PolyOne Looks to Expand in McHenry

The company, which makes pellets for the plastic injection molding industry that are used in everyday products such as toothbrushes, is looking to expand its operation at 833 Ridgeview Drive to the property it owns immediately to the south, according to city documents.

The property at 921 Ridgeview Drive currently houses sales and engineering offices and serves as PolyOne Corporation’s regional headquarters. The company has been in McHenry for 17 years.

The international company has its global headquarters in Avon Lake, Ohio, and other regional headquarters in Shanghai, China; Suzhou Jiangsu, China; Fischbach, Luxembourg; and North Haven, Connecticut.

A company representative didn’t return a call asking what would happen to the administrative and engineering offices currently in McHenry and whether the expansion would create new jobs.

The expansion would require PolyOne Corporation to install four additional silos, a dust collector and a cooling tower, according to City Council documents.

The facility is in the Inland Business Park, south of Bull Valley Road along the Union Pacific northwest line railroad tracks.

On the other side of those tracks, however, is a residential area, Alderwoman Geri Condon noted, asking if the expansion would be disruptive to those residents.

The business park and the residential neighborhood are separated by “very extensive vegetation,” and the manufacturing process used by PolyOne creates minimal noise, Deputy City Administrator Doug Martin said. The material also is noncombustible and nonhazardous.

“Staff believes the proposed conditional use is crucial to maintaining an existing growing business, allowing expansion of their manufacturing operation to a second building,” Martin wrote in his memo to the City Council.