F.E. Wheaton expansion will mean 40 more jobs in Yorkville

YORKVILLE — One of the city's largest employers has announced plans to expand its facility and add jobs in the Yorkville Business Center.

F.E. Wheaton broke ground this week on a new, 107,728-square-foot, building products and lumber distribution facility at 202 W. Wheaton Ave., officials of the company and the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation announced.

The new building will be an expansion of the existing F.E. Wheaton facility constructed in 1997. The current building has about 180,000 square feet.

"We moved to Yorkville in 1997 and, since that time, have doubled our business," company President Jeff Brown said. "This new facility will allow us to continue to expand our operations to serve the needs of our customers for the next five to 10 years."

F.E. Wheaton manufactures and distributes doors, windows, framing materials, siding and other products for the construction industry.

The company is the largest firm in the Yorkville Business Center off Route 47 on the city's north side. The company, which was founded in 1892 in Wheaton, is now Yorkville's second largest employer, with more than 200 workers.

"This business expansion is the largest to date of any existing Yorkville business," said Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Economic Development Corporation. "This significant capital investment made in the city of Yorkville also will create more than 40 new jobs in the community."

Scheduled for completion for early summer 2005, the building will feature more than 95,700 square feet of warehouse/millwork shop space, approximately 3,000 square feet of office/employee facility space and 4,000 square feet of showroom space.

The facility also will have a 28-foot clear height with a second floor employee lunch room and about 5,000 square feet of future office space.

The building design will include a state-of-the-art fire suppression sprinkler system and 10 shipping and receiving docks.

The F.E. Wheaton site is served by railroad by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line. The expansion project also will include a paved yard behind the facility to accommodate lumber storage.