©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Old Carhartt Building Gets Second Chance |
A building on Galesburg's west end shuttered when outerwear manufacturer Carhartt decided to close its Galesburg operations will see new life as a unique business incubator.
Officials with the "Sustainable Business Center" have taken over the Carhartt building on West Main Street near Farm King and officially announced the move Wednesday, with focuses on green businesses and encouraging more locally-grown and organically-grown food.
The Garth Family Foundation's "HumanLinks" operates the center -- they were majority owners of Carhartt. Gretchen Garth says she's looking to make the incubator one that can support what she calls a "triple bottom line."
"It's not just the profit that you look at, that bottom line you know you want operate in the black but you look at also the other factors that get you there and that includes people and the social justice issues around that, and paying fair wages, and good working conditions for people, and the third leg of that triple bottom line is the environment," Garth said.
The former Carhartt building has 80,000 square feet of business incubator space along with another 8,000 square feet of office space, and Garth says she wants to charge rent below market rates, and she also wants to create a cafeteria that prepares meals using only locally-grown food.
The operation hopes to be fully up and running, and talking to prospective business owners, by the end of August.
(State Representative Don Moffitt speaks with local leaders ahead of Wednesday's announcement.)
(Left to right: Cindy Teel of Galesburg, Facilities Manager; Nancy Iscovitz, HumanLinks Foundation; Gretchen Garth, Carhartt Majority Owner.)
(Empty racks in the old Carhartt plant.)
(A desk and old computer sit in the otherwise empty warehouse.)
(WGIL News Story and Photos by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 06 30 10 by Newsroom |
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