Van Meter expands with Milan solar energy distribution center

MILAN – Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Van Meter Inc. recently opened a 25,000-square-foot distribution center in Milan to take advantage of generous Illinois alternative energy incentives that can help it expand its growing solar energy footprint. The new Illinois Quad Cities distribution center is dedicated solely to housing solar inventory, providing first-class operations and logistics personnel, as well as education to support a wide variety of project needs and applications, the company said recently. The facility is located in the former Chicago Tube and Iron building at the intersection of Andalusia Road and 11th Street. (The location also once housed Stern Beverage before the Budweiser distributor moved to its current Milan location on Tech Drive.). Van Meter is listed as the 15th largest electrical distributor in the U.S. In addition to the new solar facility in Milan, the company serves contractor and industrial customers from 25 locations across eight states. Prior to opening its solar facility a few weeks ago, Van Meter’s Davenport electrical distribution center at 5775 Tremont Ave. was the lone Quad Cities location for the employee-owned company. Milan Village Administrator Steve Seiver told the QCBJ that the village’s newest business resident looked at other locations for the solar distribution center before choosing Milan. “They were particularly interested in bringing their growth to the east and thought that some of the subsidies and incentive programs that Illinois is providing were a good fit,” Mr. Seiver said. “They liked Milan for a couple of reasons,” he added. “We had an available building which was well suited to it, a transportation network with access to the interstate systems and there is actually a rail spur that comes past their building.” Although for now, anyway, the company is relying on truck distribution. In addition to Illinois’ programs designed to meet the state’s rising solar energy demand, Milan’s proximity to the existing Davenport location also is among the reasons Van Meter chose the new site. “They had their local presence in Davenport and they felt that they wanted to grow their solar business and they saw an opportunity in Illinois,” Mr. Seiver said.

Van Meter’s Vice President of Energy Chad Wiltz said the new Milan center also will help Van Meter continue to pave the company’s way as a solar industry leader. “As a premier solar distributor in the Midwest, we are deeply rooted and invested in the Midwest,” he said in a news release on the company’s website. “This is a long-term investment to grow with our customers and be able to address their needs, wherever their projects and their businesses are located.” Van Meter currently stocks large volumes of solar materials in Cedar Rapids as well as Cottage Grove, Minnesota, and Kansas City, Missouri, the company said. Illinois was particularly attractive for its newest location, Mr. Wiltz acknowledged, because it provides incentives for renewable energy like net metering and solar renewable energy credits. In addition he said, by 2025, the state also will require 25% of all its electricity to come from renewable sources and the amount of solar capacity installed in Illinois is expected to grow by more than 1,700% over the next five years. “Nobody else has this physical footprint in this region coupled with our solar design-support, field know-how and expertise both on the DC and AC sides of the project,” Mr. Wiltz added. “Van Meter is well-positioned to serve continually growing markets with our people, trucks, equipment, robust inventory and full range of solar solutions.” Solar jobs in the U.S. already have increased 167% over the last decade, according to Van Meter. The new Milan facility will give it more flexibility to support those jobs with increased inventory and services such as design support, value-engineering, order staging and piggyback trucks to make managing project needs, timelines and deliveries easier, the company release said. “We are a people-first business,” Mr. Wiltz stressed. “More than having inventory, we want to support people and partners through all phases of their business growth and project execution.” The company, which currently employs a little more than a handful of people in Milan, is expected to grow its footprint there with the new site. “Chad (Wiltz) has emphasized that their company puts a great deal of value into their relationships with the communities,” Mr. Seiver said. “They encourage their employees to be active, and as a company they want to be part of the business community, so we look forward to that.” The village also is eager to help Van Meter serve one of its core missions: educating and supporting its solar contractors and vendors. Mr. Seiver added: “This is a business-to-business kind of relationship and not a business-to-consumer so people aren’t going to stop in there and pick up nuts and bolts or a solar panel or anything like that. The public may be largely unaware of what goes on there but it does very closely support the contractors and gives them another resource and another supplier.” According to Mr. Seiver, “There’s still a lot of innovation going on” in the solar industry, and to help those efforts along, the village has offered the company the use of the village’s Camden Center for education purposes. For now, he said he is looking forward to watching Milan’s newest business grow. “Even though it’s not big employment numbers at this point,” Mr. Seiver said, “it’s a good, solid addition because a strong community is one with diversity not only of population but of businesses.” And, given the growing future for solar energy, he added, Van Meter’s Milan location is “probably in for a long ride, not something that’s going to be flash in the pan.”