Central Illinois women who own businesses have been able to find ways to find success

As of October 2023, nearly 500,000 businesses in Illinois were owned by women.

Some of those businesses are spread throughout central Illinois. From Pontiac to Macomb to Monmouth, you can find a woman owned business along the way.

Take this scenario: A family of four moves to a quaint small town in Central Illinois. The father is a new teacher and coach at the local high school and his wife is a stay-at-home mother. The family will need to have a place to stay, it will need to be decorated and it is important to keep up with what is going on in the community. These three women-owned businesses can help make this scenario a reality.

Panno Realty

Lisa Martin is a realtor in Pontiac. As the owner of Panno Realty, she will be able to help that family buy a house here.

“Panno Realty is what I describe as a boutique real estate company established 58 years ago by my father Frank Panno,” she says of her business. “We work with both sellers and buyers looking for or wanting to sell residential, commercial and land properties.”

Martin joined the family business in 2009 after the death of her brother John before taking it over after her father died in 2020.

Panno Realty currently has two licensed brokers — Rick Campbell, who has been in the business for 45 years, and Peter Martin, Lisa's son, who also has a career in Chicago.

Catching up with Martin can be tough at times because her job isn't a 9 to 5 business. She says that a client may need her at all times of the day and on weekends.

“This business can be very fast paced and as brokers, we make it work,” Martin says. “However, I will say that with two granddaughters, I make the time to be with them as much as possible.”

The Crafty Coop

Laci Todd is the owner of The Crafty Coop in downtown Macomb, a paint-your-own pottery and craft studio.

“We provide a creative atmosphere for customers to feel inspired, connect with one another and create masterpieces and memories together,” she said. “We provide paint (glaze) and instructions, customers create their masterpieces and then I clear glaze and fire them in my kilns for pickup at a later date.”

The Crafty Coop also provides other crafts and workshops.

There is a lot of family involvement in the business. Laci and her husband, Thomas, are raising three boys. She says that the eldest son helps out at the studio as a “creative assistant.” The middle son loves to paint and make examples in the studio, she said. And the youngest, a 20-month-old, gets in on the act with his “hands and feet painted for baby print masterpieces.”

“We spend a lot of time in the studio,” Todd adds. “It is like a second home for our family to the point that I remodeled an unusable part of my studio to be an office and playroom for us.”

Todd opened The Crafty Coop while still working full time at an office and doing part-time work at a vet clinic. She still works at the clinic but devotes most of working time at her craft business.

“Time is always a limited commodity, there is never enough time in the day to do everything I 'want' to do,” she said. “I love my business so much, it has allowed me to be more present for my family, provide for my family financially, give back to our community and live my dreams.

Todd hopes she can help inspire other women business owners.

“I'd love to see more women starting businesses and be supported by their families and communities,” she said. “Women can do it all, work and provide financially for their families while also being active, present mothers and wives.

WMOI-WRAM Radio

Vanessa Treat Wetterling is part of the group that owns Sunny 97.7, WMOI or WRAM, 1330 AM radio stations in Monmouth.

“I began in the business as a college intern in the '90s doing sports commentary for local high school basketball,” Wetterling said.

Wetterling came to Monmouth to attend Monmouth College where she played basketball. Eventually she got married and didn't leave. Her husband, Todd, is a teacher and coach at Monmouth-Roseville Jr. High.

Wetterling is part of a group that owns the radio stations and a marketing business. That group includes Jason and Bryon Robbins with the radio (Prairie Radio Communications) and the Robbinses and Victor Dantas for Clear Profits Digital Marketing. There are 15 employees between the two entities.

There are challenges for a locally owned communications business in this day of large corporations. It is something that Wetterling and her group deals with all the time.

“Over the last three decades, many local businesses have closed, and more corporate businesses have moved into our region,” Wetterling says. “We exist solely on local advertising dollars and when the decision makers are located in larger city centers, they tend to rely on national advertising as opposed to local sponsorships.

Keeping it local is a mantra many communities want to follow. This takes business owners from those communities to build a business that provides something community members want and need. For the local radio, that means providing news, weather and sports, as well as entertainment and information.

“Owning a business is still very rewarding and you tend to build a family with your long-term employees,” Wetterling says. “Our relationships that we have developed with community members, legislators, schools, customers and listeners are extremely valuable and we hope to continue these relationships into the future.”

This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: These 3 central Illinois women-owned businesses holding steady in 2024