By David Blanchette Numerous public schools in the Springfield area will soon receive needed upgrades as part of a School District 186 initiative to create better facilities and more secure learning environments while addressing needed maintenance and life/safety issues. A total of $40.9 million worth of work on schools is currently in the design phase, […]
David Blanchette
David Blanchette has been involved in journalism since 1979, first as an award-winning broadcaster, then a state government spokesperson, and now as a freelance writer and photographer. He was involved in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and more recently the Jacksonville Area Museum. David and his wife, Sue, live in Petersburg.
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A place at the table – Building Board Diversity helps nonprofit boards reflect the community
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE Where there’s a will there’s a way, and a year-old group is hoping to motivate nonprofit organizations in the Springfield area to diversify their boards. The founders of the Building Board Diversity (BBD) initiative have been meeting with and offering training for nonprofit executive directors and current board members to show them […]
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Mix of residential and commercial development planned for Rochester
By David Blanchette Plans for the 49-acre multi-use Cardinal Hill Crossing development in Rochester are moving along, and the project developer hopes to begin physical work on the property in early 2020. Cardinal Hill Crossing is flanked on one end by Rochester Intermediate School and the new Rochester Fire Protection District Station and on the […]
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Building blocks for success
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE You see them every day: the restaurants, mobile phone stores, bank branches, nail salons, automobile dealerships, strip malls, apartments and other new or revamped buildings going up throughout the Springfield area. These commercial and multifamily residential structures – costing $2.5 million or under to build – are the bread and butter for […]
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FWAI builds a legacy
By David Blanchette Much of what is recognizable in Springfield has a connection to FWAI Architects Inc., but it’s something else that gives the firm’s founder the greatest sense of pride. “Hiring good staff. We’ve fortunately always had good staff,” said Carl Fischer, who founded the firm with his wife, Kay, in 1976. “We’ve also […]
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A century of crunching the numbers
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE Although figures are their business, a 100-year-old Springfield accounting firm wants customers to know that they are more than just numbers. “We provide a good service to a lot of people. I enjoy it, because it’s always something different,” said Lori Milosevich, CPA, one of three partners at Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden. […]
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American Metals Supply grows and adapts
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE A Springfield-based company that has eight locations in six states began more than a half-century ago over a dinner table discussion. “The business was started in 1962, and I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my dad and mom saying, ‘If this doesn’t work, we want to be able to keep […]
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State of Illinois privatizes real estate services
By David Blanchette The State of Illinois is dipping a toe into the pond of privatizing its real estate management services, and if the initial foray works it could mean an $845 million, 10-year plunge involving 22 million square feet of property and 683 state-owned, leased and surplus facilities. The Illinois Department of Central Management […]
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Capital Airport gets a major makeover
An important entrance to Springfield is in the midst of a $20 million makeover that will better accommodate visitors and give them a more positive impression of the capital city. “This will provide a first-class front door to the city,” said Springfield Airport Authority executive director Mark Hanna regarding several projects to revamp and rehabilitate […]
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BRANDT: The hometown local ag company
By David Blanchette A Pleasant Plains brother and sister had big ambitions 65 years ago when they founded what became one of central Illinois’ largest agricultural businesses. “Early on I decided we wanted to be the General Motors of the fertilizer business,” said 91-year-old Glen Brandt, the co-founder of BRANDT. “But I never dreamed that […]
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County Market parent company celebrates its centennial
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE Quincy-based Niemann Foods turned 100 this year, and although nearly half of its 6,000 employees are associate owners, for the past century everyone at the company has known who the real bosses are. “Our boss is every customer that we either have in the stores or we are trying to attract,” said […]
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Gases fuel profits at ILMO Products – A family company pulling business out of thin air for 104 years
BY DAVID BLANCHETTE A Jacksonville-based family company has been pulling business out of thin air for 104 years. But they are not just sitting on their gases. They continue to add product lines and find new uses for existing ones. ILMO Products Company is a distributor of industrial, laboratory, medical, cryogenic and propane gases in […]