 Robert Plummer was born and
grew up in the small community of
Litchfield. His father owned a small lumberyard there, which Plummer
explained was a genuine family business in that everyone was
involved.
Plummer said who he is today began with his childhood and the
strong work ethic of his father.
"My father would slap the wall at 5 in the morning, and if you
weren't up by 5:01, he thought the day was pretty well shot, and
that's just the way it was," Plummer said.
As a youngster, Plummer said the family business was really a
family venture. There was always work to be done, and everyone was
involved.
Plummer also noted that in his youth he did whatever it took to
make a penny or a nickel. He had newspaper routes, lemonade stands,
mowed lawns, wove potholders and sold them door to door, and sold
Burpee garden seeds.
"There were always things to do," he said, "and we didn't spend
much time in front of the TV."
When Plummer graduated from college at Southern Illinois
University in Edwardsville, he went into teaching, but at the age of
25 he decided he wanted to own his own business.
He purchased an abandoned piece of property, a lumberyard that
had been shut down for at least nine or 10 years in the small
community of Staunton.
"There was nothing new about this place, but when you're 25 or 26
and you're pretty much young and dumb, you think you can handle a
lot of things," Plummer said.
"There were three light bulbs in the whole building, a potbelly
stove for heat, and if you wanted to go to the bathroom, you had to
go to the Wareco down the street. We opened the place in January and
the weather was terrible, but we worked hard and made it through.
"Before we knew it, though, it was winter again," he smiled, "and
as I said, I was young and dumb, we still had only three light bulbs
and that potbelly stove."
In the second year of business at Staunton, Plummer started
modernizing his facility and growing his business. He said he had a
great community to work in and good customers who helped him keep
the doors open.
In 1981 Plummer opened a second store in Carlinville, and a year
later he took over a bankrupt business in Greenville.
He talked about the bank that lent him money, saying the prime
rate was 21 and 22 percent at the time, but they gave him loans at
15 percent and helped him all the way through. He also noted that
still today the company does business with that small community
bank.
In 1983 he opened a business in Chatham, and then he bought a
business in Edwardsville.
Plummer said that Edwardsville was probably his turning point, as
the town had everything he looked for in a location, and it grew and
became successful.
From there the business continued to grow, adding new businesses
on a regular basis to reach a point where today the company consists
of 46 lumberyards, including the site in Lincoln.
In addition to the lumberyards, the Plummers also are investors
in shopping centers, which is how they first became involved in
Lincoln. They purchased Heritage Plaza and own it today.
They also are invested in motels and are involved in Lincoln's
Hampton Inn on the city's west end.
Plummer said his success is not something that he alone has done.
"I've been blessed with great parents, my wife and family,
tremendous employees and tremendous customers without any doubt," he
said.
He went on to add he's always had good vendors to work with and
very good bankers who worked with him through the leaner years.
He concluded by saying, "I've had great mentors. I believe in God
and I've had a lot of good fortune. I am a true believer of the
American way."
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Plummer said that over the years he has developed a plan of what
to look for in a community before investing. He noted our nation was
built first on the waterways, then on the railways and finally on
the interstate.
When looking at potential communities, he wants to see a moderate
population of 5,000 to 25,000. He prefers that it be a county seat
town. In addition, colleges, government-run facilities such as
correctional centers, and hospitals are big pluses. He wants a
location on the interstate. And finally he wants to see that there
is a need for the products and services they offer.
He said in looking at Lincoln, he found all these things. He
added, "You live here and you may not think so, but I'll tell you
there are a lot of places that would give their eyeteeth to be like
Lincoln."
Plummer's son, Jason, is R.P. Lumber's vice president over
corporate development.
In 2010 he ran for lieutenant governor and won Logan County in
the primary.
When he stood to speak Friday afternoon, he too talked about the
advantages that Lincoln has over other cities and gave a great deal
of credit to the chamber of commerce, the development partnership
and local government for being forward-thinking.
"When we said we were looking at doing this, the city said,
'Great. How can we help?' Your people are forward-thinking, they are
entrepreneurial; they want to grow the city. You'd be shocked how
many communities we deal with that don't want growth, don't want the
new lumberyard and don't want the new shopping center," he said.
He also noted that the Plummers didn't have to go looking for the
local chamber or the development partnership, as both organizations
contacted them as soon as they heard that there was an interest in
Lincoln.
He recounted the story of his first experience with Mayor Keith
Snyder. The younger Plummer said he was working with his crew
scraping floors. He was dirty and sweaty, wearing old jeans and a
T-shirt, when a man walked in the door and said he wanted to
introduce himself and welcome the Plummers to the community, and it
was Snyder. Plummer said he called his dad and said he wasn't sure
he'd made all that great a first impression.
He then commented, "You'd be surprised how many communities that
we don't ever see the mayor."
He finished by saying that Lincoln is not going to grow and
prosper unless the greater area grows and prospers. He encouraged
everyone at the luncheon to get involved in the community in any
venue possible, from volunteering in local organizations to serving
with the partnership, the chamber or local government, whatever
fits, but to just get involved.
He said that Lincoln was a great place to invest and had a lot of
growth potential.
He added that R.P. Lumber is here for the long haul and wants to
do whatever they can to help Lincoln and Logan County grow.
[By NILA SMITH]
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