New plastic sheet maker AZ Polymers LLC will open a headquarters and production and distribution site in Gurnee, Ill.
AZ plans to make polycarbonate and acrylic sheet, officials said in a news release. The new firm is owned by Sahil Aggarwal, who also serves as president of Gurnee-based plastics recycler United Plastics Inc.
“AZ Polymers is excited to break ground in Gurnee to bring this high-demand product to market, and to increase our investment in the state,” said Aggarwal, who will serve as CEO of AZ.
He added that AZ’s new location in Gurnee “is the ideal location for our new business, thanks to access to skilled talent, global markets and local resources available to our company.”
“These investments will allow us to further boost supply chain and provide access to high quality plastic sheeting and other products that the market here and abroad demands.”
AZ will open a 90,000-square-foot location in Gurnee later this year. Officials said the firm also considered a location in southeast Wisconsin. The new venture is expected to create 25 jobs in the next four years.
United Plastics has been located in Gurnee for 30 years and employs 20. Officials said that AZ will help meet demands by developing high-quality optical grade plastic sheeting for automotive, motorsports and aerospace markets.
AZ’s decision to launch its first U.S. headquarters and operations hub in Illinois “is further evidence that we have the resources manufacturing companies need to grow and compete in the 21st century economy,” said Sylvia Garcia, acting director of the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO).
“Under Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker’s leadership, we are committed to making investments in infrastructure and workforce training to support the success of new and emerging companies just like AZ Polymers,” she added.
Working with the Lake County Workforce Development and Job Center, AZ is developing a recruitment outreach program. The state will support the firm with workforce resources during hiring, which is projected for the first quarter of 2022.
“Lake County is seeing a huge boom in manufacturing, in large part because of our commitment to workforce development and investment in the types of specialized training that modern manufacturers need,” said Richard Korengold, senior managing director at Mesirow Financial and chair of the Lake County Partners Board of Governors.
He added that AZ will generate about $42 million in annual economic output in Lake County and that that output “will ripple through our communities and make us even stronger than before.”
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