Home, hangout, or quick hello: Edwardsville continues to bloom and grow

 

By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
Managing Editor, Illinois Business Journal
[email protected]

Edwardsville Mayor Art Risavy hosted the city’s annual Business Forecast Breakfast on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in the Morris University Center on the main campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

The full room of attendees were abuzz as they waited to learn about 2025 successes, what’s coming this year to Edwardsville, and who would be honored as a part of the annual awards program. With a theme of “Greenspace and Growth: Fitting the Pieces Together,” Moderator James Arnold kicked things off before Risavy took over the podium.

Numbers and dollar signs defined the first part of the event dialogue such as a $1.223 billion equalized assessed valuation (EAV) in 2024 versus a $576 million EAV back in 2009. In terms of dollar values of construction in the city, $21,604,261 was the number for 2009, while $247,831,082 was the most recent peak in 2018. and $85,197,874 was the dollar value of construction for 2025.

New businesses opening in Edwardsville in 2025 included AlphAs, Keepsake Candle, Tesla, Hollywood Hair, U.S. Lumber, Busy Body Meals, Ivy Hall, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Christian Brothers Automotive, Synergy HomeCare, Chocolate Covered Creations, Scotty’s Sports Bar and Grill, Park North Golf Club, Samara’s International Market, Aura Wellness Collective, Sav-On Liquor & Wine, Quantum Vapors, Preloved, Piercings on Main, Philly Pretzel Factory, O2BKids!, Goldie Company Florals, Wall Street Financial Group, Witt and Wisdom Counseling PLLC, Fit Flavors, and Imo’s Pizza. Also debuting was SIUE’s Health Sciences Complex along with new facilities within the Edwardsville School District.

In 2026, new developments already arriving include Narwhal’s Crafted and a renovation of Sneaky’s Bar & Burger Joint. Further soon-to-be-complete developments announced at the Breakfast for this year include Salt + Smoke (Spring 2026), Koibito Poke’ Fresh Eatery (April 2026), MG+M The Law Firm, Plaid Coffee, Real Agave, and the expansion of Carrollton Bank (Summer 2026) and Prairie Farms facilities.

As many already know, work on Downtown and Main Street infrastructure is also underway, thanks in part to a $2.87 million capital grant from the state of Illinois. Added public parking has been developed and made available at 109 North Kansas, and a very extensive list of development and enhancement projects are blooming for greenspaces and recreational facilities throughout the Edwardsville footprint, as well as numerous ones noted as completed in the previous year.

The excitement resonated throughout the room as Mayor Risavy talked about the all-abilities playground coming to Edwardsville at the N.O. Nelson campus of Lewis and Clark Community College. Further energy could be felt as he shared plans for the development of Goshen Commons in the vicinity of St. Louis and Second Streets for the city’s downtown that will be a pedestrian-only hotspot.

Risavy also shared news of the upcoming establishment of a downtown arts district when the Edwardsville Arts Center joins the block across from the Wildey Theatre location. The Wildey is scheduled to for renovations as well.

Much more was shared with attendees that would continue proving Edwardsville as a premier destination for visitors and a proud hometown for residents, including activities to observe the 100^th anniversary of Route 66 and the nation’s 250^th birthday this year.

The event’s keynote speaker was Dr. James T. Minor, chancellor of SIUE. In his remarks, Minor emphasized the value and importance of higher education, not only in community building, but also in life building.

Minor started out by sharing a visual aid that outlined the “Demographic Cliff,” as defined by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (viewable at https://wiche.edu/knocking/key-findings/geography/).

This study demonstrated an expected decline of 32 percent in Illinois high school graduates between 2023 and 2041. Illinois was second only to Hawaii at 33 percent, and DC was noted just after Illinois at 31 percent. California was at 29 percent, and New York at 27 percent.

Pew Research Center has a new report out that Minor shared as well which supports a continued wide wealth gap between people with and without college degrees. And Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce published study results in 2021 that outlined the ROI, or lifetime earnings by level of education. Someone with a high school diploma could anticipate lifetime earnings of $1.6 million, while someone with a bachelor’s degree could anticipate lifetime earnings of $2.8 million.

Dr. Minor then shifted the conversation toward AI and its integration at SIUE. He noted that ChatGPT had reached one million users in five days and 100 million users in close to two months.

For the sake of comparison, he noted that the telephone and electricity both took decades to be adopted, the internet took about seven years to get to 100 million users, mobile phones took about 16 years. Facebook’s integration was around 4.5 years, iPhone about three years, and TikTok about nine months.

 

 

SIUE’s regional footprint was also highlighted by Dr. Minor. It encompasses not only the main campus in Edwardsville but also satellite locations in Alton (SIU School of Dental Medicine), East St. Louis (East St. Louis Center and Charter High School), and Belleville (Southwestern Illinois Justice and Workforce Development Campus).

“For bachelor’s degree production among St. Louis area universities, SIUE rands number one overall in yearly averages from 2015 to 2024 and number one overall in eight out of ten years,” Dr. Minor noted. He also shared that SIUE has had a total economic impact of $1.3 billion with over 12,000 jobs, according to a recent study.

Further, SIUE Cougars Athletics numbers equate to $247.6 million in economic impact and academic value over the past four years (fiscal years 2022-25).

There were more successes and statistics included as a part of the Chancellor’s presentation as well. And, as he began to wrap up his remarks, Dr. Minor also noted that the university is now looking at ways to further develop its University Park.

At the end of the breakfast program, Mayor Risavy returned to the podium to announce the 2025 Businesses of the Year honorees.

Carrollton Bank was honored as the Large Business of the Year. Chava’s Mexican Restaurant was recognized as the Small Business of the Year. The Nonprofit Business of the Year recognition went to Glen-Ed Pantry.