S&C Electric Co. has announced a new addition to the Chicago high-tech scene, the company’s Advanced Technology Center (ATC). Groundbreaking for the state-of-the-art facility took place Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at the John R. Conrad Industrial Complex, S&C’s headquarters location in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Chicago Mayor Richard M.Daley attended the event along with a host of civic leaders representing the state, city, and the Rogers Park community.

The testing laboratory at the heart of the new building will include two 850-MW electrical short-circuit test generators and six transformers and will operate at up to 230,000 V. This unique facility will enable S&C to test prototypes of its electrical products at home instead of relying on test labs outside the United States. In addition to the lab, the new building will house S&C R&D offices and expanded manufacturing operations for the company’s polymer products.

The 43,000 square-foot structure, which will include an extensive roof garden, will fully comply with the City of Chicago’s Green Building Policy and will hold Gold Certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. It will be one of the first industrial buildings in the Chicago metropolitan area to hold such a rating.

Along with boosting Chicago’s reputation as both a high-tech center and a leader in “green” technology, the new facility is expected to result in additional jobs being created in Chicago.

In his remarks at the June 17 groundbreaking, S&C President & CEO John W. Estey noted that “this new facility will bring to Chicago world-class high-power testing capabilities to prove out the high-voltage electrical products that we engineer and manufacture.” This new capability will speed up the company’s product-development programs and enable new products to “get to the market sooner.”