Articles

By Annie Fulgenzi Running a company is hard enough on its own, but imagine trying to do that while also worrying about studying for finals. For this 21-year-old senior at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, that’s just reality. Justin Holding is a Springfield native and the CEO of reusable packaging start-up company IlliniBox, which works […]

By Thomas Pavlik I’ve been hearing about the wonderful food at Broadgauge in Petersburg for quite some time. So, a few months ago, I cajoled a group of friends into taking a Monday drive to Petersburg for lunch at Broadgauge’s lunch partner, Talisman. Unfortunately for my friends, I neglected to notice that Talisman is not […]

By Pamela Savage In January of 1978, Rich Deweese founded R.L. Deweese Painting and Decorating. Deweese did not have any experience as a painter, and he had no intention of becoming a painter. However, he was searching for a career opportunity, and that’s where the story gets interesting. Deweese’s wife, Susan, was attending a women’s […]

By David Blanchette What was your first job after graduating from college? I grew up in Peoria, and my first job after college was working at Illini Bluffs High School as a high school teacher and middle school volleyball and basketball coach. I became interested in the nonprofit world after years of working with people […]

By David Blanchette Dana Lyons is a lifelong resident of the Springfield area. When she was a senior at Riverton High School, an employment agency placed her in a receptionist position with Lincoln Land Title and Abstract Company. She later worked for Lexis Document Services and Zelle Title Company before opening The Illinois Real Estate […]

Hot housing market upends traditional advice By Carey Smith “I would love to sell your home, but I have to ask, do you have a place to go? Because I will make you homeless.” That is the first conversation Randy Aldrich, a broker associate with The Real Estate Group, has with potential sellers. The hot […]