Another trivia question at the Installation Banquet was "Which Rotarian once lived in Detroit....Illinois?" The answer Our President-Elect, "Gregg Ratliff."
If there ever was a success story of someone coming from "Small Town America", it would be Gregg's. Detroit is a tiny burg close to half-way between Jacksonville, IL and Hannibal, Mo. (note the Google Maps "Street View") With the town having no hospital, Gregg was born in Greenfield, IL, south of Jacksonville. Greenfield didn't have a hospital, so was born at the hospital in nearby White Hall. He jokes that the hospital no longer exists and the first grade school he attended has since been closed, while the second has been torn down. Gregg moved to Detroit at age 10. He attended high school in Pittsfield.
The son of a livestock buyer of hogs, Gregg graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville in 1984 with a degree in Business Administration. He initially went to work in a locally owned Jacksonville clothing store. After eight months there, he applied and was hired in Advertising/Sales at the local newspaper. A long career in that business was born.
Nine years later Gregg ventured out with the paper taking a similar position in Florence, S.C.. Being part of a newspaper chain allowed him to grow and advance at other company papers. From Florence he moved sixteen months later to Elizabeth City, N.C. and after almost two years he took a position as Ad Director for a paper in Lumberton, N.C. Four years after that an opportunity to become a Publisher arose in Milledgeville, GA and they moved once again. During his four additional years there, Gregg joined the local Rotary Club. In February 2005, a different company had a similar position available. Gregg eagerly took it becoming the new Publisher of the Pekin Daily Times.
With changes in the news industry and a desire to stay in Pekin, Gregg changed careers. In May of 2012, he moved to Herget Bank as a Trust Administrator. That changed with the Busey Bank merger. Gregg is now a Private Wealth Advisor with them and is now well-settled in the community. This has allowed him to become active in a number of local organizations. He currently is President of the Pekin Area Chamber of Commerce through this coming March. He is a Past President of Pekin Main Street; Past President of the Human Rights Committee; Past board member of the Dirksen Center, Past board member of Illinois Press Association and currently serves on Pekin's Economic Development Advisory Committee.
More than anything else, Gregg appreciates being able to put down roots. "We were getting tired of moving", he confesses.
Jeff Livengood recruited Gregg to Pekin Rotary where he became a member on February 24, 2010. The service club aspect appealed to him when he first joined in Milledgeville. But what he really enjoys with our club is the "community commitment, the camaraderie and the friendship."
Gregg is also our President-Elect and will begin his term next July 1st. He is anxious to continue our history of progress and comes to the job with a background of proven success and honed leadership skills. As a product of pretty small towns, I have to wonder if the size of our club exceeds the population of some of those communities. Either way, we all look forward to his year as our president and many years of service to the Pekin Rotary Club.
Gary Gillis
