BY LINDSEY SALVATELLI Students at South Town Construction Training Center are in week six of the 12-week program, and have just received their OSHA cards, a necessary step to working in the electrical trade. The students who are part of the current class have left their mark on the training center, with a wall they’ve [...]
BY LINDSEY SALVATELLI Six students have taken the opportunity to learn the construction trade at South Town Construction Training Center, 1122 S. Grand Ave E. Students are given hands-on-training through a 12-week program that aims to give unskilled workers potential knowledge and real experience they’re able to apply while working on residential construction sites. By [...]
Springfield Mowers & Power Equipment is preparing to move and expand and will leave its current leased space at 1514 W. Jefferson in Springfield later this year. Owner Rob Kalabus says he has purchased The Rock Shop building just down the street at 1808 W. Jefferson, which will nearly triple the space available for both [...]
Illinois Real Estate Title Center was recently named one of the 2019 “Best Places to Work” by Springfield Business Journal and United Community Bank. Photo by Terry Farmer. Springfield-based title agency Illinois Real Estate Title Center, located at 2055 W. Iles Ave., has acquired First Community Title Services, a subsidiary of Heartland Bancorp, [...]
Todd Green, owner of the Green Family Stores automobile dealership group in Springfield and Jacksonville, has acquired a majority interest in the hospitality management company formerly known as Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, Inc. The company is now known as Core Hotels & Resorts Green (CHRG). The $242 million acquisition includes 15 hotels in seven states, [...]
J.J. Swartz Co., a residential and commercial contractor based out of Decatur, has opened an office in Springfield at 3901 Wood Duck Dr. Owner Brad Swartz is the fourth generation of the family-owned business, which started in 1921. The company, which has built many new homes in the Decatur area over the years, has increasingly [...]
These small businesses are surviving, despite competition from online sales Article and photos by DAVID BLANCHETTE Eighty percent survive the first year. Seventy percent are left after two years, 50 percent after five years, and only 30 percent are still around after 10 years. Those 30 percent are the small businesses in the United States [...]
Springfield has many opportunities for small-scale development BY CATHERINE O’CONNOR Governing magazine recently published the results of an in-depth investigation into segregation in Illinois communities, including Springfield. A recent cover story in Illinois Times included excerpts from the lengthy report (“Segregated in the Heartland, Feb. 7), which also focused on income disparity between black and [...]
BY ZACH ROTH Like many other towns in the Midwest and Rust Belt, Springfield has seen significant changes in the makeup of its population in recent years. It has become older, not to mention a little bit smaller. “Since 2010, the indications are that the population is continuing to decline,” said Molly Berns, executive director [...]
The former Vic’s Pizza location at 2015 Peoria Road in Springfield is getting ready to reopen, but not as a restaurant. Bill Wiebking, who has an existing business called Countryside Closeouts, purchased the property in January and plans to open a retail store called Real Deals, with items starting at just 50 cents. “I have [...]
