CDAP Grant to Benefit Town of Cortland, Expansion of Alexander Lumber Company

SPRINGFIELD -- Governor George H. Ryan today announced the Town of Cortland will receive a Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP) grant of $224,243 to assist in the expansion of Alexander Lumber Company, which owns nearly 50 lumber yards ranging from southern Wisconsin to central Illinois.

"Businesses almost always have infrastructure needs when they expand or move to new facilities," Ryan said. "With programs like CDAP and Illinois FIRST, we can help smaller communities meet those challenges and move forward with local economic development initiatives."

The CDAP funds will be used to extend sanitary sewer and water lines to the project site. Cortland's building code requires manufacturing buildings larger than 12,000 sq. ft. to have sprinkler systems. In order to supply enough water to operate a sprinkler system in its building, Alexander Lumber must be connected to a public water supply. Cortland's building and zoning regulations also require all buildings be connected to sanitary sewer.

The CDAP program is administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA).

"CDAP funds were key to this company growing in Illinois instead of Wisconsin," said DCCA Director Pam McDonough. "CDAP allowed us to provide necessary infrastructure improvements at no cost to the company, tipping the scales in our favor for this project."

The company currently has a workforce of 550 employees. The expansion will create 25 new jobs. While Alexander's line of building supplies include prefabricated roof and floor trusses, the new facility will allow the company to manufacture its own line of trusses. The truss facility's market will be concentrated in the area around metropolitan Chicago.