How this St. Charles company keeps us safe
Afternoon drives to see the changing colors of fall can be relaxing, until one color comes to dominate the palette.
The ubiquitous orange of construction cones is the color that knows no season. And wherever you see them around Chicago’s suburbs, chances are good they were made in St. Charles.
Work Area Protection Corp. has been in business since 1969, first in a basement in Elmhurst, then moving to Lombard and ultimately St. Charles. The business has an ever-growing list of products that includes a variety sizes and types of cones, barrels, arrow and message boards, barricades, warning and strobe lights, and manhole protector rings. If it’s orange and slowing you down, they probably make it.
Vice presidents and St. Charles residents Mike Linkimer and Doug Comstock have been with the company for over 20 and 30 years respectively.
“I started out about 32 years ago packing boxes and sweeping floors,” said Comstock, who is in charge of plant operations. Over the years he’s done a lot of the jobs that he now oversees.
Their 24-hour operation has capacity to make 7,500 traffic cones each day and they’ll sell over 1.6 million a year. Open five days a week, the company employs 50 people locally.
Despite the variety of products, Linkimer says one thing is constant.
“I always tell people they can have whatever color they want, as long as it’s orange.”
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