By Mayor J. Michael Houston Mayor Houston delivered this speech Jan. 22 at the annual Downtown Springfield, Inc., banquet and the Springfield Hilton. It is edited and abridged for the Springfield Business Journal. While the city can boast of many different areas and neighborhoods, there are few as important as our downtown. Today it remains, […]
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Labor union manager Brad Schaive is not your average weekend warrior
By Roberta Codemo “We all have some perception of ourselves,” said Brad Schaive, business manager for Laborers Local 477. “This sport will test you and show you if you are who you think you are. It will test your inner constitution. You have to be prepared mentally and physically.” He was tested. “I received punishment […]
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How I got involved
By Michelle Higginbotham, associate publisher I was not born and raised in Springfield. When I first moved here it was by far the largest city I’d ever lived in, and I didn’t know anyone. I remember wondering how I would meet people and get involved since I had no friends or family living here. I […]
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The road that led me here
By Scott Faingold, associate editor As the new associate editor for the Springfield Business Journal, I am excited for the opportunity to continue providing the unique focus on local business and outreach to the business community which loyal SBJ readers have come to expect. I was born in Skokie, Ill., and first came to Springfield at […]
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An open letter to the next president and CEO of The Chamber
By Tom Fitch On Jan. 17, the board chair of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Tom Fitch, announced that the organization had parted ways with Steward Sandstrom, who had been president and CEO of the Chamber since the summer of 2012. In light of Sandstrom’s departure, the Springfield Business Journal asked the Chamber to […]
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Young entrepreneurs revitalize Southtown neighborhood
By Scott Faingold “It’s one thing to fix up an old building or two,” declares George Sinclair of Southtown. “Our mission has been more about bringing back the whole neighborhood.” Sinclair first came to Southtown in 1988 when he opened indoor skateboard park Skank Skates at 1101 South Grand Avenue East. A quarter century later, […]
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Small-scale solar: 4.5 billion years in the making
By David A. Kelm Solar energy has long been relegated to the hippies living in the geodesic home out in the woods or the weird “off the grid” guy at the end of the block whose 1988 pickup truck smells like a Chinese restaurant because it has been converted to run on used restaurant oil. […]
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Conlee: Getting things done
By Courtney Westlake Ginny Conlee gets things done. That has been my impression as I’ve witnessed Conlee’s work in her leadership roles for many years, though I’ve only just gotten to know her better personally in the last year. And after sitting down to lunch with her at Café Brio, I am more convinced of […]
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Residential Landlord-Tenant laws
By Sarah Jane Delano Pavlik Is your residential lease up and you want to move? Is your lease not up and you want to move? Or, are you a landlord and want to evict a troublesome tenant? What are your options? First, as with any question regarding a document, you need to read your lease. You […]
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Mac versus PC
By Brant Mackey About 30 years ago one of the most hotly debated questions was which was “better,” a Mac or a PC? Back in the 80s it was all the rage to argue the advantages and shortcomings of each. Mac users were clearly in the minority and fiercely loyal while PC users simply thought […]
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Coming in from the cold
By Joe Natale April – so said the poet – is the cruelest month. I don’t know if that’s a reference to paying income taxes or not; but to my way of thinking, January is certainly the coldest month. This is really old news, but the month of “January” is named in honor of the […]
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Natural gas powers commercial vehicles
By Douglas L. Whitley What has been lost during the on-going debate on hydraulic fracturing in Illinois and across the country is the “other side of the coin.” What do I mean by that? When it comes to increased natural gas production, the other side of the coin is the increased demand and opportunities for businesses […]