Peoria County is poised to loan an environmental tech company $2.5 million to expand its footprint. ELM, LLC has more than 800 employees in 16 states. It also makes air treatment systems for plants and builds large containers to ship natural gas. Lee Graves is the CEO of ELM. He says Peoria County’s loan will also help the company add to its workforce in addition to helping fund its product line:
“You have from the guys in the trucks running around to very smart financial and scientific people in this building. So the more that grows exponentially, it’s a body-driven business.”
Graves says the loan could generate up to 150 new jobs, with most in the Peoria-area. The County loan is for five-years at 7.5-percent interest and still needs board approval. That’s expected to net the County $100,000 a year to re-invest in local economic development efforts.