[JULY 16, 2005] Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce
director Bobbi Abbott welcomed the crowd that was gathered in the
field at the corner of Fifth and Connolly roads, the southeast
corner of the property where the Robert's Sysco Food Service
facility will be built.
She then began the introduction of a line of officials. One by one,
each came forward and sincerely welcomed and thanked Sysco for
choosing Lincoln and then thanked all the individuals and entities
that worked to make it happen.
The following are the additional brief highlights from those
individuals:
Patrick Doolin, president of the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce, said: We are pleased that you have chosen Lincoln. We look
forward to a lasting relationship and wish you great success here in
Lincoln.
Ron Schilling from the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership
summed it up well when he said: This is a day that six months ago
most of us thought would not happen. It is with the assistance of
many people that this day is here.
Lincoln is cooking and we are looking forward to doing more
development, he added.
Mayor Beth Davis said: This is a very happy day for the
community. I'd like to thank the hundreds of people that got us this
project. For many years the city council and the county board have
tried but couldn't it get together, but we sure did it this time.
She thanked the Lincoln and Logan County Development Partnership
and city attorney Bill Bates for their work and expressed great
appreciation of finance chair Verl Prather, city clerk Melanie
Riggs, treasurer Les Plotner and the board members who came forth
and demonstrated the leadership required to make this happen.
She thanked the property owners for selling their property,
especially Ed and Jenny Higgins for their selfless act of giving up
their home of many years.
Lastly, she presented the "key to the city" to Robbie Roberts,
wishing him prosperity in the years to come.
Bob Farmer, chairman of the Logan County Board, said: The jobs
created by Robert's Sysco coming to Lincoln are tremendous. It is
something that has been needed for a long time. This project is just
the beginning of economic partnership as envisioned for the county.
What lies ahead is additional growth.
Rob Orr of the Lincoln and Logan County Development Partnership said: We
look forward to building a long-term relationship that is mutually
beneficial. We want this project to be profitable not only for Sysco
but for the community. We're grateful that this site was chosen.
It also goes to show what a great strategic location Lincoln is
for regional operations, like warehousing distribution. We hope that
this becomes a catalyst for future business investment and job
opportunities in Lincoln and Logan County.
This would not have happened without the significant and
extensive cooperation between the city of Lincoln, the Logan County
Board, the chamber and the development partnership. This is a
classic example of how by working together we can make things happen
in this community. It's my opinion that we can do it again and we
can keep on doing it, because this is the way we should operate with
economic development.
Orr concluded his remarks by saying that he met with overwhelming
support from everyone he turned to throughout the project. The
government boards showed great support all the way through.
He recognized Ron Schilling for stepping up and focusing the
partnership on this project when they were in the midst of
reorganization, Bill Bates for legal aspects, Mayor Beth Davis and
county board chair Bob Farmer for getting support, and the most
underappreciated person for business leadership in Logan County,
Bobbi Abbott. He added county coordinator Dewey Colter, who gathered
and worked with numerous figures, and city engineer Mark Mathon, who
supplied cost analysis figures for funding the project. Orr
expressed appreciation for the work of his office staff. He thanked
Sysco developer and negotiator Delep Bammi, "who is an extremely
charming and delightful person but one of the most ruthless
negotiators."
Additional people who assisted in a major way: attorney Tom
Harris, the Illinois Department of Transportation -- especially
District 6, Bill Glaze, Steve Aughenbaugh, Brian Ash, Gene and Eric
Burwell, Baily Climer, Mike Abbott, Dave Golwitzer, and many others.
Hundreds of people made this project happen.
Julie Moore brought good wishes from Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Also
present with well wishes and paying compliments for the
accomplishment were Sen. Larry Bomke, who said, "I don't know what
I'll do without my phone ringing with Rob on the other end."
The speakers included state Reps. Rich Brauer and Bill Mitchell.
Mitchell said he had a feeling that this is the beginning of good
things to come for Logan County.
Robbie Roberts gave a history of the family business, which was
started by his grandfather Henry Roberts. It began as a fish market
and evolved first under his grandfather and then continued diversify
and progress under his father, Dean Roberts.
With his father present, he said he wished his grandfather could
be here today to see the new generation move the business up once
again into another state-of-the-art facility. The new facility will
take Sysco Foods into the next 40 years as a premier food service.
