UniCarriers receives US senator as visitor

Sen.Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited the UniCarriers Americas facility in Marengo, Illinois, in August 2017. Durbin toured the manufacturer’s facility, met with senior staff and gave a companywide address followed by what UniCarriers calls a town hall-style Q&A session.

“What we see here at UniCarriers is not only a quality product that can compete on an international scale, but it’s being produced right here in America by Americans who are up to the job and task of competition,” Durbin said.

Delivering opening remarks introducing the senator, UniCarriers Americas President James J. Radous III highlighted the forklift industry’s impact on gross domestic product (GDP) and praised his employees’ contributions to the company and the products they build. “Today, forklift manufacturing’s annual economic impact is over $25 billion in GDP. And, I should point out that $3.5 billion of it comes from the state of Illinois,” Radous said. “You are among over 200,000 American workers who effect the manufacture of forklifts and keep businesses moving every day throughout the Americas.”

UniCarriers Americas says it caught the attention of Durbin in June 2017, when Radous visited legislators in Washington to discuss the importance of safety in the workplace, the impact forklifts have on commerce and the creation of more Illinois jobs. Citing the industrial trucking industry as having its largest economic footprint in Illinois, Radous pointed out that whereas many manufacturers are replacing workers with robots, UCA also is bringing in people to work and train alongside automation. The company has increased its automation capabilities by 50 percent while doubling its number of employees from approximately 300 to 600 over the past five years.

“I heard about your company, I heard that you were doing things that are important to your lives, for the products you make and that are important to the nation,” Durbin said to UniCarriers employees.

Durbin is the senior senator from Illinois and the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate.

UniCarriers Americas is a subsidiary of Japan-based UniCarriers Corp. and designs, manufactures and supports a line of material handling equipment. In addition to its Illinois facility, it has seven factory-owned locations in Wisconsin and New England.