Town's family-friendly business climate remains top-notch

During its 131-year existence, Fisher has boasted a variety of businesses and local employers.

Some are long-running – some version of The Fisher Reporter has existed since 1889. Ingold's Grocery has been in the same family since 1926. Various owners have operated the town's lumberyard since 1891, maybe earlier.

Some are filled with local pride: the Fisher National Bank was established by a group of businessmen in 1955 and is owned by local families.

And some in Fisher's history are just downright unusual. In the early 1950s, a lima bean plant was built to process 10,000 beans an hour for Birdseye frozen foods.

Lifelong resident Dale Ingold remembers farmers in the area growing the lima beans, which were washed and cleaned mechanically at the plant and shipped to another plant for final processing.

The plant's managers brought in Bahamians to labor in the lima bean fields, and Ingold remembers how some workers formed close bonds with Fisher residents. One former worker visited Fisher frequently and as recently as six or eight years ago, Ingold said. The man would come into Ingold's Grocery to visit.

Ingold remembers many other businesses, too: an ice cream shop, a dime store, a bowling alley, a Dog n Suds, a slaughterhouse and an ice plant.

And then there's Ingold's Grocery. The store dates back to 1921, when Jesse and Roy Heiser opened Heiser Brothers with stock purchased from another store.

Dale Ingold started working at the store fresh out of high school in 1948.

"I never got out of there," he jokes.

He and son Steve bought out Dale's father in the 1980s. And daughter Diana bought out Dale when he retired in 2000, so both his kids operate the store. They've all enjoyed working with the Fisher community.

"It's nice to be able to deal with people you trust," Dale Ingold said.

Another growing business: the Fisher National Bank. In its early years, Fisher had two banks. They consolidated in the 1920s and closed in 1930.

In the 1950s, the Fisher Businessmen's Association voted to organize Fisher National Bank, which opened in 1955. CEO and President Mike Estes said many Fisher families still own the bank, and it recently opened its first branch in Mahomet. The branch started as a kiosk in a local convenience store, and opened its bricks-and-mortar branch on U.S. 150 in Mahomet in 2006.

Estes said the community is good about offering residents employment opportunities.

"Fisher is just very blessed to have two very good, light industries that are clean industries and employ a lot of people," Estes said, referring to Vesuvius, USA and Design & Manufacturing.

Vesuvius, located on U.S. 136 on the town's east side, manufactures products for the steel industry and has been in Fisher since the early 1970s, plant manager Joe Grill said. It employs 97, many from within a 20-mile radius of the community.

Design & Manufacturing is on U.S. 136 on Fisher's west side. It was incorporated and commissioned in the 1970s to design and manufacture a film handling system for commercial movie theaters. By the '80s, it was the largest manufacturer of the system in the world. The company also offers a full range of manufacturing services and employs 45 people.

And while businesses are thriving, so is the village's population.

It grew about 50 people between 2000 and 2006, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Mayor Ron Adams said the village plans to open a new subdivision on the north end of town in spring 2008.

"There's only two things that a small town in Illinois can do now; either they grow or they die," Adams said.

He said he's glad his town is the former.