Devanco Foods relocating from Elk Grove Village to Carol Stream

A company that processes Italian beef, gyros and sausage plans to move from Elk Grove Village and expand its operations in Carol Stream.

The village board this week granted permits allowing Devanco Foods to operate out of a vacant building the company now intends to buy at 440 Mission St.

Devanco nixed an earlier proposal to relocate to West Dundee after facing pushback from businesses and neighbors worried about odor, traffic and waste. West Dundee Village President Chris Nelson also opposed the concept, noting the facility's proximity to a middle school.

In Carol Stream, however, Devanco plans to move next to other industrial buildings.

Village planners also have been assured that Devanco's cooking processes would release "minimal or basically negligible" odor, said Tom Farace, planning and economic development manager.

Devanco employees would prepare both raw and cooked products. As for the latter, meat would be placed in plastic bags and then cooked in sealed, steam cookers before chilling and packaging, an environmental consultant wrote in a March letter to Devanco's general manager.

Based on a review of its Elk Grove Village operations and those planned in Carol Stream, the consultant concluded that the proposed Mission Street site is "extremely unlikely to to have a material or detectable impact on air quality in the area immediately surrounding the facility."

No slaughtering would be done in the building, the company has told village planners.

Besides the addition, Devanco would build two outdoor silos - 24 and 34 feet tall, respectively - on the west side of the building. One silo would hold liquid nitrogen to flash freeze products before packaging, while the other would hold carbon dioxide to lower product temperatures.

A 6-foot-tall fence and evergreen trees would help screen part of the silos from the road.

The next step for Devanco is securing village building permits to make interior renovations and construct the addition.

Once complete, Devanco would have 60,000 more square feet of space than its Elk Grove Village facility.

The bigger building also will allow the company to manufacture gluten-free and vegan items, to seek a higher-level food certification and to hire more employees.

Roughly 80 people work out of Elk Grove Village, and Devanco has indicated it would hire "upward of 30 more employees" over the next few years, Farace said.

Devanco hopes to move in by the end of the year or next spring at the latest.

• Daily Herald staff writer Lauren Rohr contributed to this report