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(lively music) (lively music continues) - Welcome to "Business Forward".

I'm your host, Matt George.

Joining me tonight, another good friend of mine, Jamie Durdel.

Jamie is the President and CEO of the Tazewell County Resource Center, also known as TCRC.

Welcome, Jamie.

- Thanks, Matt, thanks for having me.

- Well, I mean, you know how much I love nonprofit.

I talk about it a lot.

And I talk about a lotta times that people don't understand that it's big business.

I mean, the drivers.

How many people do you employ?

- 200.

- That's a lot.

- It's a lot.

- So you have 200 people, and you're charged with not only taking care of those 200 people, but as CEO, you're also charged with taking care of their families too, in a sense.

- Absolutely.

- So let's start off with you knowing sports, and you love sports, and it runs through your blood.

Tell me about your family, where are you from?

Are you from here?

- I actually am originally from here, been here my whole life.

Was a Limestone Rocket.

- Limestone Rocket.

- I'm originally on the edge of Bartonville, so that's kinda where I grew up.

And then ended up starting my career actually at the Children's Home.

Was there for 10 years back in the nineties and early 2000s.

My wife, Robin, we also owned Kona Ice, which is- - You stole my- - I did, I'm sorry.

I didn't mean to steal your thunder.

I was talking about her employment.

So I have a wife and two kids.

Mason is 25 or almost 25, and my daughter Jacy's 19.

- [Matt] You're getting old.

- I'm getting old, isn't that the truth?

My goodness.

- I was gonna talk about Kona Ice, because it's so funny.

It's my favorite little snack in the summer at the ballparks.

- Absolutely.

- And everything else.

Jamie is also the Kona Ice, and Jamie and Robin are the Kona Ice King and Queen.

You've been a nonprofit your whole career.

And I've always appreciated that about you.

You've always cared, you've cared about the community.

And I say it a lot, but I love having people like you in the community, because it makes change all the time.

You're making change all the time and it's big.

So let's talk about TCRC.

- Sure.

- All right.

So obviously, you're at Children's Home, you mentioned that.

You talk about starting your career out, that's experience right there.

- You got that right.

- So people just don't understand the depth- - You got that right.

- Of that agency.

But TCRC, I love the mission, and I have a personal thing.

I've never told you this, but I have a personal tie to this, but go ahead and talk about TCRC.

- Sure, so TCRC was founded, more or less founded in 1983.

That's actually when we were incorporated.

Although the families of TCRC have really been doing work since the sixties.

A holiday school in Pekin provided developmental disability services for some adults.

And what happened was a group of families from the Community Workshop and Training Center here in Peoria, so a group of families from CWTC who lived in Tazewell County said, "You know what?

We sure need a place like this in Tazewell County."

So holiday school merged with the Tazewell County side of CWTC to form TCRC in 1983.

So we're the largest non-profit organization in Tazewell County, our largest Tazewell County-funded agency by the United Way.

We have about 25 different programs from residential services to custodial services to employment, early intervention, group home sellers, day training sites, and just recently transportation, because we acquired We Care.

So we're a large gambit of services.

We really provide a lot.

- What I always find interesting is I always say, people really don't understand what's right underneath their nose.

- [Jamie] For sure.

- You sit here and you look at the impact that the TCRC has, people don't know.

- Sure.

- And if you're not associated with a place like TCRC or CWTC, well, the Children's Home, doesn't matter, you really actually sometimes turn a blind eye to it.

And I think that's a mistake by people.

And I've always thought that, because this agency that you run is impactful in so many ways, how many people do you help on a yearly basis?

Hundreds.

- Absolutely.

I believe our last total was like 770.

And that's honestly, that's before our We Care numbers.

So if you look at the We Care numbers and the 60,000 rides that We Care provides per year, it's very, very difficult to track.

So before the We Care acquisition in July of '21, that number was over 750 with our site center and everything.

- I'm gonna get to We Care in a second, because I think that's a whole nother story there.

That's pretty interesting.

But your mission is, it's very simple and clean.

And I'm gonna ask you, did you change this?

But I want to read it first.

"We are committed to supporting a life of choice for individuals with disabilities."

- Very simple.

- Very simple.

- Was changed probably three years ago.

The mission statement before, the goal of a mission statement, I wanna go to my staff, I wanna be able to say, "What's our mission statement?"

And I want them to be able to spit it out like that.

And it's really difficult when you have a mission statement that's five or six sentences embracing families and helping communities.

And we do all that.

If you look at our website and you look at our outcomes, that's what we do.

But I want it to be simple and I want it to be really easy for my staff and for the people that we serve and the people that we support to remember that is it.

If they want choice, if they want choice of where they live, if they want choice of where they work, they want choice of what they do during the day, we'll support all that.

So that's why that mission statement was changed a couple years ago.

- I've got my ear to the ground pretty good when it comes to nonprofits.

And what I hear all the time is you're one boss that people like to work for.

And I think that's the biggest compliment that you can have from a culture standpoint, because that in this day and age, getting people to stay in a position and you have some longterm people, which is unbelievable in this day and age, but that's not happening anymore.

And so, from a standpoint of your team, tell me something impressive about your team, because you talk about 'em all the time.

- The team, the thing that's the most impressive about the team is how they can adapt to change.

So the state of Illinois, it's ever-changing.

I mean, we could have hours and hours of discussions on the state of Illinois.

So the ranking that came in last year for community funding for people, developmental disabilities, the state of Illinois is ranked 49th.

The only state above them, or the only state below 'em was Mississippi.

And then they've always swapped between Texas and Illinois.

So it's either been 47th, 48th, 49th, someone, it's been horrible.

- It's horrible.

- So we have to really adapt our mission and our programs to what's next, what's the state's gonna throw at us next?

And we call 'em unfunded mandates.

I mean, these are mandates that they're giving us, but we're not gonna give you any money to do it.

So unfunded mandates.

The way my leadership team and my staff can adapt to how we're changing and how we have to be on the path.

They follow the path and it's wonderful that they follow the path.

And I just have to put that path out there and say, "Hey, here's where we have to head and this is why."

And the ability for my staff to turn the page and just kind of move forward, it just amazes me.

- I got in trouble, I'm not gonna name the governor, but a long time ago, so it's not in the last 20 years, but I got in trouble for telling the governor, and I was young, younger, a lot younger on unfunded mandates, how are you gonna change our business when you don't even know what you do?

- It's true.

- And I said that, and then I'm driving home and I got a call from an influential board member and they said, it's already gotten to the board and I thought I was gonna be fired, but it's true.

People again, 49th is pitiful.

- It's pathetic.

- It's pathetic.

And the services are needed.

And here's the other thing that people don't realize.

Not just services, because you're taking care of a group of people.

This group of people are very impactful people.

They work in the community, they cook in the community, they do so many things.

And that's part of what you do is jobs.

- Absolutely.

- That's just crazy.

So I love this next part.

How many years you've been around?

You said '83, it's obvious math, but 40 Years.

- I know, 40 years.

Yeah, it's pretty awesome.

The last time we really looked at kind of a celebration was our 25th anniversary was 2008.

And we built a nice building in Morton.

And that was kind of how we celebrated our 25th.

And then, boy, next thing you know, my team said, "Hey, next year's 40."

And I said, "That sure is."

We didn't really think about that until last summer.

So yeah, 40 years.

So we're really proud of that.

I mean, proud that we, and the way that we've grown, the way that we're significantly expanding our footprint.

I mean, that's been really, really important.

And obviously, in not only our survival, but our success.

So, to have it have it a 40 year anniversary this year, that we're gonna be able to, to celebrate is really cool.

- It's pretty cool.

And I know you've got some surprises that you don't wanna talk about now, but 40 years is the milestone, it's awesome.

- Yeah, proud of it for sure.

- So let's talk about, now I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back, 'cause you know I don't care, but back in '07, I merged Youth Farm into Children's Home.

- Yes.

- That was a long time ago.

And then I took three or four other agencies about 10 years ago and merged three or four agencies into one.

And if you look, and I know when Becky Rossman was at Neighborhood House, she had worked on an acquisition, a merger.

But in that period from '07 to now, nothing else happened.

- It hasn't been much, no, you're right.

- It's crazy.

- You're right.

- I don't understand that that's a different topic for another show, but here's what's neat.

You sat here and you and I had a discussion probably 3, 4, 5 years ago on what collaboration means, what merging means, and all of that.

And next thing you know, you sat there like a boss and said, "Here's what we can do."

And you facilitated a merger with We Care.

Now you've already mentioned it, but what is We Care.

- So We Care are how I explain it in layman terms, it's the big white buses that drive around Tazewell County.

So basically, we are the rural transportation provider for Tazewell and Woodford Counties.

So if people need, if their elderly or disabilities need rides, they can't drive and they need rides from a rural location to an urban location or from an urban to a rural or rural to rural, then we have the county grants to handle that.

So 66,000 rides a year.

We have a fleet of 25 vehicles, staff of about 20-ish drivers, whether it's part-time, full-time.

And the idea of We Care, TCRC was We Care's largest customer, because we serve so many people with developmental disabilities who don't have the ability to drive, so they use We Care a lot getting back and forth to day services, getting back and forth to work, doctor's appointments.

We used We Care a lot.

So we had already had an internal, pretty good relationship with them.

And as we talk about scale and nonprofits and the idea of managed care coming in to the field in the next several years, you talk about how can you position yourself to be a stronger agency and to make yourself more attractive to managed care organizations?

And that's by scale.

So this was one of the first things that we really kind of had on our radar, and as We Care's executive director decided to retire, our boards kinda got together and we kinda led some discussions and said, "Hey, we think this'll work."

And they said, "You have nothing to do with transportation.

Why would this work?"

And I said, "Hang on, we have 35 vehicles."

And they said, "Oh, we didn't realize that."

So it really turned out to be a...

The mission and the other thing that we were really excited about before the merger even happened was the individuals that we serve with developmental disabilities can really be involved in some of the We Care programs.

They, our individuals with disabilities have taken over the We Care Food Bank.

So they're able to take care of the food pantry.

- Oh my goodness.

They're able to be able to work with those Morton families in getting the food pantry to 'em.

The Meals on Wheels.

I mean, so we have we have the ability, it's not only We Care is transportation, but it's a food pantry and it's a Meal on Wheels program.

And we also have, technically, we have the upscale resale shop in downtown Morton where all that funding for that goes to support We Care.

So we can have people, it's just such an intermingling with people with disabilities that can really be involved in the community with all these other programs.

- Let me tell you how brilliant it is from an outsider, I guess an outsider, insider, is most nonprofits have trouble with transportation issues.

So you take a small nonprofit in town that I'm thinking of, and let's say there's an afterschool program, and when you look at three o'clock in the afternoon to six or seven in the afternoon, a dangerous time to be on the streets, that's the value of transportation, to make sure kids, adults, whoever, get home safe.

Think about this too.

You mentioned the rural piece.

That's a thought that people don't give much thought to.

And let's say you had to go to an appointment at Illinois Cancer Care or OSF, that's a hall from where your location is, right?

How do you get there?

We Care.

- Yep, that's right.

- So I love that idea of getting together and actually making it work.

And it's working, isn't it?

- It's working great.

Yeah, like I said, 66,000 rides.

I mean, that says it itself.

I mean, that's a lot of rides.

And the rural side is funded by the state, but then just like every nonprofit, you have a percentage that's funded by the state, and then the rest of the percentage has to come from- - Somewhere.

- Somewhere.

Donors, grants, fundraisers, all that kind of stuff.

So that's really the exact same way.

- Yeah, and this kind of proves my point of a business.

And so for the viewers, you may have a program at TCRC and it may have five different funding streams, five different revenue streams, just like a for-profit.

- You got it.

- That's it.

- So as a matter of fact, if you don't have those five different revenue streams, you wouldn't have that program.

- But here's the other thing.

It's not just the services too.

It goes down to the trickle down to the economy and people actually working.

That's taxes.

- Oh, significant.

- That's productive tax paying citizens.

That's everything you can think about.

- You got it, yeah.

- Were there any issues on synergies with We Care?

- I mean, there were simply because I consider TCRC a little bit more progressive than what We Care was.

Technology was not really a thought to them.

So we have come in and now we've purchased software and we're starting with tablets and TVs and a little difficult for some of those people who've been there for a long time.

But that's every time you merge with an organization and you're doing something that I believe they really understand that this has to be done.

But change is hard.

I mean, it's very simple.

- It's very hard.

And the other thing too is when you bring in another group, you're also bringing in another group of cheerleaders.

You can call 'em donors, some are, some aren't.

You could call them, but think about this.

And when I was thinking about this show today, tonight, I was thinking about the volunteer base, because that's a whole nother piece that I'm guessing is very important to you.

- Sure, sure, yeah.

- And I'm guessing too, that We Care had a large amount of volunteers or could, and now as one your base grows and then you go back to that word you had with scale.

- Yeah, so the thing that's the most impressive to me about the volunteers at We Care is upscale, resale, if you've ever heard of it, that's the downtown secondhand shop in Morton.

But it's high end, it's high-end clothing and high-end shoes.

And it's mostly in Morton.

That is literally ran by 30 volunteers.

There's one lady that kinda oversees it, but she's not there all the time.

And literally volunteers from the Morton community are the ones that run that shop.

- I did not know that.

- It's amazing, it is just been amazing.

And that was very important for us to say, we have to make sure that we don't change too much 'cause we can't, you can't lose that, obviously.

So we are so proud of the volunteers that continue to do that.

And that's some significant funding for We Care.

I mean, that's several thousand dollars a month that goes back to We Care just from that secondhand shop.

- But think about the volunteers and what they feel inside, the impact that they have.

- Absolutely.

- Because you've got, from a CEO standpoint, you've gotta be able to tell that story and that empathy piece of thank you for everything that you do.

- Absolutely.

- That's awesome, man.

So in your strategic plan, you talk about collaboration and that's different than a merger, or it can be.

So when you talk about all of the other agencies that you work with, and you mentioned United Way, but there's a lot of other things that you do.

What does collaboration mean to you as a CEO?

- Well, collaboration is, it's basically getting everybody to move forward for the best outcome for the people we serve, no matter what that is.

We have started discussing some different ways to do some back office, it's not really merging, but it's how can we share resources?

So collaboration can also be sharing resources.

Can we share HR?

Can we share some accounting functions with other agencies?

Those kind of things.

So those are really gonna be the future, I believe, of how collaboration looks, especially in the developmental disabilities field.

People are talking about this significantly around the state and trying to find a way to... You know our friends at Kepple Healthcare, they handle our health insurance.

They have what the school district is and the school district, they all buy into this one health plan.

So it's larger scale for this health plan to be able to get better rates.

So that- - I mean, like a co-op.

- Exactly, yeah, it's kinda like a co-op.

So developmental, or not only DD providers, but all nonprofit providers really are kinda they've heard of this, I don't know how far they've gotten with it, but that's really gonna be the next part of collaboration is how can people get together and really learn about how they can help themselves and the community without, just by scale.

- Very, very true.

- And as I went back to what I said earlier about managed care organizations, they want scale.

I mean, when managed care comes in and that's what's funding the developmental disability side in Illinois.

If it happens, as of right now, it's just a threat.

We don't know if that's gonna happen.

But you see what managed care is doing for everything else, it's probably eventually gonna be here.

- It's gonna be here.

- Absolutely.

So you want to be attractive to those MCOs.

So, having a larger scale and working together in collaboration with other agencies can give you that scale.

- So this is not the most fun topic that I wanna bring it up, because the biggest challenges in the field in developmental disabilities, there's a lot of challenges.

And I know just this last week, Illinois changed some thoughts or rules or funding and there's something constantly going on.

Some of it's good, some of it's bad.

You've gotta parse through it all.

But what are some of the biggest challenges right now in the DD field?

- Lawsuits.

So the Ligas lawsuit was something that a gentleman with Down Syndrome named Stanley Ligas back in the early 2010s, I don't remember actually when it was, but he wanted to live in a group home.

And the state said, "No, you can't live in a group home.

Your funding says you have to live in a nursing home facility."

"Well, no, I want to," he got an attorney and the sad thing is it would save the state for him to live in a group home.

It would save the state money for him to live in a group home.

But the funding level was for him to go to a nursing home.

So he fought and it turned into a class action lawsuit.

And it turned into all kinds of other people saying, "Well, I wanna live in a group home too, in the middle of the community with everybody else."

- [Matt] Set precedence.

- And it turned out to be one of the best things that's ever happened for providers in the state, because now that's kind of what our mission statement is.

They have the choice and they had the choice to do that.

Well, what followed that was some funding changes.

And what followed that lawsuit was the state was forced to now go do a study on how much we can pay our staff, how much funding you actually get.

So the state's trying to not be 49th anymore.

So all that is the biggest challenge is that the state is forced to change their ways, but they still don't really know how to do that.

- I think the state wants to change their ways, but you just said it, sometimes it's hard to know how to get there.

- Absolutely.

- And plus the state itself has turnover and change all the time.

The group that I worked with most was DCFS and people rip on DCFS all the time, but there's a lot of good people that worked there.

And there's a lot of people that care.

And so, it's just hard to make sure that everybody gets from a communication standpoint on the same page.

All right, I'm gonna get off that topic, 'cause I could talk about that all day.

So you have something called Community Days, what is that?

- Community Day Services is really the choice of what an individual with a disability wants to do with their day.

- I love this.

- They come, they show up at one of our sites.

We have three different sites.

So actually four different sites if you count our Springboards.

So we have a site in Tremont, we have a facility in Morton and we have two Springboard programs, one in Pekin and one in Morton.

And basically the Springboard program, I'll start there.

They've almost graduated for the lack of a better term to nothing but community all the time.

So they go and they'll help open Buffalo Wild Wings, they'll go help them.

- This is my favorite- - They learn how to clean Buffalo Wild Wings.

They'll go tour some other businesses throughout the community and see if anybody's interested in the possibility of learning how to understand...

If someone is interested in welding, we'll go tour a welding shop.

If someone's interested in working at a grocery store, we'll go to several grocery stores and kinda show them.

So it's like the very beginning of job training.

That's kinda what Springboard is.

It's volunteering, they do a lot of volunteering, Midwest Food Bank, we've actually just talked to, we're gonna start taking care of the brand new East Peoria community garden that the East Peoria is building with their funding.

So our Springboard program is gonna be going down there and TCRC shirts and taking care of the mulch and the maintenance of those gardens and all those.

So it's basically just getting in the community as much as they possibly can, helping them do what they wanna do, learn what they wanna learn, and just be like, you and I, we volunteer all the time.

So that's what we want our individuals that we support to be able to do as well.

So that's our Springboards.

Then the other part of it is we have some people who we've served for 40 years and they don't wanna be in the community.

They wanna come and they wanna go to their seniors program and they wanna lay back in their recliner and watch "Lawrence Welk".

- Which is fine.

- If that's their choice, I would retire at their age.

Why can't they retire as well?

So we have kind of retirement little sites where they can come out and choose what they wanna do.

They can play board games or they can, or they can jump into one of our mini-enterprises, which is like our kitchen program, our taste the TCRC catering program, our janitorial program.

If they want that, they can have that too.

- They have it.

And I teed that up for you, because this is my favorite part of running a nonprofit are the stories like that.

So Jamie Durdel, president and CEO of TCRC, thank you for coming on.

You gave us a great inside look.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

I'm Matt George and this is another episode of "Business Forward".

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