By Catherine O’Connor Springfield lost two community-minded entrepreneurial giants, Louis Myers and Arnold Stern, within the first week of September 2020. Though Stern and Myers were three years apart in age, they were lifelong friends who had much in common, beginning with primary education at Butler Elementary School followed by graduation from Springfield High [...]
By Holly Whisler Springfield business MB Heating & Cooling realized that many of their employees were facing a dilemma: go to work, or stay home with kids who are learning remotely. General manager Doug Gholson explained that last spring, the company had a plumber and an installer who could not work a full week because [...]
By Lana Shovlin Dr. Wesley Robinson-McNeese has been a soldier and a student, a pastor and a physician. He grew up in East St. Louis and tried college after graduating high school, but ultimately joined the military and was sent to Vietnam. At the age of 30, he returned to college and then graduated [...]
By David Blanchette The one constant for the health care industry has been change during the ongoing COVID pandemic, and Springfield hospitals are striving to stay one step ahead of the microscopic menace and the unprecedented disruption it has wrought to one of the area’s biggest and most vital industries. “We’ve had to change every [...]
Q. Can I refuse to go to work because of COVID-19? A. Most employees are “at will” employees, which means that you could be fired for not showing up. This is true whether you are considered an essential worker or not. As always, the best approach is to explain your reasoning and try to work [...]
By Carey Smith Celeste Malham started FED Kitchen when she became a stay-at-home mom in 2019 as a way to utilize her personal training background and help others with their health goals. PHOTO BY NORMA ZUNIGA Meal delivery systems were growing in popularity even before the pandemic, and with many more people [...]
By David Blanchette Springfield-based entrepreneur Ram Talluri reaches for the stars with his numerous business ventures around the world, ranging from technology to film production to jumping really high on trampolines. “It has been a great run so far, and I look forward to adding more value in whatever way I can,” the 45-year-old Talluri [...]
By Holly Whisler Small retail boutiques are known for carrying unique and one-of-a-kind items. They are not typically known for selling online to a mass market, but that does not mean they cannot be successful doing so when a pandemic causes an economic shutdown, for example. Elizabeth “Liz” Eckert, owner of Bella Boutique, 2805 West [...]
Springfield native Aaron Schneider directs Tom Hanks’ latest film By Chuck Koplinski It’s a long way from Chatham Road to Hollywood, California, but it’s a journey Springfield native Aaron Schneider has made over the course of his 54 years. The filmmaker, who cut his teeth as a cinematographer on videos for Eminem and Cyprus [...]
