Cronus Chemicals has selected an Illinois site for its greenfield urea plant, outside Tuscola in Douglas County. Updated project information is at my page for Cronus Chemicals.

We’d been waiting for this announcement since April 2013. Still, additional information would be useful – there’s no news yet about project financing or partners – but Cronus promises to make another announcement in the coming weeks.

The press release came from the office of Pat Quinn, Governor of Illinois. Its timing was noteworthy for its potential political impact, coming just five days before the election. Nonetheless, the good people of Illinois voted for Republican Bruce Rauner on November 4, instead of giving Governor Quinn a second term.

Governor Quinn’s announcement made it clear that Cronus Chemicals was important to his economic development plans:

Governor Quinn aggressively worked to secure this investment, personally meeting with the company and mobilizing his cabinet to bring the project to Illinois. Today’s announcement is part of his agenda to create jobs and drive Illinois’ economy forward …

“We are proud to partner with Cronus Fertilizers as they bring their thriving and innovative business to Tuscola, Illinois,” Governor Quinn said. “Building this new plant here in the heartland will be a big boost for our central Illinois economy, provide a locally made product for our farm industry and create thousands of good-paying jobs. With Illinois now leading the Midwest in job creation, companies like Cronus are helping us keep the momentum going” …

“Today marks the culmination of years of effort by state and local officials …” Tuscola Mayor Daniel Kleiss said … “We look forward to the tremendous positive impacts that Cronus will have on the local economy, labor market, agricultural market and tax base.”

To which Bruce Rauner replied:

Too little, too late is Bruce Rauner’s reaction to new jobs being announced by his opponent in the final days of the campaign for governor.

While Gov. Pat Quinn has been touting promises of new jobs being made by Amazon.com, Coyote Logistics and Cronus Chemicals, Rauner says those developments won’t do much for Quinn’s overall economic record.

“Pat Quinn’s a disaster,” Rauner said. “Right now, he’s trying to scramble to come up with a few little pieces of good news. He’s saved them up for five days before the election, but the voters can see past that.”

For full project details, see the updated page for Cronus Chemicals.