 The new facility will be a one-story brick building with keystone
features over doors and windows. The building will provide nearly
12,000 square feet of office space, which is expected to accommodate
up to 20 staff in the future and will provide meeting space for as
many as 70 people. The facility's architecture is uniquely designed
for all new Farm Credit Services of Illinois buildings. The
design-build contractor for the project is AKRA Inc. in Effingham.
Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be complete
by Nov. 1.Farm Credit's employees in the current Springfield and
Lincoln offices will team up to create the new Sherman regional
office staff. The Sherman team will serve farmers and landowners in
Sangamon, Logan and Menard counties. Together, Farm Credit's
Springfield and Lincoln office teams manage a $170 million loan
portfolio. Crop insurance premiums in the two offices totaled more
than $6.8 million last year.
"Central Illinois has a rich tradition for highly productive and
progressive agriculture. We expect the Sherman regional office to
provide nearly $240 million of loan volume within the next five
years," says Dave Owens, president and CEO of Farm Credit Services
of Illinois. "The board of directors and management team are pleased
to make a significant investment in the greater Sangamon County
community and look forward to owning a first-class facility that
will serve future generations of our cooperative's members in
central Illinois."
Farm Credit Services of Illinois is a farmer-owned and directed
agricultural lending cooperative that serves 8,300 farm families,
agribusinesses and rural landowners in the southern 60 counties of
Illinois. The association manages a $3 billion loan portfolio,
provides crop insurance on more than 1.75 million acres and employs
195 staff based in regional field offices and in the Mahomet
corporate office. The mission of the U.S. Farm Credit System is to
provide a stable and dependable source of financial capital and
financial services to agriculture and rural America.
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Farm Credit Services of
Illinois board members, management and regional office staff --
as well as AKRA staff and local dignitaries -- will participate in
the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new facility. Immediately
following the groundbreaking, a casual lunch will be served at Sam's
Too Italian Pizza, 312 Crossing Drive in Sherman.
(Note: In an email conversation between LDN and Ron Stoll
of Farm Services public relations, Stoll confirmed that the Lincoln
staff will be moved to Sherman and the Lincoln office will be
closed.
Stoll wrote: "Our Lincoln Staff team will be based in the new
Sherman Regional Office once it's opened around early November. And
we will continue serving Logan county farm families and rural
landowners from Sherman.")
[Text from file received Ron
Stoll, Farm Credit Services public relations, and LDN]
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