Investing in the future

[SEPT. 14, 2000]  If you stop by 513 Broadway next week looking for Edward Jones Investments, you’ll be too late. The millennium year marks a move into the future for the local office, with a new facility located on the northeast corner of Kickapoo and Pulaski.

It was in 1922 in Missouri that Edward D. Jones Sr. founded the financial services firm that bears his name. The firm merged with the bond house of Whitaker and Company in 1943. In its early years, the firm’s representatives traveled the Missouri highways looking for business. They were commonly called "TNT Brokers," since they were on the road Tuesday through Thursday. In 1948, Edward D. "Ted" Jones Jr., son of the founder, returned home to the family business after a stint on Wall Street. While working his rural territory he began experimenting with the idea of branch offices and opened the first in Mexico, Mo., in 1955.

 

As the business grew, Ted recruited new brokers from the surrounding Fulton County area. In the summer of ’74, Ted found Bob Neal working for the local newspaper. Bob had a number of friends who already worked for Edward Jones, and he met the "25 years of age or older" requirement. His last day at the newspaper was spent pitching papers from the back of his Chevy Vega wagon, spreading the news of President Nixon’s resignation.

Neal trained with the investment firm and was then told he could choose his territory in any state that bordered Missouri. Bob and his best friend chose theirs based on the two best corn crops for the year; his friend went to Kewanee and Bob came to Lincoln. His area spread from Springfield to Bloomington, but he spent a lot of time in Alvey’s Drug Store, meeting people and learning from Doc Alvey who to call upon. Neal’s first office opened in April of 1976 at 106 S. Chicago. He later moved to the 200 block of South Kickapoo and has been at the Broadway location since 1981.

 

Jim Sparrow joined Neal almost three years ago, coming from the real estate loan department of Magna Bank. Sparrow says he had always been interested in the investment field, and Bob’s offer came at the right time in the right way. Part of Jim’s decision was based on the amount of training Edward Jones gives their representatives. At the time Jim took his test, 93 percent of the Edward Jones representatives passed the test compared to the national average of 68 percent. Sparrow has spent a lot of time learning the business and getting to know Neal’s customers. Neal states that it takes five to six years to get established in the investment business.

They both stress that, in essence, they are two separate offices/brokers, and the new office will reflect that. In fact, when you walk in the door you’ll have to turn left or right into either Jim or Bob’s office. Each will have his own reception area. They’ll share a conference room, and, as in the past, cover for each other when one is out of town.

This is typical of Edward Jones Investment’s one-on-one philosophy. A visitor to one of the more than 6,000 offices in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom will probably find just one investment representative and one support person. Edward Jones is the largest financial services firm in this country in terms of offices but caters to the individual investor who wants to be able to "sleep at night." They don’t trade options, commodities or high-risk stocks. The average customer is 68 years old with a 401k that he wants to learn how to best utilize. Both Neal and Sparrow say their goal is to find the way to meet the customer’s goals and to develop long-term relationships. Some of Neal’s customers have been with him since the beginning. New investors can start with as little as $1,000 or $25 per month on an automatic debit.

 

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Though the everyday pace may be more "Mayberry R.F.D." than "Boiler Room," the transactions are state-of-the-art. Thanks to the magical world of computers, purchases and sales can be made and confirmed in six to eight seconds. Technology is one of the many things that have changed since Bob Neal first entered the investment business. When he opened his office, transactions were made by a Teletype machine leased from AT&T. It left the building in 1979, and they’ve gone through three computer systems since. There’s also more competition now, as many banks now have brokers. However, there are more potential investors as the "baby boomer" generation begins to make long-term financial choices.

 

Some things haven’t changed. Bob and Jim still go door-to-door, working with individual investors and offering high-quality products. As with all Edward Jones representatives, they are very active within the community. Jim is on the Lincoln Park District Board of Directors and Bob is in the Rotary, Kiwanis, past president of Main Street Lincoln, on the Lincoln Parks and Trails Foundation Board, and works with fund-raising for Lincoln College.

 

Although they’ll they move to the new location, which Sparrow owns, from the Broadway office, which Neal owns, they’ll be leaving a "new" building behind as well. The Broadway office is part of the downtown facade renovation grant, and work is beginning on Sept. 11. Many would say the new location at Kickapoo and Clinton does not look "workable" at this point, but the pressure has been on to finish the interior so they can move and work can begin on Broadway. The new building was designed by Bob Shattuck, and local contractors were used as much as possible. There is room on the lot for another complementary professional building, but there are no plans for one at the present time.

 

Sparrow and Neal said they decided to build in downtown Lincoln rather than move to the west side because "the traffic is still downtown." "Even though the mix of retail to service businesses has changed, the downtown is more attractive now than it was five or six years ago," they said. Bob Neal and Jim Sparrow are investing in the future as they make the "move of the millennium," but they’re still "helping investors from downtown Lincoln since 1976."

[Wendy Bell, program manager,
Main Street Lincoln]

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Winds damage fields

[SEPT. 12, 2000]  Last night's strong winds wreaked havoc on Logan County cornfields.  Some stalks are bent over while others are completely broken off, creating a challenging harvest ahead for local farmers.  Logan County Extension specialist John Fulton says that some of the corn was already vulnerable because stalk rot and European corn borer feeding had severely weakened the stalks. Many hybrids are also known for cannibalizing the stalk to produce larger ears. All of these factors combined made it nearly impossible for the corn to withstand the strong winds.


Lincoln Ag Center
1441 State Route 10 East
Lincoln, IL
217-732-7948

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