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Founder of Karmak explains company to Area Rotary

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Been in business for 31 years

30 years ago, J. Richard Schien founded Karmak Technologies and on Tuesday, June 5, he explained to the Benld Area Rotary how the Macoupin County business has evolved and survived over the years.

It was spun off his father’s business at the time which was a machine shop located in Carlinville, Illinois. In 1948, his father then bought a welding shop. J. Richard was usually seen running around in his diaper in the shop, but he was only 7 at that time. “I take exception for that,” he opened.

His father started building truck bottoms for Prairie Farms through the welding shop. He was always busy during the summer time due to tractor and farm equipment repairs, but business went dead in the winter time. That is when J. Richard found his niche.

Karmak grew out of the heavy equipment truck business because machine body parts and technology grew rapidly in the late 1960’s. His father’s machine shop was the receiver of some big ticket repair work. The parts business then grew and grew and grew. “The parts business got to be about 1/3 of the machine shop’s business which was about 6 to 7 million dollars a year,” Richard noted.

To try and keep up with the large amount of business coming through the machine shop, Richard looked into various computer systems. Richard graduated from Greenville College and then attended SIU Carbondale to achieve his master’s degree in physics and math. He never was able to finish his master’s because he was exposed to computers as he worked in the computer center at SIUC.

“I got a good understand of what they could do, so that was a big plus for me,” Richard explained. He also met his wife at SIUC, so that was a real big plus for him. Still in search of the computer system to solve the machine shop problem, his wife’s brother told him that he should write a computer program like he did in Carbondale.

Karmak was then formed on December 31, 1981 and has been in business for over 31 years marking this year. They are the leading designer and provider of business management solutions specializing in the commercial transportation industry.  They have been delivering innovative software and superior customer service to heavy-duty businesses throughout North America.

The company design, develops, and then sells the software to companies who sell trucks, repair trucks, sell truck parts, or lease trucks. “Some of our customers do all of these things,” Richard added. Karmak also has companies who are strictly leasing or rental companies who have a repair shop and some who do not have a repair shop. “It is really a big field.”

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One of Karmak’s most surprising moments was when they thought they would make money by selling computer systems. “Those are high priced, but computer popularity has driven the price down,” he added. Richard then realized visual equipment was not a vertical market, but he did establish that Karmak has only been successful because they have stayed one niche: heavy duty industry.

“We really understand heavy duty industry,” Richard hammered. He went on to say that the company lives off their continuing support revenue. They are not inexpensive for support, but are also not the highest guy out there either. According to Richard, Karmak is in the top tier.

We really provide support. Richard’s brother used to work with Karmak and his favorite thing to do was to call Karmak and time how long it took to get an actual person on the phone. Sometimes he even had two cell phones set-up, one with Karmak and one with a competitor, and timed both conversations before he spoke to a live operator.

Generally, Karmak’s time is around 2 minutes. Their biggest competitor, ADT, is around 30 minutes. That is a big difference and Karmak has to charge for that. The company has systems all over the United States and even up into Canada and down in Mexico and Puerto Rico.

The major part of their growth, especially since the downturn of the economy, has been from companies consolidating. It is the same aspect of car dealerships combining, Richard explained. Truck dealerships combine and the industry is adding twice as many branching as it is losing branches. “In other words, if ADT has a customer that has 15 branches and a branch buys another branch, they are not going to switch to Karmak for that additional branch,” Richard explained.

Karmak has had tremendous growth from their businesses’ success. Richard thinks it is a nice compliment to Karmak’s software as well as their good business practices and picky customer. “There have been deals when I have said we don’t need to sell this guy anything,” Richard explained.

Over the years, Karmak started out with one system they designed and developed in Carlinville, Illinois. Then in 1997, Karmak bought out a competitor in Springfield, Missouri. Right now, Karmak has 40 employees in Springfield, Missouri office and about 140 in the Carlinville headquarters. They were forced to keep the 40 employees in Springfield because they were unfamiliar with the system in use.

“We are trying to replace both systems and have been since the early 2000’s,” Richard said. “We want a full-blown windows system. Our strongest competitors don’t have a full blown windows system other than one.” Karmak is finally cracking away at finalizing that product and have 3 customers running a trial version since March. They expect that number to triple by the end of the year. When Karmak gets to 25 customers on one item, Richard will then consider it a product.

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Karmak has 70 companies’ systems sitting in Carlinville, Illinois tied through the internet. “We are a big fan of the cloud,” Richard noted. But, it has to be maintained properly before we put anything in the cloud. “They have to have really good back-ups and, of course, generators if they lose power. They must have a second telephone line in and out of their building in case they have problems,” Richard explained.

The headquarters in Carlinville has two paths out of the building in fiber optic wiring and two paths to their office in Springfield, Missouri. One path is in fiber optic and one regular wire. “That has been a lot of years and money,” Richard noted.

Right now, Karmak is second in the industry behind ADT and has developers living all over the United States. They have about 240 employees worldwide.

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CUSD 7 News

Miners girls basketball clinch SCC championship

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In a nail-biting showdown that will be remembered for years to come, the Gillespie Miners girls basketball team captured the South Central Conference title with a hard-fought 55-52 victory over the Pana Panthers on Thursday night, February 13. This marks Gillespie’s first conference championship since their back-to-back titles in 2001-02, when they shared the honors with Southwestern both finishing with a 9-1 conference record.

The game held at Pana High School was anything but straightforward. After a tumultuous 13-minute delay due to injuries and a technical foul controversy, the Miners rallied their spirits to secure the win. Amari Vickery led the charge with a stellar performance, scoring 21 points, while Mia Brawner added 11, Maggie Heyen contributed 10, Delaney Taylor posted 5, Sadie Sholtis scored 4, and Lainey Edwards and Corrine Fellin each had 2 points.

From the opening tip, it was clear that Pana was not going to roll over easily. The Panthers held leads at the end of the first two quarters, 15-14 and 28-26, showcasing their tenacity. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Pana had edged ahead 44-42, setting the stage for a dramatic finish.

However, the game took a chaotic turn in the fourth quarter when a collision between Vickery and teammate Sloane Brawner resulted in both players going down with injuries. Sloane was not able to return the game but Vickery did. The Miners also lost both Delaney Taylor and Sadie Sholtis to fouls and Gillespie was assessed a technical foul under controversial circumstances which tied the game at 49. But Heyen carried the weight through the fourth quarter recording 6 of her 10 points in the final quarter of play.

Despite the setbacks, the Miners displayed remarkable teamwork resilience under the leadership of Nikki and Matt Brawner. With the SCC championship secured and the regular season concluded with a 22-8 overall record and 9-0 conference record, the Miners now shift their focus to the upcoming regional which is being hosted in Gillespie.

Gillespie hosts Alton Marquette on Monday, Feb. 17 for the regional semi-finals after Alton Marquette knocked East-Alton Wood River, 36-29, to face the Miners. The winner advances to the regional championship that will be played on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in Gillespie versus the winner of Staunton/Roxana.

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Community News

Macoupin County residential fire claims multiple victims on Saturday

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Tragedy struck in the early hours of Saturday morning in Macoupin County as a residential structure fire broke out in the 200 block of West Dean Street, Virden, resulting in the death of a male victim, the Macoupin County Coroner Anthony Kravanya announced.

The individual was pronounced deceased at 10:06 AM but the identity of the deceased has not yet been released, as authorities await the results of an autopsy scheduled for Monday, February 17, 2025. The coroner’s office indicated that a press release will be issued following the autopsy and the positive identification of the victim.

WAND reported a second victim died after being transported to Springfield Memorial Hospital according to Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon who confirmed a 13-year-old boy and a 34-year-old male were the victims.

The fire reportedly started around 9:30 a.m. and the home was fully engulfed when first responders arrived. Two people were reportedly rescued and life flight was requested but were not available due to the foggy weather conditions. 

An investigation into the cause of the fire is currently underway, involving multiple agencies including the Macoupin County Coroner’s Office, the Virden Police Department, the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Department, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

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Community News

Missions group to host trivia fundraiser on March 30

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Come and join us for an exciting afternoon of trivia as we support our local 2:18 Missions! Mark your calendars for Sunday, March 30 from 2 to 5 PM for an event that promises fun, camaraderie, and a chance to make a difference in our community. The event will be held at DeStefane Community Center in Benld, 201 East Central Avenue.

Teams of up to 10 people can participate for just $100 per table. Whether you want to reserve your table in advance or simply show up on the day of the event to pay at the door, we welcome all trivia enthusiasts to join in the competition!

Feel free to bring your own snacks and drinks to enjoy during the game—just please remember, no alcohol is allowed. For your convenience, we will have bottles of water available for purchase.

The stakes are high, and the competition is fierce! The first-place team will take home a prize of $150. Plus, bring some dollar bills to participate in “Heads and Tails” games during breaks and to buy mulligans for your team.

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to support a great cause while enjoying a lively trivia challenge. To reserve your table or for more information, contact Kristin at 217-691-7469.

Let’s make this a memorable event for our community and the 2:18 Missions!

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