•January 23, 2019•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

I have written about how rural Illinois seems to be dying. Not everywhere.
Approaching Mt. Sterling IL (pop. 1,900) from the east, one sees the typical football field bleachers and church steeples.
But my eyes are compelled to the south edge of town. A massive, pure white complex rises six stories or more, sprawling from additions over the years—like a modern-day castle, protecting its town and the rolling countryside, which it does, in its way. This has to be Dot Foods.
Only recently had I heard about this colossus in rural western Illinois. I wanted to learn more.
Early for my 10 a.m. tour of Dot, I stretched my legs on the short main street, stopping into the public library.
I chatted up the librarian, an older fellow.
“Dot Foods? I worked there once—good place, good people, good pay and benefits.”
At Dot’s state-of-the-art headquarters, under expansion, I meet Frank Moore.
A one-time local farmer, Frank worked his way up over 34 years from the warehouse floor to head a 550-employee warehouse, one of three in Mt. Sterling.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.