State gives tax breaks to aerospace company

Gov. Pat Quinn says energy and aerospace company Woodward Inc. will receive tax incentives from Illinois for its new $200 million Rockford-area manufacturing campus.

The campus will feature a 300,000-square-foot production plant and office center over 60 acres. Quinn made the announcement Thursday in Loves Park.

Officials estimate the plant will create 660 jobs over the next five years. The company plans to break ground this year.

Woodward currently employs about 1,500 people in Loves Park and Rockton. Quinn says Woodward plans to double that workforce by 2021.

Woodward was started in Rockford in 1870 and now is based in Colorado. It makes and services a variety of energy control and optimization systems for companies such as Caterpillar and Boeing. In Loves Park, its systems are primarily for planes.