Otto breaks ground on new Carpentersville tech center
Otto Engineering broke ground Thursday on a multimillion-dollar technology and manufacturing center in Carpentersville.
The roughly 90,000-square-foot facility at 140 Carpenter Blvd. is expected to be complete by summer 2019, at which point the company's tooling, stamping and manufacturing operations will be relocated from its main campus at 2 E. Main St. The tech center - a roughly $25 million project - also will include space for an apprentice program aimed at training young workers for a career in the trades, Otto President Tom Roeser said earlier.
Company and village leaders gathered Thursday afternoon for a ceremonial groundbreaking, symbolizing the start of the building's construction.
The 30-acre property was largely unusable until Otto purchased it and began site improvements last year. The tech center will be built on about 10 acres, and the project will prepare the remaining land for future development.
As Carpentersville's largest employer, Otto Engineering has more than 500 employees and specializes in control panels, switches and joysticks. Roeser has said the tech center likely will employ 50 people with an average salary of $75,000 per year.