NCI plant to reopen, bringing dozens of jobs

By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer | Posted: Friday, May 13, 2011 1:58 pm

David Fopay The NCI Building Systems Inc. property is located on the east side of Mattoon along East DeWitt Avenue.

MATTOON - The NCI Building Systems Inc. plant near Mattoon will reopen next year and begin manufacturing an improved

version of the insulated metal wall panels the plant made before it closed two years ago. The announcement of the plant's reopening

came Friday at the annual meeting of Coles Together, the county's economic development organization. It was a result of the company's

and the national economy's recovery, in part due to economic development incentives, those who attended the meeting were told.

Norm Chambers, chief executive officer of the Houston-based company, said the new wall panel design is now the leading

building material product in Europe and it's starting to be used in the United States. The plant "needs a lot of work" but will

be refitted with an automated production system, he said. "Mattoon was a big part of our past but it is our future," Chambers said.

The NCI plant is located on East DeWitt Avenue near the Interstate 57 underpass. It opened in 1991 but laid off workers in November

2008 and then closed during the company's financial restructuring, which Chambers said is now complete. He said NCI, like many

companies during the recent recession, didn't recover unless they took "dramatic steps." "A number of companies went through a

near-death experience," he said. "We survived to come out of it to reinvest." Chambers said the wall panels planned for the plant

represent the move toward energy efficient products that builders need to use to be marketable with today's high energy costs.

Warren Ribley, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, spoke during Friday's meeting and

said the plant will employ at least 25 people, likely more. NCI received about $723,000 in state and local tax credits and other

economic development incentives but will make a $15 million investment in equipment and building improvements, he said.

"It's not a handout," Ribley said of the incentives. "It's a 20-to-1 return." NCI was eligible for the incentives after research into

the return on the investments as well as the payback period and whether the company had options to locate in elsewhere, Ribley

said. He said other states were "vigorously trying to get this product." Also during Friday's meeting, Coles Together President

Angela Griffin reviewed the county's experience with the proposed FutureGen power plant. A site just west of Mattoon was

announced for the zero-emissions plant, only to be canceled, renewed and revised before Mattoon finally withdrew.

"It was a worthwhile experience," Griffin said. "Our site is literally on the top of the list for conservation and people beginning

to look at greenhouse gases." No announcement for the property, which Coles Together now owns, is expected anytime soon,

Griffin also said. However, she added that some companies have toured the site, "some repeatedly."

Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 238-6858.