It was just one year ago that the leaders of our area businesses, civic groups and labor unions united for jobs and economic development by standing up in support for Navistar as it faced local opposition to its plans to reinvest in our region by creating a corporate campus in Lisle at the site of the former Alcatel-Lucent headquarters.
As of this week, more than 1,000 Navistar personnel work in the new Lisle campus. This is an important benchmark and an opportunity for us to reflect on the positive economic impact this successful project has had on Lisle, Naperville, DuPage County and the entire region.
- Construction on the Navistar World Headquarters is on schedule and substantially more workers than initially projected, 1,400 contractors in total, have worked on the renovation project-with an average of 350 workers on-site each day.
- Navistar continues to focus on using DuPage County businesses. For example, 90 percent of Navistar’s new information technology spending at the Lisle campus is going to companies in DuPage County and throughout Illinois.
- Of the new employees at the Navistar World Headquarters, more than 300 are recent college graduates starting their careers here in the area.
- More than 300 positions have moved to the Lisle campus from other Navistar facilities outside of Illinois. These new neighbors will open up new opportunities for local realtors and other businesses in the region while expanding our tax base at a critical time in this rough economic climate.