Business View Magazine | January 2020

319 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2020 THE V I LLAGE OF MONTGOMERY , I LL INOI S 1858, the Village of Montgomery was officially incorporated. For much of the twentieth century, the Village grew slowly and steadily. Lyon Metal was founded in Montgomery in 1904, and participated in the war effort of World War II. Western Electric, which became Lucent Technologies, had its Montgomery Works plant along River Street. In 1962, this factory employed 1,500 people, but it closed in 1995. The Aurora Caterpillar manufacturing plant, located along the southern border of Montgomery, produced wheel-loaders since 1959, and was the region’s largest employer with almost 2,000 workers until it downsized to 600 in 2018. Nonetheless, Richard Young, Montgomery’s Director of Community Development reports that the Village grew substantially from 2000 to 2010. “In terms of residential population, we grew from about 5,000 to 18,000 in that time frame,” he says. “We’re on the far western edge of the Chicago suburbs, and a lot of our neighboring towns, like us, have seen tremendous residential subdivision growth. We’ve transitioned from a bedroom community to one with a strong industrial base.” “Our location is key,” Young continues. “We’re not far off of the I-88 toll road, which runs out of Chicago to the west, and companies like Old Dominion Freight Line, and others, have come here because of our proximity to the I-88 corridor, which is about four or five miles north of us. Montgomery is located on a major federal route - US Highway 30 bisects the community. And we have some properties that are available by the BNSF rail line. Transportation and location are key to our business development, and we’ve seen a significant interest in distribution, warehouse, and trucking facilities. “In the six years that I’ve been here, the Village has helped to take some vacant industrial