Motorola means millions to suburban communities

Company officials say the decision to split Motorola into two corporate entities will not immediately change or diminish its presence in the suburbs.

That certainly is the hope of communities in which Motorola's corporate citizenship provides a substantial fiscal boost -- but also much more.

"What they initially brought to Schaumburg was credibility," longtime Mayor Al Larson said.

Nowhere, of course, is Motorola's presence more vital than in Schaumburg, home of the electronic giant's international headquarters, which once employed as many as 7,000 people. Since establishing Schaumburg as its global headquarters in 1976, the company also has set up facilities that remain in Libertyville and Arlington Heights.

And where Motorola builds, other businesses follow, many probably thinking that a place good enough for Motorola is good enough for them as well, Larson said. He credits Motorola in particular for the large number of Japanese manufacturing firms in Schaumburg.

Whenever he attends a national conference and someone asks him where Schaumburg is, all he has to say is that it's Motorola's international headquarters and there's instant recognition, Larson said.

In virtually all of its locations, Motorola takes with it a reputation for outstanding corporate citizenship.

In Schaumburg, for instance, the firm has sponsored the village's Prairie Center for the Arts and supported efforts to build the STAR rail line, which would offer the Chicago area's first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail service.

In Libertyville, where the firm's mobile devices business is headquartered, Village Administrator Kevin J. Bowens said that Motorola has cooperated closely with local police and firefighters to conduct community emergency preparedness drills on the company's campus.

In at least some instances, the company has exercised its largesse even during tough economic times. When the Schaumburg Business Association was born during the economic downturn at the start of the decade, Motorola quickly stepped forward to become a cornerstone member, SBA President Laurie Stone said.

"There is a true spirit of volunteerism that permeates the organization." Stone said. "They encourage their employees to get involved in a wide variety of activities."

Motorola staff volunteer to clean up local forest preserves, help local school children and work with different ethnic groups, as evidenced by their own South Asian Business Council, with which Stone has worked.

The company has a long history of helping out smaller businesses and playing an important role on the SBA's business development commission, Stone said.

She believes these core characteristics of the company stem from the culture of family that's always been at the heart of Motorola.

There was a touch of that corporate citizenship even in Harvard, where Motorola bitterly disappointed residents by operating for only seven years, closing in 2003 after winning millions in public money for its highly publicized move to the community.

Even there, the firm donated 75 acres of open space when it arrived in town -- land that was divided among several local units of government. The firm also donated $100,000 to Harvard High School for a computer lab.

In some respects, Motorola's presence ripples beyond its host communities.

For instance, while the company had a fleeting business presence in Deer Park in the early years of the decade, its main contribution to the economy of the Barrington area has been as a place for the executives to live, said Janet Meyer, president of the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce.

This has allowed the disposable income of Motorola executives to be spent on Barrington-area businesses and services, she added.

And it's not confined to the Barrington area, either.

"I live in Cary and am surrounded by people who work for Motorola," Meyer said.

Where Motorola still operates, there are, of course, more tangible benefits.

Though the village of Schaumburg doesn't itself collect a property tax, taxes received from Motorola by park and school districts has helped make them high quality, Larson said.

Company officials decline to say how much Motorola pays in property taxes.

But Cook County treasurer's office records show that in 2007 Motorola paid more $3.58 million in property taxes on three separate parcels of its Schaumburg campus.

According to Lake County Treasurer Robert Skidmore, Motorola paid property taxes totaling $991,817 on three Libertyville campus parcels in 2007.

Because two-thirds to three-fourths of the typical property tax bill goes to public education, that makes local districts significant beneficiaries.

Motorola is the third-largest property tax payer in Schaumburg-Palatine Township High School District 211.

David Torres, District 211's associate superintendent for business, said that in his most recent figures, Motorola's equalized assessed valuation was $95.8 million, or about 1.27 percent of the district's total assessed value.

That, Torres said, might seem small until one considers the enormous number of corporate and individual taxpayers scattered over two densely populated townships.

In Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54, Mohsin Dada, assistant superintendent for business services, said that Motorola is the district's fourth-largest property tax contributor, behind only Woodfield Mall and Woodfield Corporate Centers One and Two.

The direct financial importance of Motorola's presence in Schaumburg itself is harder to quantify, Village Manager Ken Fritz said. Much of it comes from the immeasurable impact of thousands of employees eating and shopping at area restaurants and stores.

Motorola is tight-lipped about its employment figures, declining to say how many workers are located at any particular facility.

The question now, of course, is how Motorola's split will unfold and whether it will change the company's suburban presence.

With few details yet available, local officials are reluctant to speculate.

Mark Foley, executive director of the Green Oaks, Libertyville, Mundelein, Vernon Hills Area Chamber of Commerce, notes that Motorola's employment and fortunes in Lake County, as elsewhere, have ebbed and flowed in the past.

"From a chamber standpoint," he said, "you always hope that your members continue to thrive."

At District 211, Torres, while not wanting to speculate on Motorola's future, said the departure or reduced presence of any major corporate entity means, under tax-cap law, that a portion of the tax burden is shifted elsewhere.

Stone is optimistic. She believes the current readjustments Motorola is making will allow its main presence to be much as it has been.

"We think they are going to accomplish great things," she said.