Governor Announces New Procter & Gamble Facility

SPRINGFIELD -- Governor George H. Ryan today announced that Procter & Gamble Company is consolidating three existing facilities in Missouri into a new state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution center to be built in Pontoon Beach in Madison County. Procter and Gamble will lease an 800,000 square foot facility in the Gateway Commerce Center, one of the largest in the Greater St. Louis area, creating 130 full-time jobs.

"We are grateful that Procter & Gamble has selected Pontoon Beach for this large-scale project," Ryan said. "This investment in Madison County reinforces the idea that Southwestern Illinois is quickly becoming a location of choice for transportation sensitive companies."

Procter & Gamble will contract with USF Logistics to operate the facility. Ryan said the State is assisting both companies through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs' (DCCA) Industrial Training Program (ITP), and USF Logistics could be eligible for tax credits through the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) Program, which provides tax credits based on the salaries of the new employees hired by the company.

"Companies with large scale distribution facilities are looking more and more to Southwestern Illinois," said DCCA Director Pam McDonough. "The economic climate promoted by the Ryan Administration coupled with a strong tie-in by local officials in Pontoon Beach has made this project, and more than one hundred new jobs, a reality."

The Gateway Commerce Center sits in a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) established by the Board of Trustees for the Village of Pontoon Beach earlier this year.

"Last March when the Board established the Tax Increment Financing District in Gateway, we felt it would be a powerful economic incentive in our efforts to attract new business," said Village Mayor Jim Denham. "Today, the Governor's announcement that Procter & Gamble is investing in our community confirms it was the right thing to do."

"On behalf of Madison County, we are happy to welcome Proctor & Gamble and USF Logistics to the area. We were pleased to be part of the state and local public and private sector development team that has convinced Proctor & Gamble that TriStar's Gateway Commerce Center is the cost effective location for meeting their national logistic needs," added Rudolph Papa, Chairman of the Madison County Board.