Growing Belleville thru Community Chats: Recent Episodes
The Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce
A Podcast to help highlight, promote and enlighten people, businesses and community events in the Greater Belleville Area
In this episode we sit down with Dr. Katie Rybak and discuss:
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What drove her to open Embody Her Health
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What she has learned in her first year in business
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Why she chose the Belleville Area
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How she assembled the best employees to help launch
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The difference between Embody Her Health compared to other practices
-There June 9th event
- Much More
In this episode we sit down with Althoff Varsity BasketballCoach Greg Leib and discuss:
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How he got started in coaching
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How bad it started
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The journey he's been on the past 25+ years
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All the great players he has coached over the years
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How he has gotten more out the things beyond basketball
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much more
In this Episode we sit down with Tracy McCollum and discuss:
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How she got started with Standard Rule and become the owner
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How Covid helped start Yoga on Main
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The 75 year history of Standard Rule
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How she utilized the chamber to grow her business
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Much more
In this episode we sit down with former Althoff, SLU and Australian NBL All-Star Kevin Lisch and discuss:
- His SLU and Althoff basketball days
- His decision to join the NBL and his journey in Australia
- His time playing in Puerto Rico and Europe
- His Coaching days after his Playing dyas
- His growing family's decision to move back home
- The Transition from basketball career to his new career
- How he game of basketball helped him beyond the game
- Much More
In this episode we sit down with the new Fire Chief of the Belleville Fire Department, Stephanie Mills and Discuss:
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Her becoming the first female Fire Chief in Belleville
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How she views it as more than just being the first Female Chief
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Her Journey from Teacher to Fire Chief
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How 9/11 effected her career
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How she ended up in Belleville
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Her plan for the department
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Recruiting
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Much More
In this episode we sit down with Jeff and Zach Bair of Grimm and Gorly, Pour @322 and The Bungalow and discuss:
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Their newest venture: The Bungalow
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How they got started and added their coffee shop, Pour @322
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How Grimm and Gorly has become a big part of Belleville
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How they focus on the community
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Their love for downtown
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Their love/ hate (kinda) relatinship with the holidays
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Much more
In this episode we sit down with Steve Hemmer from Joe and Onie’s and discuss:
- Steve's background with businesses in downtown Belleville
- Why he opened joe and Onie's
- His love for downtown Belleville
- Why he chose Ronnoco coffee to be served
- How downtown businesses thrive off each other
- Much more
In this episode we sit down with Renea of Copper Fire to discuss:
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Her love of downtown Belleville and why they invest in it
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The challenges of opening the bar and restaurant
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How the business has turned into her pride and joy
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Their new event space and all the unique aspects they have incorporated into it
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How they focus on making music a big dynamic for their venue
-Much more
In this episode we sit down with MLB Draftee Zander Mueth and former Belleville East Lancer and discuss:
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What draft night was like
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His Journey to the MLB draft
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How he plans to make an impact on the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization
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We get insights from his pitching coach (and brother of our co-host) Brett Huber
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much more
In this episode we sit down with Chris Pondoff of Illinois Recovery Center and discuss:
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The mission of the new rehab center in Swansea
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Why he and his partners decided to open the Rehab Center in this area
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Chris' own sobriety and giving back
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The challenges they faced with opening this center
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Much more
In this Episode we sit down with Mary Lamie of the St. Louis Regional Freightway and Bi State Development and discuss:
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How imperative the St Louis Regional Freightway has been in helping the Metro East grow
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Why the St Louis Regional Freightway was formed
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How they are working for a possible fix to trains stopping and blocking Highway 15 in East St Louis
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How they have helped the improvements on the Merchants Rail Bridge make train infrastructure more fluent
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How they are constantly trying to get more manfacturing jobs to come to the Belleville Area
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How they have worked to help the new Chain of Rocks Bridge
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The River Tourist attractions they are in charge of
In this episode we sit down with Mark Mueller of Mueller Furniture to discuss:
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How he got started in the family business
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How and why they have focused on expansion
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How and why they still invest in their Belleville location
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The journey to opening their 4th location and warehouse in Fairview soon
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How he has navigated working in and growing a family business
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Much more
In this episode we sit down with the CEO of Hospice of Southern Illinois, Amy Richter, and discuss:
- Her path to becoming CEO of Hospice of Southern Illinois
- How she became President of the Board for the Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce
- What Leadership Belleville did for her
- How the Chamber has helped her company
- How an admitted introvert has used the chamber to grow personally
- Plus much more
In this episode we sit down with Bennie Parr of Bennies Pizza and Pub
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How and why he decided to launch Bennies Pizza and Pub
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The idea behind it
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Their 5 year anniversary party coming up
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Where the name and logo came from (very cool story)
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How they come up with new and crazy pizza ideas (Ever had a green bean casserole pizza?)
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How the "community" of Belleville Main Street has helped them thrive and survive
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and much more.
In this episode we sit down with Lisa Elbe of Without Limits Team Galaxy Cheer Squad and Discuss:
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How they selected to go to Germany for the Special Olympics to cheer on team USA!
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How the team was notified they were chosen and their reaction
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How she got involved with the organization
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All the great things the organization does
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How you can contribute
Much more
In this episode we sit down with Natalie Jablonski and Melissa Fanning of the United Way and dsicuss:
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How they got involved with the United Way
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How they focus on the Metro East
-The impact the United Way has on the community
-How to get involved with United Way
and much more
In this Episode we sit down with Jason Frazier of Mindseye and discuss:
- How Mindseye helps the blind on a daily basis
-How great of an organization they are
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How you can help by just reading the newspaper, magazine or other aspects
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How they got started
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How Jason got started with Mindseye
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The impact they have had
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Much More
In this episode we sit down Scott Schmelzel from Belleville Main Street Committee and the Lucky Leprechaun to discuss:
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History of St Patricks Day in Belleville
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The Lucky Leprechaun 5k
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Hibernians St Patricks day Parade
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St. Patricks Day Block Party in Downtown Belleville
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How the Block Party has grown since 2014
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How all downtown businesses and restaurants work together to help make it a great day for all
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Upcoming events in Downtown Belleville
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Where to find the best Tacos, Pizza, Burgers, Sushi, Ice Cream, Sweets, Cajun, Wings, Chinese, Coffee, Wine, BBQ, Micro Brews, Live Music, and shopping in downtown Belleville
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And much more.
In this episode we sit down with Ericka Logan of Logan, LLC and we discuss:
- How her and her husband Willie decided to start Logan and Logan LLC
-Their rapid growth and the hustle they use to help it grow more
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How they credit the Greater Belleville Chamber and SBDC with helping them grow
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How they give back to the community
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How they won the Chamber Business of the Year award in 2022.
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How their family and support system has helped them maintain both a family life and work life
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much more
We sit down with Kara Osthoff to discuss:
- All things city wide
-City Council
-West End Belleville
- City Growth
and much more
In this episode we sit down with Belleville District 118 Superintendent Dr. Ryan Boike and discuss:
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his path through his educational career
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His 27 years at District 118
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How well they work together on a vision with District #201
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How they are able to bring on the best teachers in the area in such a tough time for hiring
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The growth of the district
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The districts diversity initiative
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and much more
In this Episode we sit down with Josh Nimmo, owner of Crossfit MetroEast and discuss:
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How he transitioned from college sports to running his own business
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How important physical health is and how they are different than your normal gyms
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How physical health helps with mental health
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How he ended up in the Metro East area
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How he has utilized the help of a mentor to help him focus ON his business
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and much more
In this episode we sit down with Mila Curtis, Elizabeth Bouse and Katherine Lippert. All three are High School students who are currently in the Belleville CEO program and we discuss:
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How they got involved with the program
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The mission of the program
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The structure of the class that requires them do 3 business each year including a Class Business and a personal business.
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Their Class Business this year is a Networking Event at Bid Daddys on Jan 28 (get tickets here- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ceo-glow-tickets-453859344517) and will include a band, food and cocktails.
-How they worked as a class to meet with business owners to help with the donations and funding for this event.
-How they are learning a valuable skill set that will set them apart from others
-What they have gotten the most out of the program and why they enjoy it so much.
In this episode we sit down with Scott Schmelzel and Sean Martin of Big Daddys 618 and discuss:
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How Big Daddy's 618 helped start the transformation of restaurants and bars to downtown Belleville
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How the Belleville Main Street Committee is working to continue the success of all the business on main street
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How all the bars, restaurants and retail establishments downtown Belleville work together to promote each other
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How downtown Belleville has become a hot spot for class reunions including to 20 year class reunion of the 2002 Althoff class this weekend at Big Daddys
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and much more
In this episode we discuss the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) with Cheryl Brunsmann of St. Clair County Health Dept and discuss: - How her retirement lasted just a little longer than Tom Brady's
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What the Medical Reserve Corps is
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How to get involved with the MRC
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The importance that the MRC plays in the community
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How the MRC was deployed during Covid
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and much more
In this episode we sit down with Rolanda Finch of Its Your Birthday Inc. and discuss:
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How she started having birthday parties for kids in shelters
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How that transpired into starting the organization
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The joy people get from the parties
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Where the currently host the parties
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The corporate partners they have
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How people can get involved
and more
In this episode we sit down the Honorable Judge Annette Eckert and discuss the positive effects that the Teen Court has provided including:
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the concept and development of it
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the incredible % of people who don't have a second offense
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the impact it is having on the volunteers
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the impact and outreach it is having on the student peer jury
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and more
In this episode we discuss:
-Andria's boutique shop Circa
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Her newest venture in downtown Belleville: Belle city Fitness Collaboration
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Why she believes in Belleville
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and what makes downtown so special compared to other towns
In this episode we sit down with Tom Sipula and Kelly Norman from St Clair Country Club and chat about:
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Everything going on at the club right now
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The effect Covid had on the club
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The legacy of Bob Goalby and his relationship with the club
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The benefits of the Club compared to other Clubs
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and much more.
In this episode we sit down with Jo Ann Di Maggio, Executive Director of the Small Business Development Center, to discuss an incredible asset to the business community in the metro east. We talk about
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What exactly the SBDC does
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How they can help small businesses in areas they might need assistance with.
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The programs they offer such as Workshops, Advising, Referral Partners for certain resources (ie- Accounting, Layers, lenders, etc)
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How they run this at little to no cost to the business
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Their relationship with SIUE
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How they can help with Grants
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Their annual Metro East Start-Up Challenge Business Plan Competition for a $25,000 prize.
In this episode we catch up with Heather Freed and discuss:
- Her journey to becoming CEO
- The importance BBBS is to the community
- Carrying on the torch handed to her by Barb Cempura
- How to become a BIG
- The role of a BIG
- Other Fundraising aspects they do
In this episode we catch up with the founder of Soulcial Kitchen, John Michel and discuss:
- The idea behind Soulcial Kitchen
- The Process to get it started
- Their phenomenal Currency Of Caring Program
- The difference between them and other food truck parks
- The story on the Space Shuttle Cafe
- How they are ramping up to open the Food Truck park in just a few weeks.
On this episode we sit down with Brett Baltz of Egyptian Workspace Partners and discuss:
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the workspace environment pre and post covid
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the long history of his 140 + year company
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How his company is always looking to the future trends to help grow
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the family - work dynamic being the 3rd generation of his family to run the business
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How being a mainstay in Belleville and big community advocate has helped them grow
in this episode we catch up with Erik's good buddy and former teammate while in the Pirates Organization and discuss the following:
- How life in the Minor Leagues really is
- How Erik is good at leading daily stretches
- How playing with an amazing roster in Boston
- Brock discusses the day he hit for the cycle in the playoffs against the Yankees in 2018 and is still the only player to ever accomplish that
- The experience of winning the world series
- How special it was to play with David Ortiz
- The current MLB Lockout
- and the charity that is near and dear to his heart- The Jimmy Fund.
On this episode we sit down With Jenna Renner Graser of Renner Funeral Home. In this episode we discuss:
- The history of Renner Funeral Home
- Jenna's background and how she got started in the family business
- How covid forced them to shift
- The life of a funeral director
- and more
In this episode we sit down Dave Schoenborn of the Lincoln Theatre to cover:
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The 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Theatre and their year long plans to celebrate
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The history of the Lincoln Theatre
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Current live shows coming up, Including Old Salt Union on NYE
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Their famous popcorn
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How they navigated the pandemic shutdown
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And the announcement of a great new show lined up for March
On this episode, Erik and Stephen sit down with... no one. We actually decided that on this episode we would take the opportunity to kick off the holiday season by discussing all the fun activities for families to do in and around the Belleville Area and reflect on what these events have meant to us over the years and how important it is for everyone to get out and enjoy them since so many things did not occur last year due to the pandemic In this episode we discuss:
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Belleville Santa Claus Parade
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The Christkindlmarkt
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The importance of Small Business Saturday
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The Chambers Movie Nights with Santa
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The Holiday Pops performed be the Belleville Philharmonic Society (the 2nd oldest, continuously ran Philharmonic in the country behind Boston)
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The lights and The Shrine and WWT Raceway in Madison
Link to the Flier of these events can be found here:
https://www.belleville.net/DocumentCenter/View/8460/2021-Belleville-Holiday-Events-Calendar
In this episode we catch up with BTHS 201 Superintendent Dr. Brian Mentzer and discuss:
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The school districts recent purchase of Kings Point
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The districts amazing plans for Kings Point
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How the district has taken a stronger approach to the trades in the last few years
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The struggles over the past 19 months with the pandemic
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How sports, band and all other extra curricular activities have been an important aspect for students this past year
In this Episode we sit down with the President of Eckert's, Chris Eckert where we discuss:
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the History and Background of the Family Farm and how it got to where it is today
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How Chris got started in the family business
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How they do such a good job drawing in people from MO and other bordering areas
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Some of the exciting things they have planned for the future (including a new beer garden at the Belleville location)
In this episode we catch up Brandon McGraw, one of the owners of Belleville's Original NOLA inspired restaurant, The Quarter and discuss:
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Why they decided to invest in Downtown Belleville
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Why they decided to open their second restaurant during covid
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The HERO Beer Tab at their other restaurant in Fairview Heights, Signature Tap House
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How they, and all downtown Belleville restaurants, work together to help each other
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What the return of events such as the Belleville Oktoberfest and Chili Cook Off mean for restaurants downtown
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A special competition they are having between their two restaurants for the Belleville Chili Cook Off
With the return of events coming to Downtown Belleville. we sit down with the Cari Frick from Oktoberfest and Wendy Pfeil from the Belleville Chili Cook-off to discuss a few things including:
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How excited they and the city are to have these events back this year.
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How much work and time they (along with others) have had to put into this years events compared to past years.
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The effects last year had on the events being cancelled.
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How the events have adapted due to covid and all the precautions they are taking
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Much more
In this episode we sit down with Chris Blair, Executive Vice President of World Wide Technology Raceway to discuss a slew of things including:
- His background and how he got to where he is today
- How WWT Raceway has looked outside the box to bring people into their race weekends
- The impact that WWT Raceway has on the surrounding communities, including Belleville, with their events
- This weekends NASCAR Camping World and NTT IndyCar races
In this episode we sit down with Belleville Mayor Patty Gregory and discuss a slew of things including:
- her first 3 months in office/
- her love for gardening/
- the return of events to downtown Belleville this fall/
- and what Belleville has learned and gained over the past year through Covid to name a few.