Manufacturing business to open in Streamwood

A new electronic manufacturing services business will open in a vacant warehouse in Streamwood, and is expected to receive a tax incentive from Cook County.

Aimtron Corp. is in the process of purchasing a 10,000-square-foot warehouse at 1448 Yorkshire Drive in an industrial area, and plans to renovate the building when it moves in by August. It has been vacant since 2003.

The business also intends to build a 5,000-square-foot addition on an open grass lot behind the existing building. Aimtron will have 10 full-time and 15 part-time employees, and annual company sales are expected to be $10 million by 2013.

On Thursday, the Streamwood village board of trustees endorsed the company's application to the Cook County Assessor's Office for a Class 6b tax incentive, which would lower the warehouse's assessment level from 25 percent of market value to 10 percent for a 10-year period.

The incentive is intended for new construction properties, buildings needing substantial rehabilitation, or like Aimtron, a business that will occupy an abandoned property.

At the end of the 10 years, the level would rise by 5 percentage points annually until it reached 25 percent, but Aimtron can reapply for the incentive at the end of the term.

Streamwood has previously approved 33 such tax-break applications for new industrial and manufacturing projects, resulting in a total construction value of $80 million, according to the village.

Countywide, 304 projects received the 6b incentive from 2003 through 2007.

Streamwood Finance Director David Richardson said the incentive allows for a more equal footing among Cook County and Kane and DuPage counties, which have lower assessment levels for industrial and manufacturing properties.