Year In Review 2018 Southwestern Illinois

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    Holland Construction Services racked up about $150 million in projects last year with a focus on multifamily, senior living, K-12 education and medical services. For 2019, the company wants to continue to expand on its multi-family work while focusing more attention on warehouse/distribution clients, according to Scott Schanuel, senior director of…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    2018 witnessed a resounding victory by labor over the Missouri Legislature’s effort to make the Show Me State Right to Work.    Right to Work was one of the first bills signed into law by then-Gov. Eric Greitens last year. But union supporters hit the streets with petitions and gathered more than…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    The past year saw the groundbreaking for Ameren Illinois’ new corporate headquarters in Eastport Plaza in Collinsville. Upon completion of the project later this year, the new 48,000-square-foot building will house 300 employees including some jobs that will be transferred to Collinsville from Ameren’s St. Louis headquarters.     Also in 2018,…

    The Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce is celebrating a successful 2018, proudly serving as the voice of Metro East businesses and striving toward organizational advancement.     President and CEO Desiree Bennyhoff said the chamber continued its effort to advocate for business-friendly legislation, calling for local units of government to hold their respective tax levies…

By ALAN J. ORTBALS    2018 was a dynamic year for HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, winning awards in quality and safety, expanding services and announcing a new radiation oncology clinic to be built this year.     Recently, St. Elizabeth’s was nationally recognized for patient safety by earning an A rating in the Fall 2018…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    The first part of a major streetscape, and other improvements, have Fairview Heights driving into the new year in fine fashion.    State and local leaders gathered in November to mark the completion of the Phase I of Fairview Heights’ new cityscape project.    The nearly $5 million project is designed to create a…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    Alton Mayor Brant Walker is looking forward to 2019, hoping to top the stellar year the city enjoyed in 2018.    “How do we follow this act up?” he said.    Alton came in for three bits of recognition that led to national headlines. One was the city being picked from among 15,000 cities…

By RITA DUCKWORTH    It has been eight months since the Farnsworth Group acquired EWR Architects in Fairview Heights.     “It’s been a positive experience overall,” says EWR’s founder E. William (Bill) Reichert III.     Based in Bloomington, Ill., Farnsworth Group has been in business for 125 years.    “They acquired us to build upon our firm’s…

By DENNIS GRUBAUGH    Belleville saw many signs of progress in the past year, and Mayor Mark Eckert has a long list to cite.    “We feel like we had a very good 2018,” Eckert said of a year in which the city issued more than 100 commercial occupancy permits.    One of the most significant developments was…

    Tim Kwiatkowski, managing director of FGM Architects’ O’Fallon and St. Louis offices, says relationships with people and communities “drive everything we do.”    “At FGM, we design every school as if our children were learning there, every police and fire station as if it housed the first responders who protect our families and every city…