Party City closing all U.S. locations
Party City, the largest party supply store in the U.S., has announced that it will close all of its 800 locations nationwide by Feb. 28. CNN reported that corporate employees were told Dec. 20 that it would be their last day of employment and the company would begin “winding down” operations immediately. The business is…
Nearly 300 new Illinois laws take effect in 2025
Time to study up, Illinois. When the clock hits midnight on New Year’s Day, 293 new state laws will take effect. Those include some of the defining bills of the 2024 legislative session and others that will change how people get IDs, evaluate job postings and even cancel gym memberships. In addition to the laws…
Big Lots to close all remaining stores
The two Springfield Big Lots stores were spared from a round of nationwide closures that took place earlier this year, but now the company has announced plans to close all of its remaining locations. A statement posted to the Big Lots website Dec. 19 read: “We have made the difficult decision to begin conducting going…
Springfield Clinic disrupts area health care industry
Two recently opened rooms overlooking Springfield Clinic’s main campus hold the promise of shorter waits for patients who need the blood vessels feeding their hearts examined or treated for potentially life-threatening blockages. Two miles away, a new Urgent Care Plus, scheduled to open in January near Springfield’s two acute-care hospitals, is designed to serve many…
Dan Cody joins Eck, Schafer and Punke
Dan Cody has joined Eck, Schafer and Punke, LLP as senior manager. The firm, headquartered in downtown Springfield, has been in business since 1994. Cody has more than 25 years’ experience in public accounting and the private sector providing audit, accounting and tax services for individuals and businesses across various industries, ranging from privately held…
UIS Performing Arts Center to close temporarily
Sangamon Auditorium and the UIS Studio Theatre, housed within University of Illinois Springfield’s Public Affairs Center building, will temporarily close starting in June 2025 for an extensive, state-funded, 15-month plumbing improvement project that will address ongoing issues with the facility’s 50-year-old infrastructure. Plans call for the auditorium and theater to reopen following the completion of…
Pritzker endorses hemp regulation bill
More than five years after Illinois began issuing permits for legal production of industrial hemp, Gov. JB Pritzker said he now favors legislation to bring the industry under tighter regulation. At a Dec. 13 news conference in Chicago, Pritzker said in the short time since both the state and federal governments legalized hemp production, a…
Building permits – Dec. 1 – Dec. 15
George L. and Darla J. Wilson received a commercial demolition permit for 2801 E. Old Rochester Road. Contractor is S. Shafer Excavating Inc. and the project is valued at $34,800. Brandon Robbins received a commercial demolition permit for 801 N. 12th St. Contractor is S. Shafer Excavating Inc. and the project is valued at $50,700.…
Springfield gets a city planner
Sean Pritchard is many things: 35 years old, a father of five, a lifelong northender and, as of this month, the first city planner in Springfield’s 203-year history. His appointment to the post within the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, which garners a salary of nearly $90,000, raised eyebrows among some in the…
Downtown restaurant Di Piero’s to close
Pete Praia is calling it a wrap for his downtown restaurant, Di Piero’s Sicilan Cucina. The upscale Italian restaurant at 518 E. Adams St., on the south side of the Old Capitol Plaza, will close as of Dec. 28. Praia has owned and operated two other Italian restaurants in addition to two pizzerias in the…
Marco’s Pizza closes remaining Springfield store
Springfield’s first – and last – Marco’s Pizza location has closed with the shuttering of the store at 3201 W. Iles Ave. as of Dec. 9. In a Dec. 10 interview with The Pantagraph, McLain Hoogland, president of Hoogland Restaurant Group, cited the rising minimum wage in Illinois as the reason for closing the Springfield,…
CarQuest of Springfield is closing
CarQuest of Springfield is closing, but franchisee Rob Wilburn said it wasn’t his decision. Wilburn said Advance Auto Parts, the parent company, “sent out 200 notices to independent operators like me to close their stores. We’re very disappointed. We had a very profitable business.” Advance Auto Parts released its third quarter financial statement on Nov.…
Ray Williams to retire as CEO of Springfield Clinic
Springfield Clinic CEO Ray Williams will retire effective Dec. 31 after serving in that role for eight years. “Making the decision to retire was not easy, but my family must come first at this stage of life,” Williams said. “It has been an incredible honor to serve as Springfield Clinic’s CEO, working alongside such talented…
Amy Rasing slated as new director of OPED
Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher wants to promote the city’s operations coordinator for state and federal grants to head the Office of Planning and Economic Development. Mayor Misty Buscher plans to nominate Amy Rasing, who curren tly w orks as the city’s grant manager, to succeed Val Yazell as director of the Office of Planning and…
17-year-old entrepreneur launches Nourish food truck
A young entrepreneur launched a new food truck in November that serves the Springfield area. Nourish is the brainchild of 17-year-old Camille Moorman, who said she uses family recipes for the menu. Moorman described her grandmother as a “huge inspiration” who mentored her. “I have three main items each time I open; I like to…
Amazon hub is coming to Springfield
It appears that Amazon, one of America’s Big Five technology companies, will open and operate a planned $20 million warehouse and distribution center in 2025 at North Dirksen Parkway and Bissell Road in Springfield. The company, based in Seattle and suburban Washington, D.C., didn’t respond to a request for comment. But Sangamon County property records…
217 Comfort Food Week takes place Dec. 9-15
217 Comfort Food Week takes place from Dec. 9-15, featuring homemade classics such as chicken and noodles, shepherd’s pie, country fried steak, southern chicken and dumplings and more. Or for something a little more adventurous, try shrimp n’ grits with blackened shrimp tossed in a Cajun cream sauce and served over white cheddar grits, or…
Jasen Best joins Security Bank
Jasen Best has joined Security Bank as vice president of business development and commercial banking. Best most recently worked for American Bank of Freedom in Rochester as a commercial banker and business development officer. He also previously worked as a treasury management officer at Heartland Bank & Trust and a business development officer at Prairie…
Nominate your company for Best Places to Work
Here is your opportunity to let everyone know you work for an outstanding company. United Community Bank and Springfield Business Journal are helping to identify the best places to work in central Illinois. Visit https://www.springfieldbusinessjournal.com/category/best_places_to_work-15030611 to make a nomination and view a list of previous selectees. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 11. The company must…
EPA prepares to move to White Oaks Mall
The new Illinois Environmental Protection Agency headquarters is expected to be completed this month – 18 months behind schedule and with a price per square foot more than double that of other new commercial construction projects in Springfield. The $80 million price tag for repurposing the 186,000-square-foot former Sears department store at White Oaks Mall…
Asking the public for help
Several local small businesses, faced with plummeting sales entering this holiday season due to unforeseen circumstances, have turned to a new method of keeping the doors open – pleas for help from the public. A growing number of small business owners have recently posted heartfelt pleas on social media about not being able to pay…
An alternative to the ER
As many as 70% of patients who seek care in the emergency rooms of Springfield Memorial Hospital or HSHS St. John’s Hospital could be served quicker, and at less cost, by a new outpatient facility scheduled to open in early January. That’s the view of the future co-medical directors of Springfield Clinic’s Urgent Care Plus,…
Viper Mine announces closure
Operations at the Viper Mine in Elkhart are shutting down after the city of Springfield chose a cheaper coal supplier for its electrical power plant. The mine, which at its peak employed about 300 miners, now is down to a skeleton crew responsible for dismantling equipment, Jim Smith, president of Knight Hawk Coal, told Illinois…
Delaney’s Smokehouse closes
Delaney’s Smokehouse reopened last year under new ownership following extensive renovations, but the north-end business has now closed. “The food was great, and business was picking up well,” said Stuart Hillyer, who co-owned the business along with Bill Tinsley. Tinsley also owns and operates Main Gate Bar & Grill and Kentucky Burn. However, Hillyer said a key…
State watchdog uncovers at least $7.2M in PPP fraud by state employees
A state watchdog has identified at least $7.2 million in fraudulent claims and more than 275 instances of misconduct by state employees accused of bilking a federal program designed to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the Office of the Executive Inspector General has been investigating allegations that state employees fraudulently claimed Paycheck Protection…
RNR Tire Express coming to Springfield
The former RTD Motorsports building on North Dirksen Parkway has been vacant since the business relocated in 2016, but it is now being remodeled for a new company coming to Springfield. RNR Tire Express is a national franchise retailer of tires and custom wheels, specializing in flexible payment plans. The company was established in Tampa,…
Bloom Hospitality & Catering opens catering kitchen
Bloom Hospitality & Catering has opened a catering kitchen at 1012 W. Iles Ave., just off Macarthur Boulevard in Springfield. Owner Gabi Thompson purchased the building earlier this year, and she and business partner John Huffman have spent the past six months renovating it. The new building features a fully equipped prep kitchen, on-site parking…
Problems at Poplar Place
Dignitaries from Springfield and the state were all smiles during a recent grand reopening of Poplar Place, a formerly run-down rental housing complex for low- and moderate-income people on the city’s east side. But Katherine James, 52, a Poplar Place resident with physical disabilities, said the renovations – costing $46.5 million in funding and financing…
Val Yazell to retire from city of Springfield
Val Yazell, the director of the city of Springfield’s Office of Planning and Economic Development, will retire on Dec. 31. Yazell was first appointed interim OPED director by then-Mayor Jim Langfelder in 2017. She was initially hired as a contract employee but later became a full-time employee. Langfelder terminated her employment in March 2021. He…
Equal pay for equal work
“This is a milestone accomplishment for people with disabilities across Illinois,” said Ryan Croke, first assistant deputy governor, of the state’s decision to end subminimum wage. On Nov. 21, the Senate took a bipartisan vote and passed legislation known as the Dignity in Pay Act, sending it to Gov. JB Pritzker for signature, who has…
Building permits – Dec. 2 – Dec. 9
George L. and Darla J. Wilson received a commercial demolition permit for 2801 E. Old Rochester Road. Contractor is S. Shafer Excavating Inc. and the project is valued at $34,800. Brandon Robbins received a commercial demolition permit for 801 N. 12th St. Contractor is S. Shafer Excavating Inc. and the project is valued at $50,700.…
Building permits – Nov. 25 – Dec. 1
913 S 6th Street, LLC received a commercial remodel permit for 913 S. Sixth St. Contractor is Jennifer Maurer and the project is valued at $120,000. SJ Homes LLC DBA SJ Mini-Storage received a commercial remodel permit for 3600 Constitution Drive. Contractor is Steven Cowles and the project is valued at $25,000. Hopkins Properties of…
