"Rockford will never be O'Hare, but what we envision is that we're kind of a relief house," Eric Voyles, VP of national business development for the Rockford Area Economic Development Council, tells GlobeSt.com. "There's a lot of interest in continuing to grow opportunities at O'Hare, but at the same time, O'Hare has a lot of growth issues they're trying to work through. We offer companies an opportunity to grow in the Chicago market without having to deal with the cumbersome nature and uncertainty of the planned expansion at O'Hare. We have the capacity now to serve any airplane that's flying."

Voyles says operating through Rockford can save company both time and money. He says the average taxi time at O'Hare is around 15 minutes, while it takes that long at Rockford for a plane to commit to land, land and taxi. "We're talking about hours or 15 minutes," Voyles says. "When you talk about the costs of operating an airplane, what is the true savings of operating out of Rockford rather than O'Hare?"

Tandem principal Paul Ahern says space at the Rockford facility in development will cost about half of comparable space at O'Hare. Asking lease rates for the space will be around $10 per sf, net, Ahern says. "The air cargo business is going through a lot of turmoil with the rise in fuel prices," Ahern says. "We are really the low-cost alternative in this sector and we're hoping we can attract business that way. There's been a lot of interest in this project."