Saturday, May 14, 2011
 
sponsored by
 

2nd annual development partnership fundraiser enjoys large turnout

Send a link to a friend

[May 14, 2011]  Even though it was Friday the 13th, the board of directors of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership may very well be calling it their lucky day.  

On Friday, 120 people turned out for the partnership's second annual fundraising luncheon. This represents about double the attendance of the first fundraiser, held last year.

The event took place at the Meyer-Evans Student Center dining room on the campus of Lincoln College, with a meal provided by chef Warren Wendlandt.

The day began with a welcome from Mark Hughes, current board president for the development partnership and president of Inland Tool in Mount Pulaski. Hughes later spoke about the state of the partnership and the ongoing projects the partnership will be working on in the coming year.

Mayor Keith Snyder spoke briefly, welcoming and thanking all those in attendance. Snyder said it was great to see such a good turnout and reminded the audience that economic development is a joint venture between everyone.  

He ended his comments by saying, "We're all in this together, and we're all going to see a better day together."

With the resignation of Joel Smiley last month, the board is currently in the process of searching for a new executive director.

Hughes spoke briefly about this before the luncheon, saying that the board is currently focusing on a statewide search, with hopes of finding someone from Illinois, but will expand the search to nationwide if needed.

He explained that there is a network of development agencies and professionals in the state, and the board's committee is using that network to get the word out that there is a search going on.

During the luncheon Hughes also shared that a committee has been appointed to spearhead the search, and members include a fair representation of city and county government, as well as local businessmen. The committee is hoping to have a person hired by the first of July to the middle part of August at the latest.

Hughes also spoke briefly about the Economic Master Plan and announced that Crystal Alley will be the chief operating officer in plan implementation.  

He reported that in the last year 11 individuals have been enrolled in the SCORE program with business mentor Sonnie Alexander.

Wind energy development is still under way, with prospects of future wind farms in Logan County looking very good.

Vic Martinek, board treasurer, took the podium to introduce Robert "Bob" Plummer, president and CEO of R.P. Lumber Co., as well as his son, Jason Plummer.

The Lincoln R.P. Lumber facility celebrated its opening with a chamber ribbon-cut in January of 2010. Located in the old Kroger store on Woodlawn Road, it is the 46th store for the family-owned business, which has locations throughout Illinois and portions of Missouri.

[to top of second column]

In his talk, Plummer told about his progression from a young man purchasing one rundown store with poor heat and lighting and no running water, to a business owner of a chain of lumberyards.

In addition to lumberyards, Plummer also has investments in shopping centers and motels, including Lincoln's own Heritage Plaza and the Hampton Inn.

Plummer talked about the factors that made Lincoln desirable as a location for one of his stores and expressed that for several years prior to opening the Woodlawn location, he had known that he wanted to bring his business to the city.

Jason Plummer, in addition to being an integral part of R.P. Lumber as its vice president, was a strong contender for the office of lieutenant governor of Illinois in 2010.     

The younger Plummer talked about his attraction to Lincoln. He recounted that during his campaign for lieutenant governor he traveled nearly 120,000 miles statewide and planned his stops so that he could do many of his gas fill-ups in Lincoln.

It was also recounted that Jason Plummer was the one to discover the old Kroger building was up for grabs. He said he found out, called his dad and told him he had to come to Lincoln and take a look, and they progressed from there.

Both men also spoke about the assistance they received from the development partnership and the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, as well as the cooperation and welcome they received from city officials.

On Monday, LDN will run a feature article offering greater detail on the Plummers' history as successful businesses owners and how they built a large chain of retail stores from one small investment.

[By NILA SMITH]

  

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching and Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law and Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health and Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor