Dan Silverthorn is executive director of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, and current chairman of the HOI United Way fund-raising campaign. He talks with IBI about making carpentry a career choice, the successful development of Peoria over the years, his dedication to the HOI United Way campaign, and more.
In 1964, Jack Vilberg purchased the tri-County franchise, Manpower of Peoria, and two years later, purchased the franchise areas of Bloomington and Champaign and, finally, Mattoon in 1990. Within that time the franchise grew to include offices in Rantoul, Pekin and the first Manpower Professional office, which also opened in Pekin in 1996.
"We think it’s important that the tri-County speak with one voice ... Trying to do it basically on our own hasn’t been easy ... We can tackle issues that are good for the tri-County as a whole as well as count on the others’ help for more localized issues when needed ... I don’t think any of us are looking at it narrowly as to what is in it for us, but rather what is in it for the (region) as a whole."
