In his weekly email State Treasurer Michael Frerichs often features family stories.
This week he included delightful photos of his twin boys.
Fresh Produce and Driving Illinois Innovation
Theo and Max are really loving the fresh fruits and vegetables we are getting from gardens and farmers markets this time of year. Well, at least they love vegetables a little more than stereotypical 2-year-olds do.
I think this runs in the family. My grandfather raised sweet corn that he shared with our family, and my parents had a massive tomato garden. Both grandmothers had gardens and liked to can vegetables. Erica‘s grandmother had several raspberry bushes at her home in Norridge that Erica loved to pick and eat from when berries were in season.
Theo and Max are big fans of corn on the cob.
My mom’s father took this family love of fresh fruit to another level.
Grandpa was an entrepreneur at heart.
He built and ran a slaughterhouse for local farmers.
He bought a meat locker and sold cuts of meat to families in Gifford.
Sometimes, he ran a crew that painted houses.
He also loved fresh fruit and combined that with his entrepreneurial spirit. Central Illinois does great at growing corn and soybeans, but there aren’t a ton of fruit trees.
So, every week or two, when fresh fruit was in season, he would drive up to southwestern Michigan.
It was a long day. He would leave about 5 a.m., fill his truck with fruit, grab lunch, and then arrive back home around 5 p.m.
His children told me there would almost always be a line of people at the meat locker, ready to pick up their orders or buy fruit straight off his truck.
I think he did this not just because he loved fresh fruit, but also because he had eight children to provide for.
The local grocery store provided essentials for people in town, but didn’t have a great selection of fresh fruit.
He recognized the demand and filled it.
The boys devour oranges and other fruit.
Today, fresh fruits and vegetables are flown in year-round to American grocery stores from all over the world.
We also don’t have to travel as far, with many farmers bringing their fresh produce to us at farmers markets.
But that entrepreneurial spirit of seeing demand, finding a solution, and growing a business is still alive in Illinois.
We have people with dreams, and solutions to problems, but not always the capital to grow their businesses.
That’s where I like to come in.
We have set up the Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund to make money for the state through our investments, but also to help Illinois entrepreneurs support their families and employees here in Illinois.
Watch the video above, where I talk about some of Illinois’ tech entrepreneurs that I have interviewed.
I asked the General Assembly to allow me to invest up to 5% of state funds in Illinois-based venture capital firms.
They, in turn, have to invest at least twice those dollars in Illinois, tech-based companies.
To date, we are tracking around 11% returns.
That is far better than most all of our other investments, but what really excites me are the companies we have helped to grow here and the jobs that have been created.
Over the last year, I have visited and interviewed some of those entrepreneurs who have growing tech businesses here in Illinois.
I really enjoyed meeting the founders, and we have shared videos.
My grandfather’s summer fruit sales probably wouldn’t have required as much capital to get started as these businesses did, but I know he would appreciate their drive and the risks they took.
I think he would have enjoyed meeting and talking with them and he would appreciate what they are doing for his state.
I hope you enjoy watching them as much as I did meeting them.
