Legal Leaders Of Southwestern Illinois

By ROBERTA CODEMO    Sherry Keith learned a strong work ethic from her parents. She grew up on a farm near Peoria. Her parents ran the farm at the same time her father worked full time in banking.    She’s always loved finance and graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a degree in management and…

By ROBERTA CODEMO    Tammy Hines never envisioned owning her own business.     She had always dreamed of being a television reporter and graduated from Webster University in St. Louis with a degree in media communications.     After four months as a weather girl in St. Genevieve, Mo., she hated what she was doing and left.…

By RITA DUCKWORTH    If you’ve rented property in the Metro East, you’ve likely heard of Cecil Management Group. For more than 40 years, CMG has managed residential properties and homeowners’ associations.    Founder Dorcas Cecil sold the O’Fallon, Ill.-based company in 2015 to Dave Kunkel and Terry Lammers, but women are still at the helm. Dana…

By RITA DUCKWORTH    When Becky Venuti decided to open her own gym, she started researching franchise opportunities. During an online search, she stumbled upon 9Round Fitness & Kickboxing, a unique concept with over 500 locations nationwide. Hers would be the first in the Metro East. Venuti and her husband Guy purchased three licenses. Their first…

By KERRY SMITH    Building a vibrant business and a high-performing team takes talent, hard work, keen hiring and diligent training. Jane Louer, founder of Louer Facility Planning Inc. in Collinsville, knows this well.     Her firm recently celebrated 21 years of creating affordable, functional and beautiful workspace solutions for clients across the St. Louis region…

By RITA DUCKWORTH    If you think a girls’ night out can’t change your life, just ask Beverly Whysall.     Whysall had a career as a union electrician. As an empty nester, she spent about     10 years traveling around the country, working for a large construction firm. Working with men all day at job sites,…

By RITA DUCKWORTH    Renae Eichholz grew up on a farm on the outskirts of Belleville. Her father worked as a general contractor and ran a business in Belleville.     “I’ve always been drawn to downtown Belleville,” she said.    So, it was only natural that Renae would start her own business in Belleville.     She always…