Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A French-based crane manufacturer is planting a flag in Springfield.

REEL USA has “purchased the former Howden Fan building out on Mayflower Blvd,” Michelle Ownbey, publisher of the Springfield Business Journal, said Thursday during her weekly spot on the WTAX Morning Newswatch. She said the company has “invested $1.6 million to buy that building last month; about 60,000 square feet on nine acres. They will start out with just around ten employees, but the idea is that over the next few years, it will grow to as many as 100.”

Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance CEO Ryan McCrady told the Business Journal REEL USA is coming to Springfield with no public subsidies or incentives.

Ownbey said the company has about 3,000 employees in 57 locations worldwide, but the only U.S. presence until now has been a sales office in Alabama. She said the company will be hiring both blue- and white-collar personnel.