TEXTILES.ORG
On Dec. 19, 2017, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner visited with the employees of Elastec’s Fairfield (Ill.) oil containment boom facility on a recent tour of southern Illinois manufacturing businesses, Elastec said in a press release. He was greeted by a team of Elastec production leaders, office staff and executives at the 211 North Market Street location.
Elastec marketing director Linda Henning gave Gov. Rauner a presentation of the company’s history and its innovative water pollution control products. Established in 1990, Elastec manufactures a broad line of oil spill recovery equipment, portable incinerators for medical and drug waste disposal, floating geosynthetic booms for trash and debris control, work boats, and vacuum systems. Henning showed various videos of products that are in use in Illinois as well.
Fairfield production supervisor Bryant Cole led Gov. Rauner on a tour of the facility and described the manufacturing process and purpose of oil containment booms. Cole explained that the boom can be as small as a few hundred feet to contain an oil spill in a stream or a river, or it can be thousands of feet long for deployment in the ocean. Elastec’s Cocoa, Fla., manufacturing facility also makes geosynthetic containment boom and turbidity curtains for trash, debris and sediment control. The Florida location, formerly known as American Marine, was founded in 1967. The Elastec aluminum fabrication plant is located in Carmi, Ill., where the majority of the mechanical oil spill recovery equipment, work boats, vacuums, and incinerators are made.
“We owe it to companies like yours [Elastec] that are bringing manufacturing in Illinois into the modern era to step up the business friendliness of Illinois,” Gov. Rauner said. “This state has so many desirable assets in transportation, distribution, technology—and a tremendous workforce.”
Henning, reinforcing the governor’s praise of southern Illinois’ workforce, said, “A business can protect its products with patents and trademarks, but a company’s greatest asset is the know-how and work ethic of its employees.”