By David A. Kelm At the end of October 2014, the Prairie Capital Convention Center and the University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that the Fighting Illini men’s basketball team would play five games at the Convention Center in November 2015. This announcement heralded perhaps the second most important event in the city’s […]
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A Springfield company with worldwide outreach
By Gabe House Lothar Soliwon wasn’t prepared to idly watch time pass by when he retired from the state of Illinois a couple years ago. The former marketing manager decided to utilize his extensive experience working with companies and municipalities – both large and small – by opening an international consulting firm. And with that, […]
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Franchise a dream come true for DreamMakers
By Mark Thoma Taking an already successful business and building on the success of others: that was the reason Curt and Deb Trampe hooked up with DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen about eight years ago. The Waco, Texas-based franchise offered a successful business model that the Trampes couldn’t pass up when the Sangamon and Menard county […]
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Airport improvements
by Job Conger Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport (SPI) reports a calendar year 2014 expenditure of $7 million, mostly from user fees and state and federally underwritten sources, for improvements to airport safety and security. Executive director Mark Hanna recently reviewed those expenditures in detail. While having scant noticeable impact on travelers using SPI, the improvement […]
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Chamber members give back to community
By Roberta Codemo “Springfield is such a giving community,” is the refrain echoed by local business owners. According to American Express, charitable giving by small businesses rose by 4.9 percent between 2012 and 2013. The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce recently hosted a press conference to shine the spotlight on local businesses that give back. […]
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Building the temple
By Zach Baliva One of Springfield’s biggest and most visible construction projects in 2015 is already underway. Calvary Temple Christian Center owns about 196 acres of land on the city’s south side and has started construction on what church leaders are calling Phase I of a long-term project to relocate all facilities from the current […]
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In praise of the smaller pond
By Scott Faingold, associate editor Not long ago, I was at one of those semi-impromptu gatherings that only happen around the holidays – the kind distinguished by the spontaneous appearance of friends, only back in Springfield for a few days to see family, temporarily seeking decompression at a local tavern. Two of those present were […]
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New Business Listings Feb 2015
MNH Enterprises 1301 E. Cook Street 522-9814 Owner: Myron N. Hunter Hunter Welding Services 34 Robinhood Ct. 341-9289 Owner: Eric M. Hunter Rochester Financial Planning 203 S. Walnut, Rochester 498-8575 Owner: Grant A. Blasdell Learning and Evaluating Valuable Information (Levi) 2908 S. 14th 303-3341 Owner: Shari Pierce DreamTurf 2201 Warwick Drive 381-9375 Owner: Ben R. […]
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New Business Listings January 2015
Story Tellers Publishing 3473 Niccolls Road, Springfield 522-4028 Owners: James Gasparin, Alaina C Marx Artistic Images 868 S. Oaklane Rd., Springfield 553-4825 Owner: Roger Williams Glenn Built Construction 200 Carroll St., Pawnee 652-5348 Owner: Matthew Glenn Mark Gordon Communications 2000 Barberry, Springfield 414-8001 Owner: Mark Gordon AMP Communications 3328 Buckner St, Springfield 217-891-3759 Owner: Angela […]
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Building for the future
Square Root Architecture goes green, prefab for housing By Gabe House Jeff Sommers, the president and principal architect of Square Root Architecture, specializes in energy-efficient residential structures built in a prefabricated fashion. He is also a realist. “If anyone tells you it doesn’t cost more to build green, then punch them in the face and […]
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Custom Cup Coffee opens on E. Monroe
By Ginny Lee Custom Cup Coffee had a soft opening at its new storefront at 321 E. Monroe St. downtown during Thanksgiving week. The shop went through 125 pounds of beans in the first week, and sales have steadily increased since then. Brent and Kendra Boesdorfer of Custom Cup’s microroastery specialize in small batch, roast-to-order […]
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Best Places to Work 2015
About the awards Springfield Business Journal and United Community Bank are pleased to sponsor this year’s “Best Places to Work,” recognizing outstanding businesses in central Illinois. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of them are family-owned businesses and the other followed in his father’s footsteps in the same industry. All three company owners grew up in their […]