Riddell Sports Group has a long and storied history of innovation when it comes to sports equipment. Riddell is best known for its large collection of football equipment, including helmets and other accessories widely used in the National Football League and NCAA College Football. The company was founded in 1927 by John Tate Riddell in Rosemont. 

Watchfire Signs is an industry leading domestic manufacturer of digital displays. Headquartered in Vermilion County in Danville, Watchfire has been an innovative leader in the electronic sign business since 1932. The company’s 140,000 square foot facility allows Watchfire to build some of the largest digital displays in the world. Watchfire designs and manufactures high resolution LED signs, custom indoor video displays, digital billboard products, and outdoor sports displays. 

For 150 years through five generations, Vaughan and Bushnell Manufacturing Company has been hand-making high-quality hammers and hand tools in Illinois.  Founded in Peoria and now located in Bushnell in McDonough County, Vaughan has been committed to producing hand tools that proudly state, ‘Made in the USA.’ Many of what are now accepted as basic hammer designs, from the distinctive curve of the claw to the set of the handle and the shape of the head, were introduced by Vaughan. 

The Illinois Manufacturers’ Association hosts a yearly contest called ‘Makers Madness,’ which involves a bracket-style tournament in which the public decides what product earns that year’s title of The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois. The fourth annual Makers Madness event was held earlier this year in February and March. The competition celebrates the incredible work of manufacturers across Illinois. Nearly 250 unique products from every corner of the state were nominated for this year’s contest, with submissions ranging from agriculture equipment to COVID testing supplies to sweet treats and a variety of vehicles.  The contest celebrates the diversity and strength of Illinois’ manufacturing industry. Qualifying products must be made in Illinois.

C.H.I. Overhead Doors is a prominent manufacturer of high-quality Residential and Commercial Sectional and Rolling Steel doors. Started in 1981 in the middle of Amish Country in Arthur, Illinois, C.H.I. has risen to become an industry leader in innovation and quality. A mix of hand-made craftsmanship and computer-aided precision join together to make C.H.I. Overhead Doors…The Door To Quality.

Tuning forks have long been used as a standard of pitch to tune musical instruments music, with the first one being invented back in 1711 by British Musician John Shore.  Most people, though, don’t know that the tuning fork is used for more than just music  -  it has proven very useful in science, medicine and even law enforcement.

Since 1921, these forever useful tools have been produced right here in Illinois.  Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva specializes in high quality, low cost tuning forks made from a non-rusting, non-tarnishing, non-magnetic aluminum alloy.  This combination is designed to produce a pure tone, one that will still hold even after many years of use.

Throughout this series, we have highlighted finished products made here in Illinois. But before those finished products can head to the marketplace, someone has to build the tools and machines that make them possible. In Mt. Pulaski, that someone is the Inland Tool Company.

Founded in 1974, Inland Tool has been in a constant state of growth. They began with an 11,000 square foot tool and die facility, which was expanded to 25,000 square feet in the early 1980s. As the business grew and diversified into welding and stamping, a new 40,000 square foot facility opened in 2000. The addition of a larger stamping facility in 2007 and more production space in 2010 brought Inland Tool’s facility to its current size.

Alto Vineyards wines are grown and produced  in the little Southern Illinois village of Alto Pass. Alto Vineyards is a family owned business employing its' third generation of Renzaglia's. In addition to the Renzaglia Family it employs 18-20 people to maintain its Winery, Vineyard and Retail operation.

From the Vine to the Wine
In 1982, Guy Renzaglia started the first commercial vineyard in Southern Illinois and Alto Vineyards grape growing operation began in a most unlikely way. He planted French-American hybrid grapes in an area where most doubted they could survive. Instead, the vineyard, which was located on a 13 acre patch of land in rural Alto Pass in southern Illinois, thrived and grew.

In Elgin, Illinois, near the southern edge of Representative Mike Tryon’s (R-Crystal Lake) District 66, there’s a company whose employees are nuts about nuts. John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. is the parent company of Fisher Nuts, and for more than 90 years they have procured, processed and packaged some of the tastiest nuts in the world. It is a publicly traded company with products found under the Fisher Nuts, Orchard Valley Harvest, Flavor Tree and Sunshine Country brand names.

Each night, sports fans around the nation grab a barstool and settle in at their favorite watering hole to watch the game. Right there with good friends and a cold drink will be a bowl of well-known snacks from a Bloomington family business: Beer Nuts.

Beer Nuts got their start back in 1953 when Russell Shirk, whose family owned the Caramel Crisp Shop in Bloomington, partnered with local businessman Eldridge Brewster to sell bags of redskin peanuts which Russell had been selling for years under the name “Shirk’s Glazed Peanuts” at National Liquor Stores in Bloomington. The delicious, re-branded snack caught on and could soon be found throughout the Midwest, and before long, the entire nation.

A business originally based out of California is making Illinois its home citing Illinois' improving business climate as the reason for its move.

Welkins LLC was founded in 2004, but its founder, Bill Elkins has been an innovative force for much longer than that. You could say that some of his technology and inventions are literally out of this world. Elkins has been called “one of the true fathers of the spacesuit” and his work with NASA in the 1960’s put him in U.S. Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame. WElkins prides itself on creating innovative cooling systems for the “hospital, sideline, battlefield, and beyond.” Their cooling technology can help prevent concussions, heat stress, and can be used for therapeutic hypothermia, just to name a few applications.

Ever had a chicken nugget or picked up some pre-sliced deli meat? You know those tiny slips of paper in between premade patties? Of course you do. Provisur Technologies is a company you probably have never heard of, but their products are ingrained in our national food culture.

Provisur is a classic story of American ingenuity; the company was started in a garage in Mokena, Illinois by Lou Richards in 1970. Now, Provisur is a worldwide leader in manufacturing food processing, slicing, grinding, forming, and packaging machines, delivering products to over 100 countries.  Back in 1970 the company went by the name Formax, and many of its products are still known today by that name. From its inception, the company has grown, spurred on by its partnership with McDonalds and revolutionary products, and was brought under the umbrella of Provisur, a company that houses six of the leading food processing brands.

A tiny little republic with a population of 100 sits in the middle of southern Illinois corn and soybean fields. Their GDP is tea sourced from around the world.

In reality, California-based The Republic of Tea  is a privately held purveyor of premium organic and exotic teas, with its major production and pick-and-pack facility situated in the unlikely location of Nashville, Illinois.  It is also a major employer in the area with a workforce of 100 “ministers.”

After selling their interests in the original Banana Republic stores, Mel & Patricia Zielgler along with Bill Rosenzwig founded The Republic of Tea in 1992 and then sold the company in 1994 to Ron Rubin. Under Rubin’s guidance the business has grown into a nationally recognized brand. Which means good things for the people in Washington County Illinois who count on the good paying jobs that high quality tea offers.

“Who would have thought that in the middle of dairy and soybean country a company like The Republic of Tea would thrive,” said State Rep. Charlie Meier who toured the facility a few years back. “If it wasn’t for the Enterprise Zone designation we may have never found out.”

Rep. Meier credits the economic development tool with securing the socially responsible company with its 100 jobs.

Even though the Chicago Bears won't be participating in Super Bowl XLIX, Illinois will be well represented when players take the field.

On Super Bowl Sunday, thirty-five players from the Seahawks and Patriots will be wearing helmets made in Salem, IL by Schutt Sports.

The number one maker of football helmets in the nation, Schutt manufactures between 300,000 and 600,000 football helmets each year for professional, collegiate and high school athletes in its Salem and Litchfield Illinois facilities. Schutt is also one of the area’s largest employers.