When you think of vineyards, Illinois might not be the first place that comes to mind. Al and Jackie Becker started one of the first wineries in Central Illinois in the early 2000’s.

“We had a planting in 1998 that was our initial planting, and in 2000, we planted the main part of our vineyard. In 2002, we planted seedless table grapes. We grow three varieties of grapes here: we grow juice and jelly grapes, wine grapes and we also grow seedless table grapes for eating,” Al Becker said.

You may have seen recent news that Illinois is home to the tallest cow in the US. At 6'4", Blosom surpassed the average 5' height for Holsteins. She never had a calf, so she never produced milk and resides as a happy family pet.

What you may not know is that dairying in Illinois includes 1,117 dairy farmers and 90 processing plants, whose industry generates $8 billion a year for the Illinois economy and 11,600 Illinois jobs.

Convenient, centrally located and affordable: Chicago is the #1 destination in the U.S. for meetings and events. Cvent, a tech company whose web-based software allows companies and associations to plan events, recently announced Chicago overtook Orlando and Las Vegas to take the top spot.