A manufacturing industry association is moving its headquarters from Rockford to Elgin.
The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International(FMA) has had its headquarters in Rockford since its founding in 1970. Ed Youdell is its President and CEO. Youdell says the Association has been happy in its Rockford home. But, he says, it was time to think about the next forty years, and that led to a very important question:
“If you were to start FMA all over again, where would you locate it? And after researching where our constituency is, where our industry is, where the heart of the market is, it became quite clear that it’s not in Rockford, that it’s along the I-90 corridor,” he says.
Youdell says moving to Elgin will put the Association close to the major machine tool builders it supports. It will also be nearer the FMA Metal Fabrication Lab, a training facility it’s helping build at Harper Collegein Palatine.
“We really want to support that, and really start to take advantage of marrying our constituency with a future workforce, and we feel that opportunity will be greater for us if we’re closer to that,” he says.
Youdell says closer proximity to O’Hare airport will also be advantageous for the industry, as well as the Association.
Youdell says the Association plans to break ground on its new headquarters near the intersection of I-90 and Randall Road in April, and hopes to move into the facility in November.
He says the Association will sell its current building, but continue its current partnerships and philanthropic activities in Rockford.
