Rural King officially broke ground on a new site in Mattoon on Thursday morning, and there’s a lot to unpack. During the grand reveal, a brand new and state-of-the-art “store support campus” was announced, with a hefty price tag of $75 million. But what comes with all that cost? Will additional jobs be created? And what does this mean for Mattoon and Coles County as a whole?
After several years of contemplating their next move, Alex Melvin, Owner and Chairman of Rural King, among many others, decided Mattoon would continue to serve as their “homebase.” This large campus will house three main structures, two of which will be connected. Starting with the ‘store support center,’ this building will stand upwards of three stories tall and should serve as their “main office building.” It was stated that it will contain all of Rural King’s “functional areas.” In addition to this, representatives said it brings new components as well like a cafeteria, gym, and more.
It is worth noting that the ‘store support center’ will be connected to their “flagship store.” Rural King’s claim is that having their offices intertwined with the store itself, will allow for better training, teamwork, and collaboration, with their associates.
The third piece to the construction plans is for a massive event center, something Rural King officials thought was sorely missing in Mattoon and in Coles County in general. How big? 40,000 square feet big. With all that space, upwards of 1,500 people could attend any one event. Amy Shafer, Vice President of Human Resources for Rural King, stated that it can hold any event from a “concert, to a conference, to a wedding.” It will be the one standalone building on the sprawling campus.
Things did not stop there however… you might be thinking, what about all the traffic in that area already? According to Blake Pierce, President of Rural King Real Estate and Development, Swords Drive and more could see road upgrades. It sounds as if the eventual plan will be to connect Swords Drive and that stretch of Broadway Ave. East, to Dewitt Avenue. At this exact moment, it is hard to pin down when that might take place considering the funds that would be needed and approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation. It does sound like great progress has been made on this proposition already with exact details unknown. (Editor note: Our audio was very muffled during this portion of the groundbreaking, making it difficult to provide much detail on Rural King’s and the City of Mattoon’s desire for road improvements.)
Over the course of the event, a variety of statements stuck out. One from Dr. Ronda Sauget, who hails as President and CEO of “Coles Together,” did in particular. She claimed that Coles County is now the number one “micro market” in the State of Illinois. She went on to say that it was 25th in the nation, which is quite the list to land on. Another notable comment made was that roughly “100 new jobs” would be created from this endeavour. Andy Manar, Illinois’ Deputy Governor for Budget and Economy, claimed that Governor J.B. Pritzker wanted him to “personally thank” CEO and Chairman Alex Melvin for their lengthy conversation and for Rural King’s investment in Illinois.
Alex Melvin himself made the comment that “half a billion” dollars will be invested in Mattoon in the next five years. He even went on to say that the $500 million he’s talking about, will be within a “mile radius” from the new ‘store support campus.’ The project is at roughly 1300 Broadway Ave. East, behind the former Wendy’s building.
There is a lot to make of this announcement here today but one thing is clear: Rural King continues to call Mattoon “home.”
