Low interest rates drive consumer spending – Home and auto sales at record levels, despite unemployment, uncertainty
By Holly Whisler The phrase “these unprecedented times” has been overused this year, yet still rings true. When the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to near zero in March, the area economy responded. Consumer lending - specifically, home and auto loans - gained momentum over the summer months, despite high levels of unemployment and uncertainty [...]
2020 15 Under Fifteen
This is the 18th year that Springfield Business Journal has partnered with United Community Bank to recognize 15 outstanding small businesses in the local area. To qualify, a business must be located in Sangamon or Morgan county, have been open for at least two years and have 15 or fewer full-time employees. A business is [...]
Lawmakers probe barriers to Black business development. Access to capital, state contracting cited as significant hurdles.
By PETER HANCOCK, Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com Black-owned businesses in Illinois face significant barriers to growth and opportunities that would enable them to compete with their white-owned counterparts, a problem that many Black leaders say is directly tied to Black unemployment rates and the deterioration of Black neighborhoods. That was the message state lawmakers heard [...]
Serving and improving Springfield’s business community
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 [...]
Businesses help parents with remote learning
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 [...]
A Q&A with Dr. W.G. Robinson-McNeese
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 [...]
Hospitals cope with ripple effects from COVID – Few patients, but many changes for the health care industry
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 [...]
Ask an attorney – COVID concerns at work
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 [...]