Ryan Recommends New Tollway Executive Director, Board Members

LISLE -- Governor George H. Ryan today announced that Tellabs is expanding along Illinois' high-tech corridor in Dupage County, investing $75 million in the Naperville area and creating as many as 2,300 new jobs.

"We're pleased that Tellabs chose to expand its operations in Illinois," Ryan said. "This expansion is about new high-tech jobs for Illinoisans and underscores our belief that Illinois is not just a great place to do business, but a great place for technology companies like Tellabs to locate and grow."

Tellabs' expansion plans are being supported by a package of incentives from the State of Illinois and the City of Naperville. They include infrastructure and job training assistance, EDGE tax credits, municipal sales tax rebates and a High Impact Business Designation.

EDGE (Economic Development Through a Growing Economy) tax credits allow eligible businesses creating new jobs to claim a state income tax credit equal to a portion of the incremental income tax generated from new jobs created in Illinois. The High Impact Business Program provides investment tax credits and tax exemptions for the purchase of building materials and manufacturing equipment.

"Tellabs is committed to helping communications service providers build and migrate to next-generation, multiservice networks," said Tellabs President and CEO Michael J. Birck. "To do that, we must expand to meet our customers' growing and evolving needs. Tellabs is committed to the state of Illinois and to growing its operations along the high-tech corridor."

Tellabs purchased 55 acres of land from Nalco Chemical Co. and plans to build an 800,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Nalco. The property is located on Diehl Road in Naperville, just south of the Interstate 88 East-West High-Tech Corridor and west of Raymond Road. In the last five years, through growth and acquisitions, Tellabs has more than doubled its number of employees. The company has more than 6,200 employees, half of which work in Naperville, Lisle and Bolingbrook

"With our growing number of high-tech companies that call Naperville home, Tellabs will fit in perfectly and we welcome them to our family. In Naperville, we develop partnerships with all of our businesses to the benefit of each party. In return for investing in our city, the employees and their families can take advantage of everything Naperville has to offer," Naperville Mayor George Pradel said.

"The decision by Tellabs to expand in Naperville shows that when state and local officials coordinate their economic development efforts, everyone wins. I'm pleased that this partnership will result in thousands of good paying jobs coming to Naperville and Illinois," Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs Director Pam McDonough said.

Tellabs plans to begin construction in spring 2000 on the facility that is expected to be completed by mid 2001. This is the second expansion Tellabs has announced recently in DuPage County. Tellabs also broke ground last week on more than 130,000 square feet of office space in Warrenville's Cantera development.

Tellabs designs, manufactures, markets and services data, voice and video transport, switching/routing and network access systems. The company's products are used worldwide by the providers of communications services.