2017 December Issue

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    EDWARDSVILLE – A mixed-use development along Illinois Route 143 and Interstate 55 is about to move to the front burner with significant progress anticipated in the coming year.    A planned, four-way signalized intersection will mark the entrance to Pin Oak Plaza, a 95-acre project planned just west of the interstate. The location…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Eight years ago, attorney Perry Browder with the Alton-based law firm of Simmons Hanly Conroy was approached by Belleville attorneys Ann Hatch and Russell Scott. They wanted Browder to join the board of directors of the Illinois Bar Foundation.     Browder told them, “I don’t even know what the Bar Foundation…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    A mammoth ground storage tank and improvements to a water system spread across several miles will accommodate the growth of Troy for many years, officials say.    The planned project will cost $9 million to $9.5 million and was 11 years in the making, but city officials said the wait will be worth…

An HR view: Potential employers do judge a book by its cover By BARBI HENRY    Here is the joke: Two people apply for the same position in a (insert your company product here) environment. They both start their interviewing process on the same day. One is an applicant who looks like he just walked off…

A tattoo view: Be yourself, but be mindful of the world in which you live By CHRIS HINKLE    As some local readers of the River Bend area may know, I was put under great scrutiny as I went before the city of Alton to relocate my business. In 2015, the Alton City Council decided under…

    IBJ: You’ve been at this for almost a year since the election — a year that has been historic in so many ways. What kind of grade would you give yourself during this first year?         Duckworth: Well, I think I would have to say an incomplete. I have not been able to…