15 Under Fifteen

Established: 1981 Owners: Dale and Debbie Smith Employees: 9 Services: Business equipment Tom Day began his business in 1981 and kept it running in Springfield for three decades. In 2011, Dale and Debbie Smith purchased Tom Day Business Machines and still operate it today. “Tom Day Business Machines is a premier provider of a complete […]

Established: 2016 Owners: Jennifer and Wayne Friday Employees: 6 Services: Restaurant and gift shop “We would visit tea rooms and my husband, who is my biggest supporter, encouraged me and helped me to open the business,” said Jennifer. The tea room is a fun place to have lunch or host a party. Each room is […]

Established: 2016 Executive director: Rev. Margaret Ann Jessup Employees: 5 Services: Nonprofit Wooden It Be Lovely was founded in 2016 to help meet a need in the community. “There are women who want to heal from hard lives but faced numerous barriers to success, which included finding employers that would or could hire them,” said […]

Established: 2017 Owners: John and Lisa Mikuleza Employees: 6 Services: HVAC John and Lisa Mikuleza opened Ace Mechanical in October 2017. “I decided to open the business because I came from an entrepreneurial family and always saw myself owning my own business,” John said. “I also wanted to create an HVAC business that was honest […]

Established: 1991 Owners: Tom Dickey and Tyler Mullen Employees: 3 Services: Construction In 1990, Tom Dickey was managing a heavy-equipment dealership when two men came to his office to discuss a newly invented horizontal-directional drill. “After seeing what this equipment could do, I knew from my experience and contacts in sales that this was the […]

Established: 1998 Owners: Bill Law and Randy McNeal Employees: 11 Services: automotive Bill Law and Randy McNeal were both managing Firestone shops when they decided to take the plunge and launch their own automotive store. CheckPoint Tire & Service Center opened in January 1998 and is still running strong today. “We wanted to get away […]

Established: 1951 Owner: Dana DeHeve Employees: 4 Services: Bar and restaurant In August 2023, Dana DeHeve took ownership of a longtime family business. DeHeve’s Tavern opened on July 21, 1951, when DeHeve’s grandparents used part of their house to start the business. “They turned the front part of the house into the tavern, and they […]

Established: 2013 Owners: John T. Crisp Jr. Employees: 1 Services: nonprofit Garvey Tubman Cultural Arts & Research Center began in 2013. The center’s mission is to provide services of interest to the African American community while sharing a viable support system that speaks to the community’s educational, emotional and cultural needs. The GTCARC provides educational […]

Established: 1976 Owner: Scott Borntreger Employees: 4 Services: Pharmacy Harry’s Pharmacy has been an Auburn landmark since 1976. Scott Borntreger credits the founder, Harry Buck, with being influential in the decision for he and his wife, Michelle, to take over the pharmacy in 1991. “I had been a pharmacist for five years before that and […]

Established: 2017 Owner: Josh Catalano Employees: 3 Services: ad agency In the summer of 2017, Josh Catalano left his full-time job as an art director and opened Height Media later that year. A graduate of the University of Illinois Springfield, Catalano is a photographer and videographer who specializes in branding, marketing, website design and development, social media and […]

Established: 1989 Owner: MOCN Board of Directors Employees: 11 Services: nonprofit In the 1980s, Marinda “Mini” O’Beirne fell in love with the idea of preventing child abuse through crisis nursery services. These were not readily available in Sangamon County, so O’Beirne spent two years planning a way to bring those services here. Unfortunately, she died […]