Wrigley moves:
Company will shift its chewing gum production from Chicago within 18 months

By Allecia Vermillion
Staff Writer

YORKVILLE - The Wrigley Co. will move production of its popular chewing gum brands to yorkville when it closes its 94-year-old factory on Chicago's South Side, the company announced Wednesday.

The venerable gum maker has a plant in Yorkville that currently manufactures and distributes gum products under brand names such as Big League Chew, Juicy Fruit and Bubble Tape. The Yorkville product line is expected to expand.

The shift was announced Wednesday in tandem with Wrigley's acquisition of several name brands from Kraft Foods, including Altoids and Life Savers candies. The move will take place over the next 18 months.

Dave Splithoff, a senior vice president at Wrigley, said moving facilities is "necessary to make our production network as efficient as possible" when the company incorporates the Kraft brands.

It's not yet clear how many new jobs will come to Yorkville, according to Lynn Dubajic, executive director of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation.

"First, they need to find out how many people from Chicago will want to work out here," she said.

Dubajic said the city is "excited and happy" about the move and noted that "additional activity and productivity at the Yorkville plant" means more revenue for other local businesses.

Overall, 500 Wrigley workers will lose their jobs because of the Deal with Kraft, according to The Associated Press. Some of the workers at the Chicago facility will be eligible to transfer to Yorkville. The company will offer some employees early retirement, while others will be laid off.

The Chicago gum factory was Wrigley's oldest, built in 1911. Right now, about 600 people work there. A Wrigley press release said the old plant's multiple buildings and floors were less efficient than Yorkville's one-story layout and easy access to the highway.

Dubajic said it's not yet known whether the current building in Yorkville will be expanded, but a Wrigley release said the company "will increase investment and business activity" at the facility.

The Yorkville plant opened in 1994 under its former name, the Amurol Confections Co. The facility sits on a 35 acre parcel, but the Wrigley Co, owns a large tract of the Surrounding land.