve automakers, including Chicago’s Ford plant. Flex-N-Gate will begin its lease in January 2018. Conversion of the space will take place throughout the year. Flex-N-Gate has targeted the first quarter of 2019 to begin operations.

“We are seeing a manufacturing renaissance in Chicago and today Flex-N-Gate is building on that momentum,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a written statement. “This new facility will create hundreds of new full-time jobs, bring tens of millions of dollars in new investments, and strengthen Chicago’s manufacturing ecosystem for generations to come.”

Flex-N-Gate was recently ranked the 10th largest original equipment supplier in North America and the 38th largest supplier in the world by Automotive News. The auto parts supplier produces complete bumper assemblies, mechanical assemblies, exterior plastic trim, aluminum and steel modular stamped body-in-white and chassis assemblies, and complex welded structural assemblies for the light vehicle market.

“The U.S. automotive industry is strong, and that’s also true here today in my beloved state of Illinois and in the great City of Chicago,” billionaire owner and University of Illinois grad Shad Khan said. “We fully anticipate that our future operation here will be a difference-maker for Flex-N-Gate, Ford Motor Company, the automotive industry and workers here in the Chicago area.”

In exchange for bringing the facility to Chicago, Flex-N-Gate entered into a 10-year EDGE (Economic Development for a Growing Economy) partnership that will provide the company with about $4 million in EDGE payroll tax credits. Flex-N-Gate has also agreed to hire at least 286 full-time employees over the next three years and invest at least $30 million into the facility (lease and machinery) over the next 10 years. The state and city will provide $1.5 million in workforce training funds via the Illinois Department of Commerce and the City of Chicago.

According to Crain’s, at a recently announced Flex-N-Gate facility in Detroit, average pay is in the mid- to high -$20s per hour.