MATTOON – Rural King, Mattoon and state of Illinois officials broke ground on a $75 million investment Thursday morning to house the company’s new headquarters, its flagship store and an event center.
The third-generation, family-owned farm and home store was founded in Mattoon in 1960 and has grown to 150 locations in 17 states, according to the company.
“You’ve all made a great decision to double down on your commitment to central Illinois and to Coles County, creating good jobs and economic opportunity for the people of this region,” Illinois Deputy Governor for Budget and Economy Andy Manar said.
The project has received support from the Illinois Economic Development for a Growing Economy tax credit program.
The new headquarters will house company leadership and support departments. The event center will be used not only by the company but also by the community.
“We noticed in the region there’s not really a space that holds over 250 people within Coles County,” Vice President of Human Resources Amy Shafer said. “And so, we decided to create an event center that will hold up to 1,500 people.”
Th project is estimated to be completed by spring of 2028.
The idea for the project came about three years ago when officials were looking to expand the Mattoon store, Shafer said.
“We absolutely could have looked other places,” she said, “but at the end of the day, Coles County’s home, Mattoon is home for Rural King.”
Although the Mattoon store will be relocated to the new campus, the company plans to continue to invest in the current location on Broadway Avenue, Shafer said. She said the company bought the strip mall where the store is located about seven years ago.
“We have definitely been researching how we’ll backfill that,” she said, “and we have great plans in place for how we’re going to do so.”
The project will not only maintain the 700 jobs Rural King employees in Coles County, but it will also add more, Shafer said.
“We’ll create at least 100 new jobs over the course and many more,” she said. “The building is spaced out to hold at least 3,000 associates in time, so we’re excited to continue building the workforce and growing some of our young, great talented folks here in Coles County and beyond to be able to work at our Rural Kings Store Support Center one day.”
Through the Illinois Department of Transportation, Mattoon officials are working to get grant funding to build access to the new campus.