Cary business in line for stimulus bonds

A McHenry County Board committee has paved the way for Cary's largest employer to take advantage of millions of dollars in low-cost government stimulus bonds to finance an expansion authorities say will bring jobs to the area.

On Tuesday, the finance committee unanimously signed off on giving Sage Products, a manufacturer of disposable medical supplies, $5.6 million in government stimulus bonds to build a 170,000-square-foot addition, said Marc Munaretto, the committee's chairman.

The overall expansion will cost $7 million, Sage's Chief Financial Officer Rich Naponelli said.

The government stimulus bonds will give Sage a 45-percent discount on the market interest rate, Munaretto said.

A portion of that bonding authority administered at the county's discretion was originally eyed for a minor-league baseball stadium in Woodstock, Munaretto said.

Sage, an operation of roughly 640 employees, has been in its current facility on Three Oaks Road between Route 14 and Route 31 for 10 years and has since outgrown it, Naponelli said.

A portion of the addition will include 60,000 square feet for a distribution center, with another 60,000 square feet reserved for raw material storage and another 50,000 square feet slated for manufacturing space, he said.

Naponelli estimates the expansion will create 50 jobs a year for three years.

“We've been very blessed that we've been able to expand our employee base over the last few years and we anticipate that will continue into the future,” Naponelli said.

The county board plans on taking a final vote Tuesday.

If the board approves the allocation, Sage hopes to complete construction by June 2011.