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New executive director for HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital and Women’s Services By Scott Faingold Allison Paul always felt the call to serve others. “My father is a dentist and my mother is a dental assistant,” she explains. “They have their own private practice and so I grew up spending a lot of time there, […]

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 […]

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, […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Affordable Care Act and Springfield businesses By David A. Kelm Another election season has passed, much like a kidney stone, and America has put in place a new power structure in Washington D.C. In many states, including Illinois, Republicans won office but many progressive referendum questions passed with large majorities. While increasing the minimum […]

by Job Conger A part of the Springfield community since before Lindbergh flew to Paris, the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln is riding a wave of unprecedented, higher profile growth under its new management and name. In 1924, the Sangamon County Foundation, a charitable trust, was created by a combination of the original […]

By David A. Kelm Every year, about this time, it does not matter if you are running late for work, your son’s ballet recital, your daughter’s wrestling match or just to grab poster board, glue, markers and glitter at half-past midnight for a “science project you just remembered,” you are likely to run into traffic […]

By Ginny Lee The fall 2014 Sangamon County Economic Outlook Survey, published twice a year by the University of Illinois at Springfield’s Survey Research Office, revealed several surprising results. The Survey Research Office, headed by Director Ashley E. Kirzinger, is part of the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership. The study is funded by […]