State Investment Package Will Leverage Private Investment; Create 70 Jobs at New Production Facility
SPRINGFIELD – May 3, 2011. Governor Pat Quinn today announced that Italian pasta maker Pastificio Rana will open its first U.S. production facility in Illinois. The state is providing a business investment package worth more than $1 million that will leverage a $16.4 million private investment and support the creation of 70 jobs. The new facility, located in the Brewster Creek Business Park in Bartlett, will house the domestic production of Rana’s pasta and sauces.
“Pastificio Rana is a family-owned company that started out in a small pasta shop in Italy almost 50 years ago,” said Governor Quinn. “When it decided to expand its operations to the U.S., it joined a number of companies to realize that with easy access to shipping and the best workforce in the nation, Illinois has all the tools a company needs to grow.”
“Our pasta company is thrilled to be launching our U.S. operations in Illinois starting later this year,” said Gian Luca Rana CEO of Pastificio Rana. “We feel Illinois and the Chicago region provide us a great location to recruit employees, and to market our products and deliver them to our customers across the United States.”
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is administering the state’s $1.18 million business investment package. The package consists of Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credits based on job creation and Employer Training Investment Program job training funds that will help enhance the skills of the company’s workforce.
“Illinois is in an unmatched geographic location for any company that wants to kick start its operations on a global scale. We also have a strong pool of talented and dedicated workers to recruit from,” said DCEO Director Warren Ribley. “We are very pleased that Rana has decided to make such a substantial investment in Illinois, particularly now, as the economy is continuing to pick up steam.”
“We are very much looking forward to Rana Meal Solutions joining our growing business community,” said Bartlett Village President Michael Kelly. “Bartlett is glad that Rana chose to locate here. Brewster Creek beat out proposals from Philadelphia and Scranton, Pennsylvania, and we are confident the company will find the business park to be an ideal fit for them.”
Illinois continues to see strong signs of economic growth and recovery. Since January 2010 when Illinois employment resumed after the national recession, Illinois has added more than 89,500 net new jobs, including nearly 10,000 manufacturing jobs. March marked the fourteenth straight month of declining unemployment. Illinois ranks first in the Midwest for exports and foreign direct investment.
About Pastificio Rana
Pastificio Rana was started in 1962 when Giovanni Rana began making tortellini in San Giovanni Lupatoto, Italy. In 1971 the company outgrew its original space and moved to a larger facility that is still occupied today. During the late 1970s, the introduction of new machinery enabled Pastificio Rana to expand production to all of Italy, and later all of Europe. Rana, headquartered in Verona, Italy, now has five plants in Europe, including four in Italy and one in Belgium. The company employs over 1,000 people and has seven subsidiaries located in France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.