Culligan celebrates major expansion of Libertyville facility

Culligan International Co. employees, clients and others Tuesday celebrated a major expansion of a Libertyville facility geared for engineering, manufacturing and assembly of water treatment solutions.

Rosemont-based Culligan now has an additional 217,000 square feet of what Chief Operating Officer Allan Connolly called prime manufacturing, office and warehouse space off Harris Road in Libertyville. Connolly said Libertyville’s location, quality of life and available talent made it a desirable place to grow.

“This facility could have been built anywhere, but we picked Libertyville for a reason,” Connolly told the nearly 300 guests gathered in the structure for the celebration that included lunch and tours.

Connolly said the expansion means there is triple the manufacturing space in Libertyville, with about 75,000 square feet for that purpose. The bigger facility also will allow Culligan to assemble up to five mobile water containers at one time, expediting the response for emergency, supplemental or temporary situations.

Libertyville Mayor Terry Weppler expressed his gratitude to Culligan in brief remarks to the crowd.

“Having a world-renowned company locate in our community is a great honor,” Weppler said.

Roughly 70 employees report to the Libertyville facility, but the company projects more jobs will be generated in the area due to the expansion. Culligan specializes in state-of-the-art water filtration products.

Other dignitaries to speak were Julie Carducci of the U.S. Department of Commerce and Dan Seals, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Gov. Pat Quinn had been scheduled to attend, but was not able to attend.