CHICAGO—M&R Printing Equipment has just become the latest company in the Chicago region to consolidate operations even as it plans to significantly expand capacity. The company is the world's largest manufacturer of screen printing presses and equipment for the graphic and textile industries, and has just signed a 14-year lease of a 319,885 square foot building located at 440 Medinah Rd. in suburban Roselle. The facility is part of a 19-acre, 480,885 square foot, two-building campus owned by TA Realty. Value of the term rent is more than $19.2 million.

“Naturally, the main reason for consolidating is a positive impact on the bottom line,” Jeff Blake, the senior vice president with Paine/Wetzel TCN Worldwide that represented M&R in the transaction, tells GlobeSt.com. But for M&R, a local, closely-held firm, keeping its workforce together and adding employee amenities were equally as important as the dollars saved through efficiency.

“They were able to retain almost all of their employees,” Blake says, many of whom are highly-skilled long-term employees, difficult to replace. He attributes this to the new location's proximity to the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway, which makes it an easy drive for those who live near the company's location in Niles.