Forest City Gear Breaks Ground on Expansion and Launches New Business

Gear manufacturer Forest City Gear is growing its presence in the Roscoe community. After more than 50 years in Roscoe, the company is launching construction of its new business, Roscoe Works.

The new business will be house in a new building that will stand across the street from Forest City Gear’s main headquarters. The 8,500ft² expansion allows the company to expand its blank cutting business.

“In order to cut a gear, we need a blank to start with,” says Fred Young, CEO, Forest City Gear. “We were buying the blanks from other companies, so three years ago we brought the operation in-house. We’re at capacity now and we’re only meeting 40% of our needs. Expansion of this new business will allow us to decrease our lead time on projects, cut vendor costs and control the quality of our product.”

Roscoe Village President Dave Krienke says Forest City Gear is one of the area’s top employers with 114 workers.

“The company has been in Roscoe since it incorporated more than 50 years ago and we are proud of their success,” says Krienke. “This expansion is great news for our community as it opens the doors for future growth and additional jobs.”

Forest City Gear manufactures gears for diverse industries and a wide range of product applications throughout the world. Their gears are in telescopes and tractors, artificial elbows and aircraft, military lasers and medical examining tables, printers and plotters, power tools and dental drills, as well as the space station to name just a few.

Construction on the expansion will conclude in December and be operational in January.