Wish to buy at this time’s print version? Here’s a map of single-copy locations.
Sign up for our daily newsletter here
Q: Did any native companies make it into the Illinois Made program this 12 months?
A: This 2023 Illinois Maker class, inducted into the “Illinois Made” program final week, is the biggest one within the eight-year historical past of this system — so after all East Central Illinois was represented.
“The Illinois Made program selects a bunch of our most exemplary hidden gems and one-of-a-kind small companies and encourages Illinoisans and guests alike to find the experiences they provide,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker mentioned.
This 12 months’s group included Champaign’s Hearth Doll Artisan Chandlery, Urbana’s Cloud Mountain Kombucha and Georgetown’s Large Thorn Farm and Brewery. This system highlights all small companies, however Pritzker’s assertion put an additional emphasis on these owned by girls, folks of coloration and members of the LGBTQ+ group.
“This 12 months’s class of Illinois Makers is one in all our most numerous. In each nook of our state, folks from all walks of life are creating scrumptious meals and sharing professional craftmanship. Illinois is sending out the message loud and clear that our state is open for enterprise, and it’s the right place for companies massive and small to name house.”
Hearth Doll, Cloud Mountain and Large Thorn had been inducted together with 45 different companies this 12 months to convey the overall variety of Makers to 276.
Nevertheless, they weren’t the primary within the space to make the checklist. Different native Makers embody:
— CBPB Popcorn Store, Champaign
— Curtis Orchard, Champaign
— Flesor’s Sweet Kitchen, Tuscola
— The Nice Pumpkin Patch, Arthur
— Mad Goat Espresso, Danville
— Prairie Hearth Glass, Monticello
— Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery, Champaign
— Riggs Beer Firm, Urbana
— Sleepy Creek Vineyards, Fairmount
