Business in the 217: Springfield Business Journal Chat with Michelle Ownbey - 03/14/2025
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Business in the 217 here with your host, Trent Arnelson. Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. And you know what time it is because it is, of course, that time of the week of the day where we speak to our wonderful friend. You know her like we do. Her name is Michelle Ownby. And well, she's the publisher of the Illinois Times and the Springfield Business Journal. And you know what we get into here when we have our chats?

It's all about what's cooking across the 217 and slightly beyond, of course. We're trying to make sure that all of the business innovations in the general vicinity are taken care of and covered as best we can. Good morning, my friend. How are you today? Good morning, Trent. Doing well and enjoying this taste of spring we've been having this week.

Well, it certainly beats minus five Fahrenheit. Certainly. That is way too cold. And we are certainly appreciative of this beautiful weather. I hope all of our listeners can get out and enjoy as well. Well, Michelle, we have no shortage of news, whether it be across our country or across our local community. What can you tell us about what the FCC has to say about a local district

deal that will impact those who watch TV. Yes, so this is a national story with a local focus, as you mentioned. You may recall that around this time last year, it was reported that Sinclair, which owns WICS Channel 20 here in town, and many, many others, planned to sell off about 30% of its broadcasting

Sinclair is headquartered in Maryland, and they are the second largest TV station operator in the United States, reaching about 40% of households, so certainly a huge player in the market. And now we have learned that Sinclair has entered into an agreement to sell five of their stations, including the one in Springfield, plus one in Milwaukee and Iowa and Quincy, to...

Rincon Broadcasting Group. And I will tell you not a whole lot is known about the buyer. It appears that this may be their first foray into TV stations. Their background is more in radio. But the purchase agreement that was filed with the FCC, as you mentioned, leads a gentleman named Todd Parkin as the buyer.

He's representing Rincon and certainly has a very extensive media background himself. Now, altogether, it's a $29.4 million deal, pretty substantial. Just the contract is nearly 100 pages long, and it allows a year for them to close on it. It was signed March 7th, and they have until March 7th of 2026 to

Well, that is a really interesting innovation, of course. Sinclair was in the news today.

probably about eight, nine years ago for all of their holdings and for what was perceived as scripted television points. That was a famous clip, but certainly interesting to see that this sale seems to be on its way to going through and we'll be interested to see how all of those stations are affected or stayed similar or how it all plays out. Certainly we'll keep our eyes and ears peeled

on that just like you will and certainly well Michelle that's not all we're keeping our eyes and ears peeled concerning what can you tell us about the former fire station at the intersection of Chatham Road and Monroe Street and why

Yes, so that is another sale that is pending. There was a first reading at the committee of the whole meeting last night, and it is scheduled to be finalized at next week's city council meeting. But as you may know, that

Fire Station, Station 8 has been vacant for almost a year now. You know, they did the big reorganization with several of the fire stations in town, building a new one out further west, and then they relocated that one on Monroe.

plus one on 11th Street. So it's been sitting vacant, and the city put out a request for proposals and did what they call blind bids, and the winning bid was Weiss Properties. They have a property management company here in town. It's two brothers and their father,

who have that company. They've been around for a while, but really been growing quite a bit over the last few years. I spoke with Rick Weiss, one of the sons. He's also a broker with Keller Williams. And he said, not only have they added staff and maintenance vehicles and that kind of thing, so they needed more space physically,

They're also hoping to expand their services and get more into working with renters to help them become homebuyers. So they've got about 300 properties that they currently manage for other folks. But they're also looking at, again, starting to work with some of those renters who are ready to take the next step of becoming homeowners. So that should close in the next month or so. They've got some renovations in the works.

but he said it'll give them a lot more square footage, a place to park vehicles, and of course, better visibility as they look at expanding the business. Absolutely. And happy that that

that building that, of course, had so many functional uses will continue to do so. And, well, we wish that company all the best in their endeavors moving forward and, well, take good care of the place because it should always be in tip-top shape as should our entire city. Now, Michelle, this final topic, we know we got to let you go, but this final topic right here,

Well, it is something of a joke slash dream for the host of this program. You know, he's often said that if you're going to name yourself something like the Cheesecake Factory, I expect conveyor belts. And so tell us about Izumi Rotary and Bar and how cool this is going to be. Yes, because Springfield is getting a conveyor belt restaurant in that moment.

The category of things you didn't know that you needed, but apparently you do. Yes, I had a chance to talk with Yong Wu. He is the owner of Azumi, which is just opening. And they have 4,000 square feet of space in that newly constructed building on Wabash Avenue. If you can picture Gordon Food Service. And then, of course, you've got the Lowe's on the other side. Right.

And there's been a duplex under construction there. Potbelly Sandwich Shop is taking part of the space. They're not open yet, but hopefully in a few months. But Azumi is ready to go as of this weekend. And as you said, what they're really known for is their conveyor belts. Yang Wu said that he was a sushi chef at a restaurant in Dallas and also worked at a conveyor belt restaurant there. So, yeah.

You've got a couple different options. You have a tablet at your table, so all the ordering is done electronically. Right. For the entrees, the main dishes, a robot actually brings your food to the table. You order from the iPad, the robot brings it. But then you've got this conveyor belt that winds its way around all the different seating areas. Right.

And it could have anything from side dishes to desserts, you know, sushi rolls, a little bit of everything. He said about half the menu items will be available on the conveyor belt. So you see something you want, you just grab it. The plates are color-coded according to price points. So when you're all done, they add up how many empty plates you have and what it will set you back.

Well, that is really, really interesting. Really cool. We're looking forward to that, to be sure. Again, anytime you get to eat with conveyor belts, well, it's a strange thing to think about, but it is pretty cool. And I'm really excited to come here, really excited to go there and enjoy it.

And hope certainly that the whole rest of the community gets out as well and has a little bit of fun while they eat. Nothing wrong with that. Michelle, well, all of our talks are always so much fun. And we appreciate that you always find the time to have them with us. We know we have to let you go, however, as the world continues to spin. Well, until we do this thing all over again, can you remind our listeners where they can find more similar information like that, which we've just been chatting about here today when we are not doing so?

Absolutely. If you get online at SpringfieldBusinessJournal.com, you can sign up for Biz Bytes. That's our weekly newsletter, and it's free of charge. Or, of course, you can also sign up to get the full-blown print edition delivered directly to your home or office for just $35 a year. Why not? Why not learn a little bit? Why not have learning at your fingertips? And it's a good deal. Your life will be substantially better with more knowledge,

And, well, maybe that will bring some different changes to our world as well. Michelle, you are simply the best. We appreciate you so much, and we hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and week, and we'll catch you real soon, all right? All right. Thanks, Trent. Absolutely. Business in the 217 here with your host, Trent R. Nelson. Well, why don't you go out and enjoy our wonderful community, enjoy the television that you watch,

No matter who owns the station, go out and enjoy the community, no matter who's in the old fire station at the intersection of Chatham Road and Monroe Street, and go enjoy some wonderful food. And if it's coming on conveyor belts, well, consider yourself fortunate because not everyone's getting that either. So until we do this thing all over again, we hope that all of our listeners have a wonderful rest of their day and week, and we will catch them all real soon too.

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