Altec Industries Adds 42,000 Square Feet, 50 Jobs

Altec Expanding Huge

If you’ve been driving past or the , you may have noticed the huge, metal frame of a new building going up at . This company is adding a 42,000 square foot manufacturing plant adjacent to its existing West Coast Service Center at 1450 North First Street and around the corner from its operational center on Industrial Way.

Altec has been producing truck bodies for green vehicle conversions since 2005 and is expanding its production of its Green Fleet utility vehicle body product line using electric, hybrid and compressed natural gas medium-duty truck drive-train power systems—those are trucks with 10,000 to 19,500 pounds of gross body weight plus average cargo weight at maximum load. The firm also supplies environmental products, such as brush and tree choppers and wood chippers.

Yes, it will create a few more jobs when the plant opens—about 50 say company leaders. The company is so much larger than most Dixonites realize. For example, Altec provides technical support from its 23 service centers in North America—both in the United States and Canada. The company’s products and services are distributed in 100 countries around the globe.

The plant is slated to open in April 2012 and will also have an extensive recycling program for metal and other materials. Keep reading the Dixon Patch for an upcoming more in depth feature on this enormous expansion in Dixon.

Alheli’s Finally Opens

After months of wading through the mountain of restrictions, permits, and legalities of opening your own restaurant,  Marc Sanchez finally got to open his restaurant, Alheli’s at 2500 West A Street. Sanchez began in the restaurant business in 1985 but just this past year decided to pursue the American dream of owning his own.

Since the building used to have Kentucky Fried Chicken and A & W Root Beer in it, you would have thought another restaurant going in would have been a piece of cake to get going. But Sanchez appears to have used the time well making sure the place was uniquely his own using a decorating flair of a little nostalgic mixed with modern.

There are certainly plenty of foods to choose from including hamburgers and hotdogs, hot pastrami sandwiches, and milkshakes, some Mexican dishes and even sweet potato fries. The place opens at 6 a.m. and offers a breakfast burrito and special coffee drinks inside as well as through its drive through.

People seem anxious to try the place out as the parking lot seems to have several cars in it consistently and customers are filling up the inside. Time to check it out if you haven’t already and let us know what you think of this new place in town.

Chase Bank is Now Open

With great fanfare and about 25 different staff members on hand to make it all happen at once, JP Morgan Chase & Company Bank opened its doors at its new Dixon location, 1305 Stratford Avenue in the Shopping Center and where Blockbuster used to be. It was one of 100 new bank branches opened by the company this past year.

New Bank Manager Carlene Lemley is more than thrilled to be “driving across town to work” after years of commuting for the company. Chase didn’t hesitate to offer some great enticements to business owners like $200 to open an account there. They were certainly buzzing around with lots of smiles and giving all a very warm welcome. They’ve done a very nice job of creating a very nice bank at a most excellent location and employ about 20 people.

State Farm Rep Gary Short Relocating

State Farm Insurance Agent Gary Short is re-locating his office from Adams Street where he’s been since Bob Atwood’s retirement many years ago. His new contemporary space is on the way to —that’s how I noticed the new signage—at 1425 Market Lane.

The commercial office space was formerly occupied by before they moved to their North Lincoln location so wasn’t empty for long. Is this an inkling of hope for our local economy? Gary is busy packing boxes and plans to open at the new site on January 2. What a nice way to welcome in the New Year.