‘We're thankful that you made the investment in our community’

ROCHELLE — On Friday, an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony were held for Shane Huber State Farm’s new location at 221 E. Illinois Route 38. The event included food and refreshments.

“I just want to thank everybody for coming out,” Huber said. “We're pretty excited. I'd been renting across the street for a long time. I've been a State Farm agent for 12 years. It was a great opportunity when Tim Hayden approached me and asked me about buying this location. I appreciate everybody coming out. It's been great for us. We have more room and we've expanded our staff and we're going to expand some more."

The ribbon cutting was hosted by the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce and the City of Rochelle and was led by Chamber Executive Director Tricia Herrera and Mayor John Bearrows. 

"We are very excited to celebrate,” Herrera said. “When Shane came on as a member, he was at a location nearby. But we never got to do a ribbon cutting with him. We were very excited when he said he was moving locations and wanted to celebrate. We thank you for staying within our community with your move. We know when you have a business, you can put it anywhere. And we're always very grateful and thankful that you choose Rochelle and our community.”

Bearrows thanked Huber for making an investment in the community with the new building. 

“It's not just about changing locations or a new office,” Bearrows said. “You made a financial investment, and that means a lot. We're happy to have you here and we hope that you know that the city, chamber and yourself are a partnership of three. If any one of those three is removed, the partnership collapses. To be successful, you need a lot of help and you have a lot of help. I want to welcome you to your new building.”