JUNE 2015 INSIDE THIS MONTH 217-726-6600 •
[email protected] www.springfieldbusinessjournal.com Prison work program p. 4 Community gardens p. 8 The Corporate Review 2015 Springfield’s tourism glass is half-full Women of Influence event p. 10 page 18 Virtual golf p. 11 Del Rio Super Tacos p. 26 COMING IN JULY SMALL BUSINESS Family-owned & Minority-owned CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED SERVICE CHANGE PERMIT NO 209 NO PERMIT SPRINGFIELD, IL SPRINGFIELD, Springfield, IL 62705 IL Springfield, PAID P.O. Box 398 Box P.O. U.S. POSTAGE U.S. PRSRT STD PRSRT SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL BUSINESS SPRINGFIELD 2 | June 2015 | Springfield Business Journal PHOTO BY TERRY FARMER Meet Brian Oaks General manager, Prairie Capital Convention Center By Roberta Codemo he also considered becoming a chef and The walls of Brian Oaks’s office at the he wanted to own his own business; at times taking classes offered by the International renovations. Conventions are the bread and Prairie Capital Convention Center are hung Association of Venue Managers, where he butter and fill in the gaps between events. with signed guitars. “I’ve always loved live baseballsinger-songwriter. cards growing “My momup. thought I was a learned every aspect of venue management. “These are everybody’s Super Bowl,” said events,” said Oaks. “Shortly after I got into star in the making,” said Oaks, who collected “This place has a lot of moving pieces,” he said. Oaks, who said they can bring in upwards it, I didn’t want to do anything else. This is “I was never good with routine,” of 2,000 people.