Not all bad news for business

The economic news may be gloom and doom, but for some Elgin businesses it's a comparative boom.

Manufacturing and other sectors in the city are doing well despite the recession, officials said at an Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce round-table discussion Wednesday, with some looking to expand next year.

Chamber President Leo Nelson noted expansions of the NTN Bearing plant, Siemens building a plant to make turbines for wind energy, and Mazak Optronics, a firm that produces laser cutters, building its North American headquarters in Elgin as some large job-creating ventures.

"There are some good things happening in Elgin, especially in the industrial, commercial and retail sectors," Nelson said. "We're not being Pollyanna-ish about it. We know about the bad news, we hear it every day."

Fabric Images, an Elgin-based firm that specializes in printing high resolution graphics on large fabric sheets for events such as trade shows, expects to expand its work force from 120 employees to 140 or 150 next year even as some companies expect a drop in revenues of 10 to 15 percent.

"We're projecting the opposite. We're projecting a 10 to 15 percent increase for 2009," said Fabric Images President Marco Alvarez. "Face to face marketing is still the No. 1 way of communication."

Michael McKay, financial adviser at Edward Jones, said the company will be opening up its fifth Elgin location in the first quarter of next year.

Still, some believe the climate will get worse before it gets better.

"We'll get through this," said Tom Johannesen, president of First Community Bank in Elgin and self-styled optimist. "I think there's more pain to be felt. But things are never as good as they seem in the good times and never as bad as they seem in the bad times."