Hyundai Translead raises Will County jobs pledge to 3,750

Hyundai Translead now plans to hire 3,750 full-time workers at two former industrial plants in Will County, up from the roughly 2,500 jobs it promised in March, Gov. JB Pritzker’s office announced Thursday.^{3, 4, 1}

The trailer maker, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co., also raised its planned investment to $600 million from about $450 million.^{3, 4, 1} The company said it added a third production shift to meet growing demand, according to the governor’s office, FOX 32 Chicago and The Herald-News.^{3, 2, 1}

Pritzker announced the expansion Oct. 22 during a visit to the company’s site in Joliet, The Herald-News reported.¹ His office called it the largest single commitment to create manufacturing jobs in Illinois in recent history.³

“Creating 3,750 new jobs is transformational for the region and builds on our state’s manufacturing momentum,” Pritzker said in a statement.^{3, 1}

Hyundai Translead CEO Sean Kenney said in the same statement that “this increased commitment will create more opportunities for working families.”³

Two former plants

The company is moving into the former sites of Caterpillar’s heavy-equipment operations and of Lion Electric’s electric-bus operations, according to the governor’s office.³ Hyundai Translead builds dry and refrigerated van trailers, flatbeds, truck bodies and dollies.^{3, 4}

Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy pointed to the Caterpillar site’s history.¹ “Once upon a time, this was the economic engine for the city of Joliet – 6,500 Caterpillar employees,” he said, as quoted by The Herald-News.¹

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said that “large-scale developments like this represent long-term, sustainable careers for people,” The Herald-News reported.¹

What the state is putting in

The state is paying for a new Manufacturing Training Academy at Joliet Junior College, according to the governor’s office.³ The academy is meant to train industrial maintenance and advanced manufacturing technicians and to double the college’s welding capacity.³ Neither the governor’s office nor the news reports gave a dollar figure for the academy.^{3, 1, 2}

The governor’s office describes the state’s support as a comprehensive incentive package that includes an agreement under the Economic Development for a Growing Economy program, known as EDGE.³ The agreement the state described in March committed the company to at least 2,475 new full-time jobs and $452.5 million in investment.⁴ The governor’s office said then that the company was also seeking local incentives from Will County taxing bodies.⁴

Neither the March nor the October announcement gave the dollar value of the state’s incentives, and the October announcement did not say whether the EDGE agreement would be amended to reflect the larger job count.^{4, 3} The state publishes executed agreements on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s EDGE agreements page.⁵

According to the governor’s office, companies in the EDGE program have committed to 6,000 new jobs and nearly $2.8 billion in investment so far in 2026.³

The March announcement

The company first announced its move into Illinois in March.^{4, 6} At the time, Kenney told Transport Topics, a trucking industry publication, that the company expected its first production lines to start in the second quarter of 2027 and a third line to come online in the third quarter.⁶ Transport Topics reported that the two sites cover 52 acres along the Des Plaines River.⁶

“For us, this move is about getting closer to our customers,” Kenney told the publication in March.⁶

The Herald-News reported that Kenney, a Lockport native, thanked state and local leaders for their partnership.¹

What happens next

The October announcement did not include a revised production timeline.³ The job and investment figures in the announcements are commitments for hiring and spending in the years ahead.^{3, 4}