A 149-year-old family manufacturing business in Chatham is closing its doors in early June and an unrelated, but well-known, national franchise business will move into its space along Interstate 55. Armbruster Manufacturing Company will close and its 33,000-square-foot facility will be the new home of the central Illinois Roto-Rooter franchise. The sale of the legacy […]
David Blanchette
David Blanchette has been involved in journalism since 1979, first as an award-winning broadcaster, then a state government spokesperson, and now as a freelance writer and photographer. He was involved in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and more recently the Jacksonville Area Museum. David and his wife, Sue, live in Jacksonville.
Posted inNews
A history of the Armbruster Manufacturing Company
Rudolph Herman “R.H.” Armbruster was born in 1852 in Baden, Germany. He emigrated with his parents to the United States before the Civil War and the family settled in Springfield in 1855. In 1875, R.H. Armbruster broke away from his family’s prominent Springfield jewelry business to open an awning and upholstery store. His first shop […]
Posted inNews
“There’s a magic about this place.”
Several Armbruster Manufacturing Company employees have worked for the 149-year-old firm for approximately one-third of its history. What keeps the employees coming to work at the same place for decades? “It’s been a fun job. I’ve been to England four times and to Norway,” said Jim Wiggins, who has worked for 51 years at Armbruster. […]
Posted inNews
How to succeed as a Black-owned business
Black people comprise more than 14 percent of the nation’s population but only 2.3 percent of businesses are Black-owned, according to recent U.S. Census Bureau figures. The most recent American Communities Survey shows that while Black businesses make up approximately 11 percent of all businesses in Illinois, they comprise only two percent of the state’s […]
Posted inNews
Budzinski, the bipartisan Democrat
The most surprising thing 13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski found during her first year in office is that there are many more people like her in Washington, D.C. “There are a lot of us who want to get things done and we work together to accomplish that,” said Budzinski, a Democrat from Springfield. “We see […]
Posted inNews
What do top-scoring and bottom-scoring schools look like?
Here is an in-depth look at four Springfield School District 186 schools based on their ISBE Report Card ratings. Two of them were highly rated “commendable” schools, Owen Marsh and Enos Elementary, while two, Jefferson Middle and Southeast High, were rated among the lowest-performing five percent of schools in Illinois. Owen Marsh Elementary School, Commendable […]
Posted inNews
District 186 report card was a “gut punch”
The COVID-19 pandemic may be officially over, but its effects linger throughout the state’s education system. That’s one takeaway from the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) 2023 Illinois Report Card, a detailed annual summary that shows how the state, and each school and district, are progressing on a wide range of educational goals, based […]
Posted inNews
Warriors with a difference
The Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI) Warriors in Jacksonville just did something that other schools across the state and nation have done only grudgingly or not at all. The school has voluntarily and happily moved away from logos and mascots with Native American connotations. Gone is ISVI’s old Native American headdress logo, which […]
Posted inNews
Inside a caring school
It was a chaotic scene recently in the principal’s office. A young student was obviously in distress, kicking, flailing and screaming, as staff calmly spoke while trying to keep him from injuring himself or others. The student gradually calmed down enough that he willingly followed a staff member to a private room, and within half […]
Posted inNews
Grants support urban farming
Agricultural groups in Sangamon and Morgan counties have each received $60,000 grants from the National Association of Conservation Districts to advance urban agriculture and conservation efforts in Springfield and Jacksonville. These are the first projects of this type to be funded by the association in Illinois.The grants will help to demonstrate how community-based farming can […]
Posted inNews
Renovation revelations
Horse hair, hidden trusses and fire damage: Welcome to the $245 million North Wing renovation project at the Illinois State Capitol building in downtown Springfield. Project workers have experienced the surprise of finding previously unknown, original elements of the building such as wall insulation made from horse hair and grass, hidden trusses and fireplaces, historic […]
Posted inNews
Phase One Armory renovation underway
With usable office space being reduced by the ongoing North Wing project at the Capitol, and the Stratton Office Building slated for demolition in approximately 12 years, a new location must be found for hundreds of state employees in several agencies who work in those two buildings. The solution is the Illinois State Armory building, […]
