Year in Review: Reflections on a year just passed
By MELISSA CROCKETT MESKE
IBJ Managing Editor
[email protected]
As the Illinois Business Journal turned 25, another year has wrapped up, and as we moved toward our quarter century mark, a new chapter had begun for the publication.
As the IBJ leaned into its 25th year, what was once a monthly in-print publication became a fully digital news source for the region. Stories are now published each weekday, through the IBJ Online News, giving readers access to news across the southwestern Illinois business and industry region that is timelier and thereby perhaps even more relevant to daily operations.
We continued to share headlines and highlights through our weekly e-newsletter, the IBJ Digital News. We also expanded our exclusive “Careers in View” series, which highlights the unique careers of professionals throughout the southwestern Illinois and St. Louis Metro East region through a unique style reminiscent of a “case study” approach, and introduced our new series, “The Experts,” where leaders from various fields of business and industry share their expertise and advice.
And we now continue the annual January tradition of bringing you a recap of headlines from the year 2025 as we move into 2026. Here now again, we highlight some of the impactful Illinois Business Journal headlines and stories we have reported in the past 12 months. Join us on this journey, and share in the reflection on milestones and moments that were most talked about in 2025:
In January, among the headlines in our last print edition was that the Illinois Commerce Commission had approved the amended Ameren Illinois four-year integrated grid plan. The ICC also approved a revenue plan that established delivery service rates through 2027. The amended plan had gotten approval after the ICC had rejected Ameren Illinois’ initial proposal submitted in 2023.
The Illinois Department of Labor also issued a reminder that employers were now required to provide pay stubs to employees for each pay period. As of Jan. 1, 2025, the required pay stubs were to include complete information on hours worked, pay rates, overtime pay, and wage deductions.
In February, OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton had selected Zach Yoder, MHA, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, to serve as its next president, starting on Jan. 6, 2025. In February, Yoder shared a dialogue with the IBJ about his new position and employer as well as his background and what he saw as next steps for him and the organization.
Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau hosted its annual summit in February at Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey. With a theme of “Totally 80s!”, the tourism team shared highlights and successes from throughout the region to a sold-out crowd of supporters, movers and shakers while celebrating its organization’s 40th anniversary.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker made a visit to the Wieland facility in East Alton to help celebrate its announcement of a $500 million company investment that would modernize the local facility and retain 800 jobs.
In March, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), joined by other legislators, had recently reintroduced the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act. A dangerous nationwide shortage of safe, accessible parking for large commercial trucks continued, as further reporting by the Illinois Business Journal had noted.
Another milestone anniversary was recognized in the region in March 2025. This time, it was the RiverBend Growth Association celebrating as the organization turned 40.
Another headline making a noticeable impact in the region: The Collinsville Area Vocational Center (CAVC) officially broke ground on March 25, kicking off construction of its $25 million facility expansion and renovation.
In April, it was announced that the William L. Beatty Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Alton had been marked for “accelerated disposition” by the U.S. General Services Administration. Located in Alton at 50 Belle Street, the facility is mostly known in the region as the “Social Security office” and houses the Office of Surface Mining. Another federal facility in Mt. Vernon was also marked for accelerated disposition.
Another regional closure announced in April was that of the Gateway Regional Medical Center’s Urgent Care in Glen Carbon. Located at 4273 State Route 159, the facility was slated to close permanently in May, and all medical records would be transferred to the Center for access by patients and providers.
On April 12, Lewis and Clark Community College hosted its inaugural Blazer Con. Most every artist, no matter the genre or medium, are also entrepreneurs, and they depend on these types of “conventions” or events to sustain their livelihoods. These creative entrepreneurs represent not only an important business and industry sector, a vocation and career path, and a defining community culture, but also are also a vital part of any thriving and sustainable local and regional economy. Blazer Con’s first appearance was a success, and organizers promised its return.
In May, the Alton Educational Foundation shared news with the IBJ about the availability of a new dual credit class in the trades for Alton High School juniors and seniors that would be starting in the fall. The class had been designed for students interested in becoming an electrician, engineer, or other related field. Alton School District had partnered with Lewis and Clark Community College and IBEW Local 649 to make this innovative “early bird class” happen and help address this sector’s ongoing workforce needs.
On May 20, 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board released its final report on the July 2023 Greyhound bus crash on I-70 near Highland, Ill., which left three passengers dead and more than a dozen injured. The probable cause of the crash, as determined by the NTSB investigation, was found to be the motorcoach driver’s departure of the vehicle from the travel lanes of I-70 and onto the shoulder of the exit ramp due to the motorcoach driver’s fatigue.
Other contributors to the crash noted were the motorcoach driver’s irregular work-rest schedule and prolonged awake time; Greyhound’s failure to mitigate the motorcoach driver’s recurring unsafe driving behaviors; and the three combination vehicles being parked on the shoulder of the exit ramp due to recurring lack of available truck parking, despite such parking being prohibited by law.
The NTSB report further noted that the risk of collision was increased due to limited truck parking availability and subsequent unsafe parking that is consistent with the lack of long-term truck parking spaces on the National Highway System. In a separate statement, U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL-12) highlighted the federal investigators’ determination that a severe shortage in accessible truck parking contributed to the collision with a tractor trailer parked on the side of an offramp as reinforcing the need for passage of the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act.
In June, the IBJ reported on the U.S. Treasury Department’s final order for penny blanks. Back in May, President Donald Trump directed the Secretary of the United States Treasury to stop producing pennies. This last order of blanks would carry the production of the penny through 2026. At that time, and after 233 years, the era of penny production in the United States will be over.
The retirement of the current-era penny coin should save the U.S. Treasury Department around $56 million annually, according to a departmental statement. The cost of producing a single penny has more than doubled in the past 10 years, from 1.3 cents to 3.69 cents in 2024, according to the Treasury. In its annual report to Congress, the U.S. Mint noted that it lost $85.3 million in FY 2024 making pennies.
However, the month of June first kicked off with FreightWeekSTL 2025, and the IBJ was honored to again sponsor a series of stories from leaders with research, insights, data, and successes to share as the regional economy continues to grow and thrive from year to year.
In July, a headline read: ‘Supply and demand:’ IBHE shares top 10 list of ‘hot jobs.’ A top 10 list incorporating a unique supply and demand analysis was shared as part of the June 25 meeting of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Presenter Jennifer Barnett, the IBHE’s associate director of Workforce Analytics, Information Management & Research, outlined a list of jobs that were expected to sustain gainful employment for years to come for those who complete their bachelor’s degrees in the related fields.
In August, Gov. JB Pritzker signed the Warehouse Safety Tornado Preparedness Act into law. The bill, stemming from the 2021 deadly tornado incident in Edwardsville that tore through an Amazon warehouse building and killed six employees, had been led through both legislative chambers by State Representative Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) and state Senator Christopher Belt (D-Swansea).
In the earlier part of the month, over 3,000 workers from facilities in Mascoutah, St. Louis and St. Charles, Mo., began a labor strike at Boeing that would last until November. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, representing approximately 3,200 union members, had rejected Boeing’s contract offer and went on strike on Aug. 4.
In September, the IBJ reported on the first high school student within a thousand-mile radius to pass the FAA test to become a licensed drone pilot. Sixteen-year-old Zachari Whitten Jr., a student at Madison High School, had accomplished this with the help of Aerial Sync Education’s after-school two-year drone technology program.
Last month, U. S. Steel had announced that it had planned to cease steel processing at Granite City Works. This month, the company shared a change in plans and that it would continue processing raw steel in Granite City.
At an event held on Sept. 10 at The Outlet at Edison’s in Edwardsville, Greenville University President Suzanne Davis was the keynote speaker for CNB’s sixth installment of its speaker series. Davis’s insightful presentation to a packed room of attendees talked about “Six Presidential Mindsets” and the last minutes of the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Davis’s CEO leadership practices led to phenomenal fundraising success for the institution.
In October, the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center brought its statewide bus tour to the Metro East to the region. “Makers on the Move” made stops at Roesch Inc. in Belleville and Ameren Illinois in Collinsville. The tour, in its fourth year in 2025, was scheduled to make more than 30 stops at manufacturing facilities, educational institutions and community centers across Illinois from Oct. 3 through 10 as a part of the celebration of Manufacturing Month throughout October.
On Oct. 20, Governor Pritzker was back in the region. His visit this time was a two-part celebration. His first stop was in Fairmont City, where he joined officials from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), local administrations, labor and transportation stakeholders to announce and celebrate a $670,000 funding commitment to Fairmont City to complete North 42nd and 44th Street corridor improvements – part of the $400 million specifically coming to support 223 projects locally across the Metro East region.
Later in the afternoon, Governor Pritzker, joined by several state and Metro East leaders again, gathered in Collinsville for a second celebration. This time, it was to honor the day as “Glyn Ramage Day,” as declared by the Governor’s proclamation. The Downstate Illinois Laborers’ District Council was dedicating its new facility at 19 Gateway Drive in Collinsville and christening it with the name of their recently retired business manager, Glyn Ramage. Ramage had served for over 25 years.
In November, it was back to work at Boeing, as union workers accepted the company’s fifth contract offer. Workers would begin returning to all the St. Louis region sites beginning with the third shift on Nov. 16. The strike had been going on for over three months. The approved offer includes a $6,000 signing bonus, instead of the original $5,000 offered in August. However, Boeing extended the contract’s term from four to five years, with a 24 percent general wage increase – 8 percent in the first year and 4 percent in each of the following years.
OSF HealthCare also shared details with the IBJ in November of its OnCall Connect program and its potential to serve as a turnkey wellness solution for regional employers who are seeking on-site preventative care via screenings that are mobile and digital. Employees can visit the OSF OnCall Connect mobile services van on-site and have access to a range of health screenings and wellness resources.
Also in November, the IBJ hosted its third annual publishing of its “Giving Guide.” This year, we partnered with the United Way of Greater St. Louis and featured 20 nonprofits for readers to consider as a part of their holiday and year-end giving.
And in December, U. S. Steel announced plans to refire Blast Furnace B at Granite City Works. The furnace had been idled back in 2023. A U. S. Steel spokesperson said the company expected to add about 400 employees at the Granite City facility to operate the blast furnace, raising the plant’s workforce to about 1,200.
Meanwhile, Lewis and Clark Community College shared plans and timelines for its Main Complex renovations on its Godfrey campus as a part of the RiverBend Growth Association-hosted monthly “Community Updates.” Funding for this project includes $37.5 million allocated by the state’s Capital Development Board in 2019, with the remaining $12.5 million from the college’s institutional reserves as approved by its board of trustees in 2022.
This long-planned capital project began in 2017 when the college first initiated renovation planning with the architect. In 2019, the State of Illinois awarded funding for it. An on-site visit in 2022 by the governor resulted in a release of the project’s state funding, and the project officially entered its design phase in 2024. In late first quarter of 2026, the project will finally go out for bid.
Be sure to stay with us in 2026: Updates happen each weekday at ibjonline.com, with weekly e-news also coming to your email inbox. And if you haven’t signed up for our weekly newsletter, visit our website to get started…and come back each day.
