Governor Breaks Ground For New Tellabs Facility In Naperville

NAPERVILLE -- Governor George H. Ryan today joined state and local officials to break ground for a new Tellabs facility that is expected to create 2,300 new jobs over the next five years.

"This expansion is about new high-tech jobs for Illinoisans," Ryan said. "Illinois is a great place to do business, and a great place for technology companies like Tellabs to locate and grow. We're pleased and encouraged that Tellabs chose to expand its operations in Illinois."

Tellabs is expanding along Illinois' high-tech corridor in DuPage County, investing $135 million in the Naperville area. The expansion was made possible through a support package offered by the State of Illinois and the City of Naperville. They include EDGE tax credits, road improvements funded through Illinois FIRST, job training assistance, a High Impact Business Designation and municipal sales tax rebates.

"Because of new economic development initiatives like Illinois FIRST, the EDGE tax credit program and my proposed $1.9 billion VentureTECH initiative, we're able to attract and retain businesses that otherwise would have gone elsewhere," Ryan added.

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 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.

"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' new 850,000 square-foot facility will be built on 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 7,700 employees, including 3,400 Illinois workers.

"Tellabs' decision to expand in Naperville shows that when state and local officials coordinate their economic development efforts, everyone wins," said Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs Director Pam McDonough. "Today's groundbreaking illustrates how Governor Ryan's renewed commitment to economic development is paying off for the citizens of Illinois in the form of new job creation."

Construction of the new Naperville facility is expected to be completed by September 2001.