Homeland security firms get state grants; Commerce agency has another $1.8 million to offer

Copley News Service

CHICAGO - Five Chicago-area firms will share more than $500,000 in state grant money as they develop homeland-security products, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced Tuesday.

The financial assistance is expected to help the manufacturing companies create 54 new jobs over the next two years, DCEO Director Jack Lavin said at a Chicago news conference.

"These are young companies," he said. "Their technology is new, and as that technology takes off ... they're going to create many more jobs tomorrow and over the next few years."

The business grants range in size from $150,000 to $50,000. Among the recipients are two Chicago firms - military contractor Amitex Corp. of Chicago, which is developing advances in video surveillance, and MPC Containment Systems, maker of collapsible fabric storage tanks that can be deployed at disaster sites.

"One of our main homeland-security applications is really the idea of water security, post-disaster," MPC's Kevin Murdock said, citing Hurricane Katrina. "Well, one of our applications is a 3,000-gallon tank that can be hung off the back of a water tanker."

The other recipients are GO! Products of Elmhurst, which manufactures transportable metal containers; military contractor HC Materials of Bolingbrook and Urbana; and Quickset of Northbrook, which makes surveillance camera parts.

DCEO is trying to cultivate a homeland-security niche in Illinois through its Innovative Product Grant Program. Lavin said the program has awarded about $4 million to Illinois companies over the past two years, leveraging an additional $12 million in private and public capital and spurring creation of an estimated 400 new jobs.

DCEO still has another $1.8 million in available grant money for the current fiscal year, agency spokesman Andrew Ross said. Business owners can get an overview of the program and application information at www.hsmd.illinois.gov.