The Great River Economic Development Foundation (GREDF) and the Quincy Area
Vocational Technical Center (QAVTC) are proud to announce the Jobs in the Gym event, aimed at
helping area high school students explore career pathways and connect with local employers. This
event, formerly known as Careers in the Commons, took place on November 20, 2024, in the
Quincy High School gymnasium, running from 7:30am to 2:30pm.

Jobs in the Gym is designed to give high school juniors and seniors a unique opportunity to interact
with representatives from local businesses, learn about potential job opportunities, and explore
various career fields. By gathering a diverse range of industries and businesses under one roof, this
event provides students with direct access to information on job roles, skill requirements, and
potential career paths that are available locally.

“We are excited to partner with QAVTC in hosting Jobs in the Gym,” said Cole Schwartz, Director of
Workforce Development at GREDF. “This event goes beyond a traditional job fair; it allows students
to discover industries, speak directly with professionals, and learn firsthand about what it takes to
succeed in different career fields.”

30 employers across the Quincy area have already signed up for this event. Jobs in the Gym offers businesses a valuable platform to engage with young talent and inform students about potential career opportunities within their organizations.

QUINCY — The unofficial return of collegiate summer baseball to the Gem City is finally official.

Now comes the push to be ready by May.

Golden Rule Entertainment, the parent company of the Quincy Baseball Club and the owner of the Prospect League’s Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, announced during a press conference Friday morning Quincy will field a team in the Prospect League that will play at QU Stadium beginning with the 2025 season.

That leaves six months to choose a nickname, create a logo and a brand, develop a roster and make improvements to QU Stadium before the the league is scheduled to kick off its season, somewhere around May 27.

“We will act rather swiftly,” said Jamie Toole, the president and chief storyteller for Golden Rule Entertainment.

That starts with a name-the-team contest. Much like it did when it launched the Lucky Horseshoes, Golden Rule Entertainment will seek the input of the community in developing a nickname. The contest will be online through quincybaseball.com.

“Everything we do, we want it to be about the community and geared toward the community,” Toole said. “Baseball is our platform, not our purpose.”

The purpose is to promote and encourage community interaction and growth. 

It’s been the way Toole and others have approached things since the first phone call was made.

Last April, Toole contacted Tim Hoker, a 2000 Quincy University graduate and a member of the Golden Rule Entertainment team, with the idea of bringing baseball back to Quincy. The Quincy Gems ceased operations following the 2023 season and were sold to Full Count Ministries of Henderson, Tenn. The Full Count Rhythm played in the Prospect League during the 2024 season.

Hoker just happened to be on the beach spending spring break with his family when Toole called, but it didn’t keep him from jumping on board immediately.

“(Toole) was like, ‘How about Quincy?’” said Hoker, who lives in Grayslake, Ill., but will run the Quincy Baseball Club. “I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ So it’s been a relatively short timeframe, but there are all of the things we have gotten done so far. And there’s still plenty more to do.”

Structurally, that means making improvements to QU Stadium.

Hoker said there are three specific projects that need addressed — fixing the dugouts, redoing the seating and replacing the lights — and the cost will be shared by what Hoker referred to as a three-headed monster of Golden Rule Entertainment, Quincy University and the City of Quincy.

How much each will be asked to contribute is still being negotiated.

In the meantime, the ownership group is working on putting a team together.

Brad Gyorkos, the head coach at Culver-Stockton College, will be the Quincy manager. Gyorkos spent the 2022 and ’23 seasons as the Quincy Gems manager and skippered the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes last summer. The move back to Quincy is welcome and Gyorkos is excited to build a winning franchise here.

“Summer baseball belongs in Quincy,” Gyorkos said.

But Toole, Hoker and others want to impact the community beyond baseball season.

“We’re not going to be a baseball team that’s here for 30 games,” Hoker said. “We’re going to be a baseball team that’s ingrained in the community.”

Said Toole, “We want to create a vision. We want to be sustainable.”

And recognizable, which is why picking the right nickname with the right colors and the right logo is vitally important.

“We want to sell hats and shirts,” Toole said. “We want people in Hawaii and Alaska and Florida wearing Quincy merchandise. We’re proud of this community and we want the rest of the world to know how cool it is.”

November 15, 2024 | By Matt Schuckman, Sports Editor

A staff review by the Department of Planning and Development shows a depiction of a proposed development at 4301 Wismann Lane. The blue line indicates a property line. The red line shows where the proposed warehousing and distribution facility will be built. The yellow line indicates a parking/delivery lot. The green line shows a parking lot for employees. The purple line indicates entrances and exits to the property. | Photo courtesy of Department of Planning and Development.

Muddy River News QUINCY — In a joint Monday morning news conference at City Hall, Mayor Mike Troup and Kyle Moore, president of the Great River Economic Development Foundation, announced an Amazon warehouse/distribution center is coming to Quincy

The 59,000 square foot facility will be built at 42nd and Wisman Lane.

“What a great day this is for the tri-state area,” said Moore. “This last mile facility will allow us to better serve customers in Quincy and the surrounding region.” 

A last mile facility is the last step of the delivery process where a package is moved from the facility to its final destination. The facility supports the final stage of the delivery process. 

“Amazon’s new distribution center will not only provide expedited service to our area, but lifelong career opportunities with competitive pay and benefits for our local workforce,” said Moore. 

Construction of the facility is scheduled in the coming weeks, an exact day has not yet been provided.

Construction will be handled by Ryan Companies, out of Minneapolis. Ryan Companies describes itself as a “full-service real estate firm” providing services in construction, architecture, engineering, development, management, and capital markets. Their website features a gallery of recently completed projects, including Amazon distribution and fulfillment centers located in Woodbury, Minn., Fayetteville, N.C., Venice, Fla., Bondurant, Iowa, Markham, Ill., and Chicago. 

Mayor Mike Troup said the number of employees for this project will be significant, although no firm number of new jobs is not yet available. According to an Amazon news release, most hourly employees working in customer fulfillment and transportation earn between $17 and $28 an hour. 

“The opportunities this project will provide to our construction and other building services will be significant and will benefit our local economy, while also leading to additional employment,” said Troup.

Moore said he believes Quincy is continuing to grow.

“Quincy is really rolling in the right direction when it comes to economic development, when it comes to a national and international company like Amazon expanding into your area,” he said. “It really speaks about the strength of our economy.”

The new Amazon distribution center is expected to improve customer service by offering faster delivery of products to customers in Quincy and the surrounding areas.