On Monday, December 15, the Pleasant Prairie Plan Commission considered and approved a Conditional Use Permit including Site and Operational Plans for EMCO Chemical Distributors, Inc. to occupy property located at 8601 95th Street. Both Lawter International and Hexion Specialty Chemicals formerly occupied the property, which is specially outfitted for chemical operations. EMCO is pursuing the purchase of the property, because the facility contains a substantial amount of the required infrastructure needed by a chemical distributor.

EMCO will use the property to receive, store, repackage and distribute various chemicals for a variety of industries throughout the upper Great Lakes states. EMCO will use both rail and trucking channels to receive and distribute chemicals. Though EMCO’s operating requirements are similar to those of former businesses operating on the property, the company does not perform reactive chemistry. This will translate into a lower risk of product related fire compared to previous tenants. During the meeting, Edward Polen, EMCO President, identified some of his larger customers as Rust-Oleum, EXXON, Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore & Co., PPG Industries, Valspar and others.

EMCO plans to operate the facility Monday through Friday, 24 hours per day, but mainly between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. EMCO will employ between 80 and 125 full-time employees at the Pleasant Prairie location in production, shipping and receiving and office positions. Polen founded the company in 1971. It is currently headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is anticipated that EMCO will take occupancy of the property during the first quarter of 2010.