Canadian Company Opens Manufacturing, Distribution Facility in Junction City

A cement products company has selected the Centralia area to open its first US manufacturing facility. Interstar began moving into the former Dayton Superior Building on Madison Street in Junction City Thursday.

The building will also serve as their distribution center for the Midwest and southeast region. The Canadian-based Interstar has been using public warehouse in Walnut Hill for distribution, but Company President Zachary Gilman says they have outgrown the space.

He reports the new facility will initially have ten employees and that number is expect to grow to 40 over the next several years.

Gilman says distribution from Junction City will begin Tuesday and manufacturing should begin next Spring. The company makes decrotive concrete products sold primarily to contracts and contract supply houses.

Gilman says Interstar choose the property because of the existing equipment available for production, its access to the interstates, and the nearby land available for expansion. Mayor John Stuehmeier says the project shows the Centralia area is ripe for distribution facilities because of its proximity interstates 57, 64, and 70 and the railroad. Centralia Area Development Association President Forrest Langenfeld says the project is a great example of a regional economic development effort, noting the cities of Centralia and Junction City and other area entities worked together to make the project happen.

Real Country 1350 WJBD AM ( Junction City, Illinois)
September 2, 2005