Full Text of HR0180 100th General Assembly
HR0180 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate the Sloan Valve Company, | 4 | | located in Franklin Park, on the occasion of its 110th | 5 | | anniversary; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, In 1867, William Elvis Sloan, known as W.E., was | 7 | | born in Liberty, Missouri; his mother passed away when he was | 8 | | in the fourth grade, and so he started working on local | 9 | | construction sites to help support his family; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, By the time he was a teenager, W.E. Sloan was an | 11 | | experienced pipefitter with a curious mind and a strong work | 12 | | ethic; in his twenties, he moved to the growing metropolis of | 13 | | Chicago in search of new opportunities; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, W.E. Sloan was an inventor first and foremost, | 15 | | always looking for ways to improve the world around him; he | 16 | | focused on construction and plumbing; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In 1906, W.E. Sloan patented an innovative | 18 | | plumbing fixture, the Flushometer, that forever changed the way | 19 | | public restrooms were constructed; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In 1914, Weeghman Park, later named Wrigley Field, |
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| 1 | | was built using the flushometer, beginning a long relationship | 2 | | between Sloan Valve Co. and the Chicago Cubs; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, In 1915, Sloan Valve Co. was recognized for its | 4 | | innovation and given the prestigious San Francisco Award in | 5 | | Engineering; contractors around the world began seeing the | 6 | | value of flushometers with sales increasing from $44,000 in | 7 | | 1912, to $385,000 in 1916; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, On April 6, 1917, the United States joined the | 9 | | fight in World War I; W.E. Sloan decided to make his products | 10 | | with new materials, such as porcelain for handles, plastic for | 11 | | internal parts, and cast iron to replace the brass used to | 12 | | construct the body of the flush valve; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, As a result of the boost to the economy when the | 14 | | war ended, Sloan Valve Co. opened its first production plant on | 15 | | Lake Street in Chicago; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, In 1929, the stock market crashed beginning the | 17 | | Great Depression; W.E. Sloan managed to keep the company | 18 | | operating by cutting his salary in half and cashing in his life | 19 | | insurance policy to keep his employees working; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, There are stories of W.E. Sloan anonymously | 21 | | sending supplies and food to his workers during the toughest |
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| 1 | | years of the depression; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, At the beginning World War II, Sloan Valve Co. | 3 | | played an important role in the war effort by supplying flush | 4 | | valves to the United States Naval Fleet and military training | 5 | | facilities; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Sloan Valve Co. factory was retooled to | 7 | | produce detonators and fuses for artillery shells; with the | 8 | | majority of men off at war, the company hired women to work the | 9 | | factory floor; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, W.E. Sloan remained Chairman of the Board of Sloan | 11 | | Valve Co. until his death at the age of 92; his grandson, Chuck | 12 | | Allen, played an important role in keeping the company relevant | 13 | | after
his grandfather's death and after many of the original | 14 | | company employees moved on; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, In 1964, Sloan Valve Co. opened a new foundry in | 16 | | Melrose Park, considered the most modern brass foundry of its | 17 | | time; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, In 1971, Sloan Valve Co. moved its center of | 19 | | operations to Franklin Park, where it remains today; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, In 1977, Chuck Allen was promoted to the office of |
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| 1 | | President; Sloan Valve Co. continued to grow throughout the | 2 | | 1980s; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Sloan Valve Co. has been committed to water | 4 | | efficiency since its founding; the Water Efficiency Department | 5 | | was opened in 2000; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, In 2008, Chuck Allen was promoted to Executive | 7 | | Chairman of the Board and his three sons, Kirk, Jim, and Graham | 8 | | Allen, took over the office of the President; W.E. Sloan's | 9 | | great-grandsons had been working for the company in various | 10 | | capacities since they were teenagers, from sales reps to
| 11 | | sweeping the shop floor, they had done it all; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Running a family business has its unique | 13 | | struggles; each generation must bring something new to the | 14 | | company; Kirk, Jim, and Graham have helped Sloan Valve Co. | 15 | | become a leader in green technology, building upon the idea | 16 | | that water is our planet's most precious resource and should | 17 | | not be squandered or polluted; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Sloan Valve Co. has won many awards for its | 19 | | conservation efforts including a Green Power Leadership Award | 20 | | from the United States Environmental Protection Agency; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, Sloan Valve Co. became the official Water |
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| 1 | | Efficiency Partner for the Chicago Cubs in 2015, and has been | 2 | | given the chance to install all Sloan products during the | 3 | | historic restoration and expansion of Wrigley Field as part of | 4 | | the 1060 project; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, The legendary ballpark, currently undergoing an | 6 | | extensive restoration with architects, VOA Associates, is | 7 | | being outfitted exclusively with Sloan faucets and | 8 | | flushometers;
the featured restroom, located 50 yards from the | 9 | | main entrance on the third base line, is the largest public | 10 | | restroom in Wrigley Field, designed for high traffic use on | 11 | | game day; this is in addition to the other Sloan products in | 12 | | all of the park's restrooms; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The relationship between Sloan Valve Co. and the | 14 | | Chicago Cubs grew even stronger in 2015 when Sloan became a | 15 | | Legacy Partner of the Chicago Cubs; the team's training field | 16 | | in Mesa, Arizona was renamed Sloan Park, and has become the | 17 | | perfect showcase for Sloan's newest and greenest products; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, Sloan Valve Co. continues to build a global brand | 19 | | synonymous with sustainability, energy conservation, and water | 20 | | efficient products, with green innovations that include solar | 21 | | powered technologies and all-in-one sink systems; it also | 22 | | designs upscale commercial restrooms, with more stylish and | 23 | | contemporary product options that are as beautiful as they are |
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| 1 | | sustainable; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 3 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 4 | | congratulate Sloan Valve Co. on its 110th Anniversary and wish | 5 | | them continued success in creating quality products that | 6 | | promote water conservation; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to Sloan Valve Co. as a symbol of our esteem and | 9 | | respect.
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