VIDEO: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Held Today for Occupant of Some of Former Fedders Building
Published on September 24 2013 10:34 am
Written by Greg Sapp
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday to announce the opening of an Effingham location for Grain Systems, Incorporated.
GSI and City officials were on hand for the announcement along with Jim Dial, Sr. and Jim Dial, Jr. (pictured below) of Dial and Dial Properties, the owner of the former Fedders Corporation facility. GSI is leasing more than 100,000 square feet of space on the south end of the complex.
It's good news for Effingham in more than one way; Grain Systems, Incorporated is coming to town and a significant share of the former Fedders space is being utilized.
Joan Flynn is Director of Materials for GSI. Flynn explained that the company is responsible for many of the large grain bins seen in the area. She said they also provide equipment for harvested corn and equipment for the poultry and swine industry...storage, handling and conditioning.
GSI has locations in Newton, Assumption, Flora, Paris and Taylorville in Illinois as well as in Alabama and in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Flynn said the company was looking for warehouse space and said they would be doing domestic and international shipments from Effingham. She said the Effingham area road system is expected to mean cost savings as far as transportation.
A section of the old Fedders factory, refurbished to serve as warehousing for GSI
Flynn said the firm is already bringing in product, and said they'll probably start shipping product out of Effingham within the next month to month-and-a-half.
For their part, Dial and Dial...a father and son, both named Jim...are demolishing much of the former Fedders structure, but will retain some 300,000 to 400,000 square feet to make it available for warehousing operations. They've been working on the project for two years and are happy to see it begin to bear fruit. The younger Jim Dial said they do property management for other owners, but decided they wanted to own one for themselves, using the knowledge they've gained from managing the other properties.
Effingham Mayor Merv Gillenwater, City Administrator Jim Arndt, Economic Development Director Todd Hull, Director of Public Works Steve Miller, City Engineer Jeremy Heuerman and Fire Chief Joe Holomy were among those on hand for today's announcement.