Tacology 201 was launched as the second version of the popular Mexican restaurant, which also experimented with bar partnerships at one point, but owner James Hamilton has announced that his time in the restaurant business has come to an end. On June 24, a post on Tacology’s Facebook page said the restaurant would be closed […]
Michelle Ownbey
Michelle Ownbey is the publisher of Springfield Business Journal and Illinois Times.
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The Fountain on 66 opens in former Sonrise Donuts building
The small brick building at 1101 S. Ninth St. has a new name, a new motif and a new menu. A retro diner, The Fountain on 66, has opened in the building that many Springfield natives still remember as Sonrise Donuts. It opened in 1947 and lasted more than four decades, until owner Don Greenslade […]
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Coltin Cunningham launches Alpha Dog Inspections
Coltin Cunningham says he hopes his new business, Alpha Dog Inspections, will help others avoid the challenges that his family had to face. “It was a seven-year saga with our little girl,” Cunningham said. Shortly after he and his wife brought their youngest child home from the hospital, she began experiencing numerous health problems and […]
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Springfield Chamber announces Small Business Award winners
The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce hosted the 40th Annual Small Business Awards on June 24 at the Crowne Plaza Springfield Convention Center. The event recognized outstanding community entrepreneurs in the following four categories: Not-for-Profit Director of the Year, New & Emerging Business Owner of the Year, Small Business Owner of the Year and Lifetime […]
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Jerk Shop Go closes
Jerk Shop Go has been through several changes during the five years the business has been open, but now the Caribbean restaurant is ceasing operations. “We will be closing our doors as of June 23, effective immediately,” owner Kadejia Berkley told SBJ. Berkley originally opened Jerk Shop Go in a small space downtown at 213 […]
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State budget includes $4.5 million for Capitol Airport
Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, has secured $4.5 million in capital project funding for Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in the state of Illinois’ 2026 budget that was signed by Gov. JB Pritzker last week. These funds are dedicated for airport capital improvements including aircraft maintenance and flight training facility development. Over the past decade, the Springfield […]
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Memorial Health names chief information officer
Suresh Krishnan will join Memorial Health as chief information officer effective July 28. Krishnan most recently served as chief technology officer at Cone Health in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is very familiar with Illinois, having spent more than 30 years with health care organizations in the Chicago area earlier in his career. He graduated with […]
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Wellman Financial Services and Cornerstone Financial Services merge
Three certified financial planners have joined forces to create Navigator Wealth Strategies, a Springfield-based financial planning firm serving central Illinois. Brandon Wellman opened a new Prudential Financial office in 2017, originally operating out of leased space on Wabash Avenue. Four years later, he purchased a building at 6300 S. Sixth St. to allow for expansion […]
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Maureen Faller joins Brown, Hay & Stephens
Maureen Faller has joined the law firm of Brown, Hay & Stephens. She focuses her practice on trusts and estate planning, fiduciary representation in trust and estate administration, banking, real estate, commercial transactions, employment law and the rights of minors as a guardian ad litem. Prior to joining Brown, Hay & Stephens, Faller served as […]
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Joey McLaughlin leaving WTAX
Joey McLaughlin, the longtime Morning Newswatch radio host on WTAX, is leaving to join the Illinois Department of Public Health communications team. His last day on air is June 25. McLaughlin worked in radio in Alton, Carbondale, Vandalia and Decatur before moving to Springfield in 1998. Initially, he hosted a morning show on the station […]
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Vondra Social House to open this fall
A former restaurant in a historic Springfield neighborhood has new owners who plan to reopen it with a different focus. Eric and Sierra Ferrell purchased the property at 724 E. Edwards St. in April for $110,000, according to Sangamon County tax records. The historic two-story building just south of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site […]
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Simplex sells to Canadian company
Simplex, one of Springfield’s largest manufacturing companies, has been sold to a Canadian-based company for $28 million. Simplex was founded in 1934 in Burlington, Iowa, by Michael Debrey, according to the company’s website. A Hungarian immigrant and self-taught inventor, Debrey introduced multiple innovations to the electrical engineering field. The company later operated out of East […]