Turning Over a 'New Leaf' on Main Street

Historic Main Street Columbia's newest business will put customers' health in good hands and help them to turn over a "new leaf" as regards their future health.

New Leaf Massage Therapy is now open at 808 S. Main St., Suite 5. Licensed massage therapist Nicholas Matzenbacher offers Swedish/Relaxation Massage, Therapeutic/Deep Tissue Massage, Aromatherapy Massage & Pre-Natal Massage. Connie VanTassel offers facials and waxing.

To make appointments for any of these services, call New Leaf at (618) 281-8669.

'Team Columbia' Promotes Community With Midwest Retailers, Developers

Three Columbia boosters spent the latter part of last week working to tell the community's story and attract new retail and new development into the city.

The venue was the Chicago Deal Making event, a trade show that assembled more than 2,000 developers, retailers, real estate brokers and city officials for the express purpose of making connections and facilitating new deals.  The annual event is sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers, the global trade association of the shopping center industry.

The City of Columbia had a booth at the event this year, staffed by Paul Ellis, Director of Community & Economic Development.  He was supported by Craig Hiser, owner of CMJP Properties (a brokerage based in Columbia), and David Wittenauer, vice president for NAI DESCO (a regional brokerage with an office in Columbia).  While the two brokers have business interests expanding beyond the city limits, all three worked together as "Team Columbia" to identify and, subsequent to the show, follow up with potential new development.

Columbia was only one of several Illinois cities exhibiting at the show, which drew participants from across the Midwest.  From Southwest Illinois, the City of Mascoutah and Village of New Baden also sent representatives who worked the show.

The Paws That Refreshes?

Pepper's Paws is a new dog grooming salon that is now open at 123 N. Main, adjacent to Vida Verde Studio Salon & Boutique (for humans).   Owner Cindy Pepper offers a full range of services; appointments may be scheduled by calling her at (618) 225-7765.

The recent influx of service businesses like Pepper's Paws are helping to "refresh" Columbia's Main St. and make it more of a destination. 

Reifschneiders Encourage Locals to 'Embrace the Grape'

Here is a photo (courtesy The Republic-Times) from yesterday evening's ribbon-cutting at Reifschneider's Grill & Grape on Columbia's Main Street.  The restaurant has been open now for several weeks and has been a welcome addition to Columbia's older business district--at least judging by the crowds gathered there each evening.

The ceremony, sponsored by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, kicked off an evening of fun that included Twi-Night Out in C-Town and the debut of live music outside on the patio.  Owners Danny & Heather Reifschneider invite the community to visit them at 608 N. Main to enjoy good food and "embrace the grape"--as their theme states it.

Reifschneider's is just one in a series of new eating places opening along Main Street, a small boom that includes Who Dat's Southern Food and a regional restaurant (name to be released) opening a branch here next month.  These dining spots join long-term vendors like The Lantern, Joe Boccardi's Ristorante, Thai House and Gruchala's to make Main St. a place to consider whenever lunch or dinner rolls around.

Columbia Wins Inaugural Home Town Award

The City of Columbia yesterday received the inaugural award in a new category established for the Governor's Home Town Award program to recognize the community's outstanding volunteer spirit.

Mayor Kevin Hutchinson and representatives from five local volunteer efforts accepted the first-ever "Outstanding Community Volunteerism" award as part of a ceremony held at the Governor's Mansion in Springfield. Governor Pat Quinn announced 26 projects as 2010 Governor’s Home Town Award recipients. The awards recognize the contributions of thousands of Illinois’ volunteers for their hard work and dedication towards improving their communities.

Projects recognized in Columbia's award were the following:

Art on the Bluffs
The Art on the Bluffs Art Walk was created to highlight Columbia's art and architecture during the community's sesquicentennial. Ten months of meetings culminated in historic Main Street's transformation to an "Art Walk" staffed by more than 100 volunteers. Sixty‐seven professional artists lined the street both outside and in thirty‐one locations. The Kid's Area was a great success, as children were encouraged to actively participate in creating a variety of artwork, including using recycled materials as well as painting a large mural. The broad range of artists, musicians, and dancers assured all of the 2,500 patrons attending would find something of interest and enjoy the Art Walk.

Friends of the Library
In 10 years Columbia's population has doubled, causing an increasingly cramped children's area in the Library. The Friends of the Library recognized the need and decided to hold a Holiday House Tour to raise funds for additional space. Volunteers solicited hosts for the tour and goods for the raffle, prepared refreshments for the registration point, created promotional materials, and sold tickets. The Tour raised $3,597. The funds provided a larger space for the children's area with fixtures scaled to their sizes and needs.

Kiwanis Car Show
The Annual Columbia Kiwanis Car Show has evolved into a yearly event with 100% of the proceeds used to fund the Kiwanis Educational Enrichment Program at Parkview Elementary. Better known as K.E.E.P., the program fills a gap in the educational process for at risk youth between the 2nd and 5th grades who were in danger of falling behind in reading skills. $5,000 has been donated annually for after‐school tutoring. The success of the program has been determined through increased standardized test scores in reading. Consequently, the school district worked the reading program into their budget. Now funds from the K.E.E.P. program assist in tutoring in mathematics.

Besides the long‐term educational benefits to the area children, more than 250 cars, music, and good food combine for the largest show in the area.

Play Commission
When Columbia was named "A Playful City" in a national recognition program for communities creating an agenda for play, they celebrated by having "A Play Day". The free day was full of activities and fun including Frisbee Golf, Punt/Pass/Kick, Parachute Toss, Yarn Spider Web, Recycle City and many more. A scavenger hunt was held to help participants "discover" Bolm‐Schuhkraft Memorial City Park. Attendees had the opportunity to become "Park Pals", a program to engage young citizens to read and obey park rules, control litter and report abuse or safety issues.

Sand Bank School Restoration
The historic Sand Bank schoolhouse would likely have been demolished if not for the efforts of volunteers. The one‐room white clapboard school, built in 1855 was in poor repair and up for sale. A retired high school principal and his friend purchased the school. Carpenters donated their skills to straighten the eastern wall of windows and reconstructed the foundation of the old coal shed. A local philanthropist provided funds to meet the immediate need of roof repair. The Monroe County Highway Department cleared the overgrowth of weeds that had overtaken the site. Others donated the septic system, concrete, and window glazing.

An innovative partnership was created with the high school Construction Trades classes. Students gutted the inside of the building, helped run electricity, installed plasterboard, and assisted in the heating and cooling system. The students learned valuable skills through hands‐on experience as well as helped to save a historic icon of education.

Columbia's Hampton Inn Has New Owner

St. Louis-based hotel owner, operator and developer Midas Hospitality has announced the acquisition of the Hampton Inn hotel in Columbia.

Announcement of the acquisition of the 77-room hotel marks the third acquisition by the company in the last 90 days. Midas recently announced groundbreaking for the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Paducah, KY (scheduled to open 2nd quarter, 2011) and acquisition of a new Candlewood Suites in Champaign, IL (scheduled to open in December, 2010) just last month.

Midas Hospitality, co-founded by David Robert, President, and J.T. Norville, CFO, was established in 2006 and has quickly become a premier hotel management group in the Midwest. Midas has developed, opened and managed numerous properties including Crowne Plaza, Four Points by Sheraton, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, among others. Midas holds a growing portfolio of 11 hotels in 6 states serving 6 different global brands.

The Hampton Inn Columbia opened in August 2008 under the ownership of Columbia Hospitality, LLC. Kurt Furlong, SVP Sales and Marketing, states: “We are extremely excited to add the Hilton brand to our Midas family.”

Open House Will Preview Aging Assessment

The Columbia Plan Commission will hold an open house on October 25th, at which time members of the public are invited to review Building Maturing, Livable Communities, a draft community assessment, and offer their comments.

Increased life expectancy is creating record numbers of people aged 65 and older. While this age group represented only 13% of the population in 2000, it will comprise about 21% of the population in 2030. The group expected to grow most rapidly in the next 30 years is the one aged 85 years and older.

Over the past several months, members of Columbia’s Plan Commission have been assessing the local community's readiness for the impact of an aging population upon various aspects of community life. In this task, the Commission has used assessment tools provided by the Area Agency on Aging of Southwestern Illinois. While identifying challenges confronting Columbia in the various areas assessed, the Commission also hopes to identify many of the positive features that already make this city a very desirable community for the aged—and for other citizens—now and in the future.

Public input is encouraged as the Commission prepares its final report. Copies of the Commission's draft document are available for download from the City website, at City Hall or from a number of other locations around town, including the Monroe County 'Y' and the Columbia Senior Center.

The open house will be held from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the second-floor Auditorium at Columbia City Hall, 208 S. Rapp Ave.  Members of the Plan Commission will be on hand to answer questions or accept comments, and additional copies of the draft document will be available.  The Auditorium is handicapped accessible.

Columbia (Once Again) Named Playful City USA

For the second year in a row, Columbia has been named a Playful City USA--once again, the only city to be so recognized in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Playful City USA is a national recognition program honoring cities and towns across the nation committed to taking action for play.  Columbia was selected, in part, for its deployment of the popular Park Pal program--cited as a national "best practice"--as well as for the strong supporting role of the community's nine-member Play Commission.

Each of the 2010 Playful City USA communities has demonstrated creative commitment to the cause of play in the areas of quantity, quality and access. Quality relates to the number of usable, open playspaces. Quality involves subjective factors that encourage repeated use and make playspaces engaging, exciting, interesting and fun. Access entails the ability to get to a playspace (roads, trails) and a lack of barriers to the playspace (cost, safety, traffic, locked gates, equity).

Playful City USA celebrates and highlights these unique initiatives developed by communities across the country. A primary goal of Playful City USA is to encourage cities and towns to share creative ideas, concepts and programs in an effort to increase play opportunities for children.

Draft Assessment Ready for Review

The Columbia Plan Commission has prepared "Building Maturing, Livable Communities," a draft community assessment of services for the aging in cooperation with the Area Agency on Aging of Southwestern Illinois. The agency is assisting seven other Metro East communities, such as Edwardsville and Waterloo, in completing similar assessments.

Members of the Plan Commission--an advisory body to the Columbia City Council--began the community assessment last year to focus upon the Columbia community and its readiness for the impact of an aging population upon various aspects of community life. Increased life expectancy is resulting in record numbers of people aged 65 and older--while this age group represented only 13% of the U.S. population in 2000, it will grow to comprise about 21% of the population in 2030.

The 28-page draft document is available online from the City's website and copies are available upon request from the City Clerk's office.  Interested residents are invited to review the document and offer their comments and/or criticisms; the Plan Commission will host an open house to more fully review the report at a yet to be determined date in the near future.

Making Sustainability Sustainable Here

Sustainability has been defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Given the limited amount of natural resources, the current economic crisis and society’s growing concern for good stewardship, cities everywhere must work hard to achieve their potential as environmentally responsible communities.  While many of the nation's larger cities are already pursuing sustainability, it's often harder for smaller cities to do more with less.

To that end, the City is seeking to improve its energy efficiency, increase recycling and develop a general sustainability plan to direct the "smart growth" of Columbia over the next 20 years through development of a program called Columbia’s Sustainable Total Efficiency Plan (CSTEP), which leaders hope will serve to guide the city’s growth in an energy efficient, environmentally responsible, economically vibrant manner. The City of Columbia proposes to implement this program via a four-pronged approach:

I. Development of a community-wide energy efficiency program reducing emissions coming from existing buildings, ensuring new construction maximizes energy efficiency, and improving transportation options;

II. Retrofitting an office building owned by the City as a demonstration project (which is initially conceived as an efficiency and conservation program but which may eventually include a renewable energy aspect) for other commercial property owners within the city;

III. Establishing a whole-neighborhood building energy retrofit project using a sustainable business model that will identify and help fund cost-effective energy upgrades for a large percentage of the older building stock along Columbia’s Main Street;

IV. Supporting a “challenge” program that will identify ways for homes and offices to recycle more and use less energy, recognize exemplary achievement, and reward cooperative effort towards community goals

The City of Columbia will seek funding through all available regional, state & federal grant and loan programs to help the community and participating homes & businesses evaluate, plan, finance and implement activities that leading to greater sustainability in Columbia & Monroe County.

City Seeks to Purchase American Legion Park

The Columbia City Council is seeking to purchase the ball fields and other recreational areas within American Legion Memorial Park in order to maintain their public use.  The City hopes to finance half the purchase with an Open Space Lands Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

American Legion Post 581 has been providing athletic fields for community use since 1958.  With the aging of the group's membership, it has become increasingly difficult for the Legion to physically maintain the fields, so negotiations were begun to transfer the land to City ownership in order to maintain its recreational use.  The 17.1-acre parcel is used by more than 1300 young people annually through programmed sports programs.

Financed by a percentage of the state's Real Estate Transfer Tax, OSLAD grants can fund acquisition of land for new park sites or park expansions; up to 50% of approved project costs can be reimbursed.  Grant applications are submitted statewide and funds are awarded annually through a competitive process. Lands acquired with OSLAD funds are required to be operated and maintained in perpetuity for public outdoor recreation.

With 117 acres of open space, Columbia ranks near the minimum national threshold for open space, but much of that land is currently undeveloped for recreational use; hence, the American Legion Fields are an outstanding local resource for the community--one that the City hopes to preserve for future generations.

Columbians Tour the Past in Jerseyville

Members of Columbia's Heritage & Preservation Commission (CHPC) made a trek last Saturday to Jerseyville to see how another community in Southwestern Illinois is preserving its heritage.

Hosted by members of the Jersey County Historical Society, the Columbia contingent spent several hours in Jerseyville exploring one place which conveniently brings together several historic properties: the Cheney Mansion, a museum & research center, a pioneer log cabin, and the Lone Star School.  The one room school, which was moved to the Historical Society site and restored to the original condition, was of particular interest to Columbia's visitors since they are currently involved in restoration of three historic school buildings. 

CHPC Chair Dennis Patton took particular interest in the brick courtyard surrounding the Lone Star School, which shows locations for every one room school located in Jersey County at the beginning of the 20th Century.  Jersey County Historical Society members sold engraved bricks and benches for the courtyard to raise more than $37,000 to help defray costs of moving the school to the site.  Patton is exploring a similar idea to commemorate one room schools across Monroe County--this brick courtyard will surround the new Monroe County Welcome Center in Columbia's Stone Arch Park.

The members of the CHPC enjoyed many other aspects of the Jerseyville historical complex, as well.  Among other things, Jerseyville was a staging point in the clandestine, grassroots movement known as the Underground Railroad--the route of slaves escaping captivity in the antebellum South. One highlight of the museum is an Underground Railroad Quilt accompanied by posted explanation of its code. Secret messages in the form of quilt patterns are believed by many students of the era to have aided slaves escaping the bonds of captivity in the Southern states before and during the American Civil War.


Pictured above, right:  CHPC Chair Dennis Patton discusses the brick courtyard around Lone Star School in Jerseyville with Patsy Halemeyer, a volunteer with the Jersey County Historical Society, while CHPC Vice Chair Linda Roider looks on.

Main Street Dining Expands With Opening of New Restaurant

Columbia's dining opportunities will expand next month with the opening of Reifschneider's Grill & Grape at 608 N. Main St., next to the ever-popular Tiny's Pub & Grill.  Along with perennial favorite Gruchala's, regionally cited Joe Boccardi's Ristorante and family favorite The Lantern Restaurant, Reifschneider's will help to reorient Main Street as a destination in what many are hoping is the start of a retail resurgence.

The new restaurant will be operated by Danny & Heather Reifschneider in a building leased from Gregg Crawford and with financial assistance from the City of Columbia's revolving loan fund.  Heather--also the proprietor of Vida Verde Salon & Boutique, elsewhere on Main Street--grew up in the food service industry; her father owns Miller's Crossing in Chesterfield.  Reifschneider's will pattern its service, quality and menu after Miller's Crossing with prices that meet the expectations of Metro East customers.

Renovation for the restaurant is being completed on the former Main Street Bar & Grill to provide inside seating for 60 patrons (plus additional seating at the bar) and to create new outdoor seating accommodations for as many as 76 customers.

Welcome, Sandra's Art Depo!

Columbia's Main Street community is working to develop--through venues like the annual Art Walk event--an image as a local center for the arts.  A new business hopes to embellish that image: Sandra's Art Depo.

Located in the building owned by Tammy Mitchell Hines on N. Main St., the business officially opened yesterday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Columbia Chamber.  Owner Sandra Reynolds traded in her career in sales after 30 years for a paint brush and the opportunity to help other artists discover their own talents.

Sandra's Art Depo specializes in decorative art in various mediums, lessons for adults and children, and art sales for home and office--the gallery features a selection of art from various artists in the metro area.  Call Sandra at (618) 281-2060 or register online for lessons.  She says: "Join a class, learn to paint, and see the world in a new way."


Pictured above: Tim Gutknecht (Columbia Rotary Club); Alderman Jim Agne; City Administrator Al Hudzik; "Hutch" Schlafly (Chamber President); Sandra Reynolds; Marsha Han (Roosters Health Food); Bill Meyer (First National Bank of Waterloo); and Sarah Arendell (Edward Jones).

New Strategy Hopes to Rearrange Regional Pieces Into a Vibrant Whole

A tectonic shift is underway in how the St. Louis region pursues economic development--a strategy that may be a real "game changer" in how region partners work together to build economic vitality.

Steve Johnson, Senior Vice President for the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association previewed an ongoing revision of RCGA's Economic Development Strategic Plan today for members of the Greater St. Louis Economic Development Network.  The Network affiliates more than 100 economic development agencies at the state, county and city levels in both Missouri and Illinois--including the City of Columbia.

Johnson began by itemizing the lessons that RCGA has learned while pursuing previous strategic plans over the past decade:

• The region needs to continue to overcome "knockout factors" like a slow growth rate and relatively low levels of educational attainment;
• When regional partners come together as they are designed to do, the region wins deals;
• The region struggles to compete for general manufacturing jobs, so efforts should focus on attracting those manufacturers that already have direct ties;
• Neither Missouri nor Illinois is competitive with other, neighboring states;
• Lack of access to capital remains a major impediment to business growth and--since neither state is likely to address this challenge--it must become a regional initiative;
• The region needs to address its need for talent as an economic driver;
• The region must work together as a region.

How can Greater St. Louis build upon this environment to be consistently ranked among the top ten of the twenty largest metro areas in terms of economic vitality?  The conversation is still continuing, but Johnson suggested four principles and five priorities that may shape the next strategic plan for the region.

Four Principles:

1. Balance recruitment, retention/expansion, and innovation;
2. Recapture the region's relevance as a center for commerce, transportation and distribution;
3. Achieve a purposeful alignment of supply and demand for talent;
4. Be regional in scope and highly collaborative.

Five Priorities:

1. Support growth in key industry sectors (e.g., financial & information services, medical science & services, advance manufacturing for aerospace & defense);
2. Target marketing & recruitment efforts;
3. Increase the rate of start-up ventures;
4. Better leverage all transportation assets;
5. Address talent as a strategic imperative.

Draft Senior Assessment Available for Review Tonight

The Columbia Plan Commission was honored Friday by the Area Agency on Aging of Southwest Illinois for its efforts in undertaking an assessment of senior services--even though the effort hasn't been completed yet. The Commission’s work will be available for review by the public tonight from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Auditorium at Columbia City Hall.

Members of the Columbia Plan Commission--an advisory body to the Columbia City Council--began a community assessment last year to focus upon the Columbia community and its readiness for the impact of an aging population upon various aspects of community life. Increased life expectancy is resulting in record numbers of people aged 65 and older--while this age group represented only 13% of the U.S. population in 2000, it will grow to comprise about 21% of the population in 2030.

Columbia was one of eight communities honored last week at the luncheon held at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Also recognized were Collinsville, Edwardsville, Granite City, Greenville, New Baden, Red Bud and Waterloo.

Final Credits Rolling for Movie Gallery

Columbia's Movie Gallery location in Columbia Center is closing, limiting rentals and selling remaining stock as its parent company--the nation's second-largest movie rental chain, which also owns the Hollywood Video chain--enters bankruptcy.

Don't expect a replacement anytime soon.  Rival Blockbuster is struggling to survive in a market environment where consumers increasingly get movies through rent-by-mail services like Netflix, kiosks operated by Redbox and their own high-speed Internet connections.  The day of the corner movie rental store--once as commonplace as convenience stores--is surely gone, and consumers will have to pursue entertainment with more technological saavy.

PSC Columbia Awarded $5M Environmental Project

PSC Industrial Outsourcing, LP (PSC), based in Columbia, has been awarded all project oversight and removal responsibilities for remediation work at the former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site in Centralia, Illinois by Ameren Corporation. The project is expected to be worth over $5 million.

The Centralia MGP site was originally constructed in 1868 and originally operated under the name of Centralia Light & Power Company (later purchased by Illinois Power Company). Ameren acquired the property as part of their purchase of Illinois Power Company and is initiating the remediation of the site as part of a voluntary cleanup action through the Illinois Environmental Proetection Agency (IEPA).

Ameren has been actively working to address the subsurface impact at this site, initiating investigation activities in 2000 with additional off-site evaluations performed in 2006 and 2007. PSC worked with Ameren to develop a remedial approach that would address the subsurface impact and allow for future beneficial use of the property. Planning and preparation for the remedial actions began in late December 2009, with primary remedial action activities scheduled to begin in first quarter of 2010. The project will conclude in late 2011.

Impacted soil from across the site will be excavated and loaded on to trucks for transport to an approved disposal facility. The excavation is anticipated to extend to depths of between 3 feet and 25 feet below ground surface. While some activities will be performed under “open-air” conditions, a limited amount of remediation will be performed within tent-like structures in order to control odors and vapors potentially emitted during the activities. Work will be done on Ameren’s property, Ameren’s property west of S. Hickory St. and on the adjacent city streets. The scope will also include the collection and treatment of encountered groundwater and surface restoration activities. Remedial activities will be performed in cooperation with the IEPA.

PSC is also working with local unions, employing operators and laborers from the Local 520 and Local 581. At the peak of the project, as many as three operators and four laborers will be utilized.

PSC’s location is a full service environmental consulting and remediation firm that has been located in Columbia since 1975. In fiscal year 2009, PSC reported revenues of over $551 Million. PSC provides consulting and remediation services for Ameren and other utilities throughout the country.

Monroe County Can Build On Its Assets to Create Jobs, Schultz Says

Monroe County has many community assets in which it can take pride--now it's time to capitalize on those assets.  Such was the message delivered this morning by small town economic development guru Jack Schultz to a packed assembly of local business and community leaders.

During the course of his talk, Schultz highlighted Monroe County's "great prospects"--citing the second lowest poverty rate in the State of Illinois, its generally clean and prosperous appearance, and quaint Main Streets in Columbia and Waterloo--against the reality that 9,000 residents (62%) drive out of county every day to work, one of the highest rates anywhere. Creating more businesses and more jobs to keep those commuters closer to home "isn't just an opportunity for business growth and increased tax revenues," Schultz observed, "but it's also an opportunity to get more people involved in Little League, schools and other community activities."

His challenge to those assembled was to take the same kind of vision that drove relocation of the Village of Valmeyer following catastrophic floods in 1993 and to apply that kind of thinking to other economic developoment initiatives.  Schultz's talking points were supported with success stories he has culled from small towns across America from Leavenworth, WA to Lebanon, NH.

Schultz, the award-winning author of Boomtown USA: The 7-1/2 Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, was the keynote speaker for a forum organized by the Monroe County Economic Development Council.  The Council has also formed a LinkedIn group ("Know Jack") to keep up discussion around the strategies Schultz shared today.

Columbia Seeks New Business at Midwest Trade Show

The City of Columbia participated in Kansas City this week in a trade show sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the global trade association for the retail industry.  The Heartland States Idea Exchange, which migrates each year between Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis, offers one of the Midwest's best opportunities to learn about trends in retailing and to meet national and regional retailers who may be looking to expand into new locations.

Paul Ellis, Columbia's Director of Community & Economic Development, attended the event for the second year running.  This year, he was prepared with display materials and virtual magazines (on attractive mini-CDs) offering economic and community information. About 250 businesspeople attended the event--roughly 20% retailers, 60% brokers (some of whom were representing retailers), and 20% representatives from cities like Columbia and Grain Valley, MO. The event included workshops, roundtable discussions and an afternoon deal-making session with about 60 exhibitors.

Columbia's results from the Kansas City event include leads from a number of restaurants, sporting goods stores, discount merchandisers and even a national bookstore.  Ellis will now be working with local real estate professionals and building owners to turn these leads into tenants.

Small Town Guru Jack Schultz to Visit Columbia February 8th

Jack Schultz, nationally acclaimed author of Boomtown USA: The 7 ½ Keys to Big Success in Small Towns, will be the keynote speaker at a special forum for the Monroe County Economic Development Council (MCEDC) on Monday, February 8th at The Falls Reception and Conference Center in Columbia.

The forum is sponsored by Midland States Bank. Doors will open at 7:00 a.m. and the event will conclude around 9:00 a.m.

Schultz, founder and CEO of Agracel, Inc., an industrial development firm specializing in rural America, is a top economic development authority on small towns just like those in Monroe County. His book has already inspired many communities to find their own vision.

The Boomtown USA project took more than three years of research beginning with 15,800 small towns across the country. Schultz narrowed the list down to a group of 397 outstanding small towns he calls "agurbs"--communities that were growing and offering opportunities to their young people while others were turning into ghost towns. His research has been featured in USA Today, Forbes and BusinessWeek (among others), and he has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs including Bloomberg Business Television.

Schultz has taken his message on the road to more than 300 communities in 44 states since 2004. In 2005, Schultz was named Ernst & Young’s Illinois Entrepreneur of the Year and in 2006 he received the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship.

His company, Agracel, has completed projects in 14 states, owning seven million square feet of industrial space, which has facilitated more than 5,000 jobs. The company owns 15 business parks and a short line railroad.

At the upcoming Monroe County forum, Schultz will talk about the characteristics of towns that are successful as well as the importance of encouraging an entrepreneurial approach in the community. He will also share reasons why it is vital to support local businesses and ideas about how small towns can survive and thrive during hard economic times.

Attendees can register for the event by going to the U of I Extension-Monroe County website, via email or by calling 618-939-3434.