Dougal Nelson a community champion

Dougal Nelson, is a community pioneer that has changed the lives of thousands of Quad Cities area students through his time at Junior Achievement of the Heartland. Dougal began his career with what he calls “being a non traditional” student at Black Hawk College and then Western Illinois before finding his niche as a Community Advocate due to some amazing mentors. Dougal has worked at Isabelle Bloom, the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity but he made his lasting mark on the Quad Cities by his time at Junior Achievement.  Dougal was the driving force behind the creation of BizTown and the Inspiration Center which included raising over $3million to finish the projects. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Dougal Nelson is a lifelong Quad City nonprofit and community leader, best known for serving as president and CEO of Junior Achievement of the Heartland. Dougal is a community pioneer that has changed the lives of thousands of Quad City area students by applying classroom economic and career concepts in a real life simulated setting. Dougal began his career with what he calls being a non-traditional student at Blackhawk College and then Western Illinois University before finding his niche as a community advocate due to some amazing mentors. Dougal has worked at Isabel Bloom, the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, but he made his lasting mark on the Quad Cities by his time at Junior Achievement. Dougal was the driving force behind the creation of BizTown in the brand new Inspiration Center, which included raising over$3 million to finish the project that opened in Moline in September 2024. Dougal's vision has led to opportunities for over 8,000 area students to get a glimpse at exciting careers in financial education to help guide students into adulthood. Moline is located in the heart of the Midwest, along the Mississippi River, just three hours from Des Moines, Iowa, in Chicago, Illinois. The Moline Police Department has served our community since 1872. Our agency is guided by core values of professionalism, teamwork, and integrity that help us provide high-quality policing to improve the safety and quality of life in our community. This is the Moline PD Cast. Well, welcome everyone to season three of the Moline Police Department Podcast. I am Darren Galt. I'm the Chief of Police here at the Moline Police Department. As always, I am joined by my co-host, Detective Mike Griffin. Welcome back, Mike. This is uh season three, and I'm uh glad to be back in the podcast studio to have more guests this year. Uh how have you been?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Good, chief. And um uh like you, I'm looking forward to uh learning more about uh what's going on here at the police department and sharing it with our community.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

Yeah, our podcast library has nearly 40 episodes that you can listen to. Um they've continued to do well. We had a limited season in 2025. We only recorded about seven episodes. Our schedules just didn't uh line up uh as well as they did in 2024. Um I was traveling quite a bit uh around the country for uh in 2025 for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Uh you were quite busy uh digging deep into a 30-year-old cold case. Um I should also congratulate you for closing that, uh, and which led to uh an indictment, and we're looking forward to the trial, but you've also uh just recently received uh a 2026 criminal investigator of the year award from the uh Illinois Police Chiefs, uh Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Illinois Homicide Association.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

So congratulations. Thanks, Chief. Uh we got a we've done a lot of work as a team here at Moline. We've got a long way to go and uh look forward to uh keeping going until we bring her home.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Yeah, and and uh you know, you are as you our community knows, you're a rock star, uh a wonderful detective. You've you've done a lot of things. So someday uh if we had a Hall of Fame, you would be inducted to the Hall of Fame. But we actually have a Hall of Famer in the podcast studio today, and uh I'm pretty excited about that. We have that great opportunity to talk to Douglas Nelson, who has been a lifelong leader in the Quad City, spanning many uh different nonprofits and industries and significant local businesses. Um, a recent inductee uh into the Blackhawk College Hall of Fame, and so that's certainly an honor to have him here with us today. Uh Dougal recently retired from the Junior Achievement of the Heartland here in Moline. Uh Junior Achievement is the world's largest nonprofit youth organization dedicated to preparing young people for success through financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship education. It was founded in 1919. It utilizes volunteers to deliver hands-on classroom and virtual programs to K through 12 students, aiming to empower them to their own economic success. Uh globally, JA reaches over 4 million students each year across 22,000 schools. Um I'm sorry, that was uh in the United States, and globally, that number tops 23 million learning experiences each year. Uh alumni that go through the program at JA are more likely to hold a college degree compared to the general population, and a significant portion of alumni credit JA with influencing their career choices. And uh, another really interesting thing is that JA alumni are more likely to start a business as an adult. Uh I uh had three kids that went through JA BizTown. I was um a volunteer and uh participated in that and I always thought I always looked forward to it. It was always a really cool experience. I had a lot of fun with my kids there, and so um I'm super excited to welcome Dougle Nelson to the podcast studio. Dougal, thanks for coming in. I I'm um I appreciate it. You've you've become a friend of mine uh mostly through our uh time at Rotary. That's kind of where I met you, and then um just kind of watched you from a distance and really admire your work in the Quad City. So thanks for coming in.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Well, thanks for having me, Chief.

SPEAKER_02 5:58

Tell us a little bit about your background. Uh where'd you grow up? How'd you get started? Uh what should people know about you?

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Yeah, uh lifelong Quad City resident, always on the Illinois side. Uh gosh, we lived in Hampton, Silva, Seasmo. We moved around a lot when I was a kid. Uh finally married my wife, Pam, in 1981, and we moved to Moline after that. But uh met Pam in high school, uh, graduated in 1978 from UT. Uh what was kind of nice about that was I'd I'd grown up in all the feeder schools, so I knew a lot of people in high school.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Well, then uh you spent some time at Star Forms uh manufacturing plant in Bettendorf, and that facility closed in 1996. So what what were you thinking at that time? And where did you think that your uh if you look back on it now, where'd you think your career was headed?

SPEAKER_03 6:50

Yeah, that's kind of funny. I looked around and I thought, man, all my buddies graduated from college, and where why didn't I go, right? And I always thought I wasted that time. And and actually I didn't, you know. I mean, working in the shop and the factory uh really taught me a lot about people and about management, about management style. So uh really, you know, my goal was to become a salesperson. I was I I was good with relationships and and that was the goal. Go back to school, uh, get a job in sales and and maybe live happily ever after.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

Well let's talk a little talk a little bit about education and w what do you how do you think education changed your life? I know you went back to Blackhawk College at the time, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:31

Yeah, I did. Uh, you know, I think education builds a strong community. Uh, you know, without professionals that are in our community, we just can't we can't do what we do. Um and I would say the trades are as equally as important, right? It it doesn't matter uh really uh what your goal is, but you really need to be a productive member of society. And without education and without some kind of formal training, it's really hard to get there. Uh we watch people on on you know working minimum wage now and they can barely make ends meet with the cost of housing and childcare and things like that. So uh for me, education was uh was like maybe a doorway to uh it opened up some some opportunities that I would not have other had.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

I think we're very fortunate to have Blackhawk College, a community college in our our area in our community, and certainly in in Moline. Um I coached at youth soccer for 19 years here in the Quad Cities, and you know, I had a lot of kids that would come through and you know they were like, oh, college isn't for me. Uh and I always tried to encourage them, listen, even if you don't want to go away to college or you know, spend money or you can't afford it, Blackhawk College is a very affordable uh education system, and and there's so many things, even if you don't think of a traditional uh college degree path is for you, even if you're going into the trades or you know, you're gonna start your own business or different things like that. The education that you can receive at Blackhawk College can just um enrich your life, make you better at so many different things, uh, even just being, you know, a good human, right? And uh learning these skills to interact with people and responsibility and writing skills and communication skills. Uh just take some classes at Blackhawk College uh and get get your started. Sometimes that changes people's lives and puts them on different paths. And then you went on, right? You went on to Western.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Yeah, I I I think you hit the nail on the head of Blackhawk, though. It really does teach you how to write, teach you how to communicate, teach you how to uh use resources. Uh and then I went on to Western. Uh it was convenient. It's in here in the Quad Cities at the time. It was in the old IBM building, if you remember that, but um, before they built the campus. And uh, you know, they offer uh so many uh professional classes that really allow you to explore different career pathways and really kind of decide where you want to go and where you want who you want to be. Uh, you know, I think originally I I thought I'd I wanted to get into you know sales and then I kind of shifted a little bit and I thought, well, maybe accounting was the way to go because it just it's black and white, right? It can't it came pretty easy for me, but uh uh well, and we'll talk about some mentors in my life, but there was a person that convinced me that uh, you know, you're so strong at relationships that you should you should forge a pathway there.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Well, let's talk about mentors. Um why do you think a mentor is so important to uh a young person or maybe a career change or uh a life change? What does it what did a mentor mean to you and why do you think it's important for people to to have a mentor?

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Uh I think sometimes people on the outside see things within us that we don't see ourselves. Uh I think that um mentors provide that that sounding board, maybe if you would. Uh you know, I as a especially as the president CEO of a of an organization, you just can't share everything with everybody, right? So if you have a good mentor in your in your in your court, uh you can have discussions with them and you can help have them really help you solve problems and and think about you know different ways that uh we handle different situations. Uh they've been there before, right? I haven't been. So that's been kind of the the role the mentors had in my life.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

So tell us about the mentors that uh were most impactful to you that that in your early days that set you up. And you mentioned somebody that that saw something in you. Who was that?

SPEAKER_03 11:32

Yeah, Hunt Harris. Uh, you know, Hunt, uh I worked for his father actually at a river drive. It's kind of an interesting story how he got hired. I changed a flat tire in the rain for somebody, and and uh Hunt's brother actually saw me do that and and gave me a job working for his dad. But uh, you know, uh Hunt Hunt was the guy that said to me, you know, it's money's not everything. Quit chasing dollars. And you know, of course it was easy for him to say he had made his fortune, but uh uh he really uh put a focus on philanthropy and taught me how important it was to give back to our community, right? And that really set the path for me to to really uh go on. I mean, after he sold uh Isabel Bloom, um, I was really uh focused on doing some different things in the gift industry. And Hunt's the guy that pulled me aside and said, you really love your community more than anything. He said, I watched you at the Red Cross, I've watched you at Habitat for Humanity volunteering. Uh you you go read to kids all the time. He said, You really believe in our community, and it'd be a shame to waste that. So why don't you why don't you try out and and maybe look for a nonprofit that might suit you a little uh better and and um I'll make it easy for you, he said. And he certainly did, and he had been a mentor all along the way. Uh and of course the other guy is James Patterson, Dr. Patterson from Western. Uh he's the guy that really uh had him himself had worked in the shops and the factories and things like that. So he understood me and he helped me uh really understand what it was going to take to be successful in in today's world.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Now you mentioned Hunt Harris, um, local quad citians uh probably recognize the name uh m maybe even more from his philanthropy than uh his uh his business. People probably just knew that he he had done well and then did all these things in the community. Can you just give us a real brief background on who Hunt Harris was and uh how he uh you know rose to uh somewhat of a local fame?

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah, uh well Hunt and his father uh actually are the uh folks that invented the track-fed computer paper, if you think about that, or register forms, if you know what those are. Uh so they had a very successful paper business in the uh in the late 70s, early 80s, 90s, uh, eventually sold that business and moved on. But um Hunt has uh really uh been one of the people in the Quad Cities that has is given so much back, not only uh monetarily, but his time and and uh resources as well. Uh just supports a lot of um of our community and helping our community grow.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Well, you mentioned Isabel Bloom, and uh, I'd like to talk a little bit about your time at Isabel Bloom. Another name, if you're in the Quad Cities, uh, is very famous. Um, probably somewhere uh if the and we do get podcast listeners from all over the United States, and uh somebody may have an Isabel Bloom statue either in their home or their their parents' home. They're very popular. Um Isabel Bloom was uh born in 1908, studied art at the Grant Woods School of Art at the University of Iowa, uh, and she created these sculptures using clay, and uh they were uh a wildly successful and popular um concrete garden sculpture and figurine business uh still today. Um and uh can you tell us a little bit about Isabel Bloom, Hunt Harris, and yourself? How do those all come together?

SPEAKER_03 15:15

Yeah, uh Isabel Bloom is really a cool company, very artist-driven, as you would imagine. Uh I won't share numbers with you, but uh, I'll tell you that there were hundreds and hundreds of thousands of those sculptures made and distributed throughout the United States. Uh Hunt had a vision to grow that organization. And uh it, you know, it used to be when they ran out of a product, they just closed the doors. Uh Hunt and two of his business partners from Star Forms uh bought that business and vowed never to run out of product again. And uh so I was a big part of the distribution uh cycle of that, a part of the logistics and helping them grow that, uh, building a new wholesale program, which was widely successful. And then we actually took uh the product nationally, uh, which was moderately successful, but uh after Hunt sold the business, uh the new owners uh pulled that back in and now they only produce it in the quad cities, but um great product and still has great legs.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

What do you think um when you were at Isabel Bloom, what did you learn there that ended up really helping and shaping your future at your um your Hallmark career path at JA?

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Just how to treat people. You know, if you treat people with respect and give people the uh opportunity to to grow, they will. Uh the last thing I I think I'd ever want to do is belittle someone or or you know, scold them for for things that they might not be doing right, uh instead of maybe helping them and lifting them up. And and I think that's what I learned at Isabel Bloom was how to lift people and how to make people more successful.

SPEAKER_02 16:57

One thing I know about you is um you're you're a big people person. You're very easy to talk to, you're very friendly. Um I suspect it has a little bit of uh to do with your long experience in sales and knowing uh how to develop relationships either with the customer or with vendors who are gonna sell the sculptures, expanding the business. Tell us a little bit about um how you developed that skill set and what's your philosophy on relationships.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

I think relationships is everything. Uh I, you know, whenever I taught a junior achievement class, I was very focused on that to tell kids, you know, hey, listen, you got to shake hands, you got to look people in the eye, uh, you have to start a conversation with folks. Uh you know, if you look at me, we're probably gonna have a conversation. That's just who I am. But uh I think it's it's not a really uh it can be a learned behavior, but I think folks that are good at it are good at it, and folks that aren't really need to work on it. But um, it's the key to success. I mean, uh, too many people go into a meeting and they just want to talk about themselves instead of opening up and listening. And and part of that relationship building really is about listening and understanding your audience and then communicating with them in a in a fashion that that engages them and and makes them want to be part of that conversation.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

So while you were doing all this, you were working, you're working for Isabel Bloom, you started volunteering for JA, right? You start you started in the classroom like uh like many volunteers over the years have done is teaching part of that curriculum.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Yeah. Uh kind of an it's everything's full circle here. I mean, Hutt Harris was uh inducted into the Quad City uh junior achievement hall of fame in 2001, and I was working for him, and he invited us to go to that gala. Uh at the time I knew nothing about junior achievement and really just kind of fell in love with it that night, and I thought, well, that's something I can do.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

So um, Dougle, after your time at Isabel Bloom, you uh went to the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity for a little bit before you ultimately went on to JA of the Heartland. Before we talk about JA, tell us about your time at the uh the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity and how those impacted not only our community locally, but Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:18

Uh so I mentioned earlier Hunt had convinced me to go to work for a nonprofit, and one of his business partners, Jeff Gilfillon, had served on the board at the Red Cross. Uh so as we spoke about what my next move might be, Jeff said, Hey, you know, you might want to go talk to the Red Cross. They're they're in a a different time right now, and they were splitting up health and human services and disaster recovery at the time. And they had some great uh opportunities, we thought, both not not only regionally, but maybe nationally for me. Uh things just didn't work out that way. The Red Cross went through some trying times about then. Um, I had went to uh actually Habitat had recruited me to try out or run for Mr. Habitat, which is a gala and a fundraiser for them, and actually won that year uh where I learned about an opening there in development. And so went to work for Habitat. Uh I love that organization. I really did. And I'd probably still be there today if junior achievement hadn't called so loudly. But um uh just a wonderful opportunity at Habitat for Humanity, learned a lot. Really learned what nonprofit management looked like, learned how to run a nonprofit, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

And Dougal, as your career moved forward, uh in 2018 you became the head of J the Heartland, and I assume uh you had a lot of goals and visions, uh, much like Chief Galt when he came here in 2019, and neither of you saw what was gonna come in 2020.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

How what were your goals and visions and and how did how were those impacted by the COVID pandemic?

SPEAKER_03 20:51

Probably a lot of people don't know this, but uh junior achievement probably called three or four times and asked me to come in for an interview, and I just wouldn't do it. Uh I'd loved habitat, I'd love what we were doing. We were doing some great things in the community, especially in Moline. We did rock the block down in the Floresciente. Uh we were building homes right and left, we were serving families, communities were growing, they were getting better. And I just, I was in my element. I was in my space, right? And wouldn't you know it? But Hunt Harris called again and he said, Hey, what are you doing? They really need a leader at junior achievement. And he said, tell me how it is people get to be 45, 50 years old and and they they don't have a house. They can't afford rent, they have a flat tire, it ruins their life. And and the light bulb went on for me. And I thought, you know, here's it, here's something that that really resonates with me, and and that was about a lot of times the chief, you you read a lot of numbers earlier, and they're great numbers and and they're significant, but really for me, it wasn't about the number as much as it was about the community. Uh, we talked about education, how that strengthens the community. Uh, I think junior achievement strengthens communities by putting kids in the right place and they understand what uh economic mobility looks like and uh makes them better citizens. So the the vision for me wasn't so much one student or or five thousand or or fifty thousand it was about our communities and uh how do we how do we make those communities better one student at a time.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

I think it's fascinating I listen to you I I just think about your how all of your time at these different places were almost like a Lego blocks that were slowly building to get you to JA. Like that was almost maybe your life's purpose that all these things had to happen. If you think back about it like you had to stop working Star Forms had to close to tell for uh God or something something to change your path to go get education. And then of course education is important but it planted a seed in you about how important education is that might not really come back full circle for 30 years. And then you get all this experience at uh Isabel Bloom sales, talking to people, building relationships, building these skill sets um you know meeting significant people in the community um widening your network uh of of contacts uh leaving Isabel Bloom and going completely different from for profit bottom line sales driven work to nonprofit community work and then those things combined together into a package of skill sets inside of you that leads you to JA is almost a perfect storm if you will right yeah it was really it you're exactly right that's kind of how it all happened it kind of fell together um I without without those mentors in my life and those people in my life I don't think I would have ended up a junior achievement um but uh rightfully so I did and uh we've made a huge impact on the quad cities you know a big believer in like just things happen for a reason you know um I had a few ups and downs in my career you know back early on in my career put in for a canine position didn't get it and of course at that time in your life you know something's the biggest deal right like oh you know it's all I wanted to do and and um you know I ended up uh a year later getting a detective position which kind of charted my path to even where I am today and the people that I met and and stuff like so I mean it's just things happen for a reason I think and sometimes um especially young people they don't they don't see how eventually you can be Dougle Nelson and be the CEO of JA but the Lego block has to build right you've got to get those skill sets it's really hard to be the CEO of the junior achievement of the Heartland uh at 21 years old and have enough relationship skills enough contacts to raise three million dollars to do Inspiration Center and things like that and you ended up leading JA of the Heartland through a major expansion period uh under your leadership uh annual participation grew to more more than 50,000 students you increased regional partnerships with schools businesses and civic organizations and like Mike alluded to you navigated that COVID 19 pandemic which yeah I I started uh you know like six months or so uh eight months before uh the COVID pandemic and you know we had done a uh uh kind of a study here of of what needed to be done at Moline PD I had a I have a family member that's been a uh CFO of major Fortune 500 companies and he had kind of given me a CEO transition plan to kind of work off of and we had like a 90 day plan that I was working off of kind of listening and then analyzing the organization and then coming up with a strategic plan and things were kind of marching along and then I get a phone call you know in in March and they're like come down to the city hall the state's shutting down and we got to cut$10 million from the budget and people start retiring and you know didn't you know no one's going out and we don't know what the future's going to be like and um you know kind of upended things for us kind of really put a lot of projects like you know the whole the whole world did on hold for years. How did you how did you navigate that? I think you would probably went to distance learning.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Yeah I crisis creates opportunity I think you know COVID it really gave us a chance to reset to really kind of reevaluate where we're at uh and to make some to right size the organization uh we we really felt that the strategic plan didn't need to change uh we were on a pathway it's just how do we deliver that will that was the change right uh junior achievement's very unique in that we're all we're all very close with our peers across the country so uh within days we were sharing information about what we thought was the right way to go within weeks we had developed electronic materials that were going out and we knew that it would be at least in the short term we thought uh it would be a lot of in you know in-home learning uh the value that that added was for the first time ever parents were seeing the JA material as they led their students through these things. And we've always felt that you know it's great that we teach kids about budgeting and you know and work and career readiness and how to be an entrepreneur, but gosh, there's parents that need the same kind of education, right? Or maybe just a reminder of of what that looks like. So uh I think for us COVID was was a win. I hate to say that but uh we're we were a stronger organization because of that and after that and uh yeah we survived it.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

Can you tell us a little bit about if people don't know what JA is or that curriculum you just talked about you deleted you know develop materials and uh teaching financial literacy can you tell our listeners what JA is and what that material consists of sure well you know I think first and foremost we talked about economic mobility.

SPEAKER_03 28:26

We want kids to make good financial decisions, right? We want them to understand that uh the importance of saving for that rainy day, right? For that that flat tire that used to ruin their parents' week or month doesn't need to be that way. Secondly you know work of career readiness that's important right uh kids today need to understand you got to show up right you got to do your job you got to be you got to be part of the team. Uh and then thirdly you know entrepreneurship which is a big one I you mentioned that uh more J students own businesses in the general public that's true uh because we teach kids that we teach them how to run a business how to be your own boss and um gosh it's uh it's a wonderful program uh we've had great success I think you know now that I've left we're gonna see some more changes coming uh there's a new look at junior achievement it's called three-dimensional education uh 3DE where students actually learn through case studies in the classroom which again kind of uh ties that more into the work setting more the work and career readiness setting we mentioned earlier that a lot of that curriculum is delivered by volunteers uh and that really volunteers are the heart of that program what what do volunteers mean to JA? Yeah it's everything I mean uh volunteers really help us make that connection between what kids learn in school and how it applies to the real world uh guys like me that had that real world experience that could go in and say listen this is what it's really like kids I mean I'm not just blowing smoke here this is what it takes to work in a in a in a in a maybe in a factory setting maybe in the trades maybe as a professional but we can connect those dots together super easy to volunteer uh Jay provides all the curriculum uh you just go in and and really I hate to say this but put your own spin on it and you know tell kids what they need to hear.

SPEAKER_02 30:22

Uh Jay makes that pretty easy there's you know for elementary it's usually like five visits uh we have a lot of you know listen to me we I feel like I still work there but uh you know there's a lot of programs that we could just deliver in an hour as well so uh call junior achievement and get involved it's a great way to make an impact on a young person I remember to this day the junior achievement program that came to to my school I remember the the Steve Miller who was the volunteer was one of uh one of my classmates' dads he worked I think at Mid America if I remember right or something like that and um he came in and I always thought it was pretty cool that this guy in a business suit would come in and you know was like man he's really important and you know teaching us all this this business stuff I think it was just you know how to do a checkbook or something right I don't remember exactly the curriculum at the time but it was very impactful. I mean it still sticks with me today. And so that's that's how that starts right you're asking for volunteers and a lot of them have a connection either to the community or probably to the kids in the classroom maybe a parent is willing or has the freedom in their business that they can spend that time in the classroom and um the the curriculum that leads up to BizTown is is in uh was it right before middle school that yeah fourth or fifth grade depending on the school system. So they're going in and and how long is that curriculum? They get some instruction before they go to BizTown?

SPEAKER_03 31:51

Yeah it's about 12 weeks of learning before they get there. They're gonna learn about you know about how how how does a community operate right where does the revenue come from where do our taxes go to uh how do we budget how do we write a check uh the importance of savings accounts and checking accounts and you know it's it's really a look at you know how money travels through a community uh but it culminates with that field trip or that visit to BizTown where the kids actually put that learning into action and actually run businesses for the day.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

Now if no one has any idea about BizTown it is really cool. And it it I haven't my kids are uh in their 20s now so they did the BizTown in Davenport we went over there with all their when they were younger but it it was really cool then is really cool now right but so it's like a little city um absolutely and and uh I remember my kids you know planning what jobs they wanted to get um and they then once my oldest daughter Maya went through it then my other kids were she would tell them and they were like oh they want to do this they want to run the print shop or the newspaper um and it was always kind of fun and then uh I volunteered on that day long simulation um does every JA have access to a BizTown uh that's no they don't yeah they're building them every day across the country uh actually junior achievement of the heartland was one of the leaders in that we were one of the first three in the country to build a similar facility uh and when we rebuilt the new one uh we were in that same uh group of folks that are just building brand new facilities so uh it's not your father's J anymore it's kind of crazy uh you're right it's the it's a cool little city where uh uh kids uh you know really start to open up we hear teachers tell stories all the time about kids that don't say a word in the classroom right they're quiet they won't speak up man they get to BizTown and they're and they're the CEO of a business and and all of a sudden they're shouting orders and and telling other kids what to do and you know being a leader.

SPEAKER_03 34:02

And so it's really fun to watch.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

So let's paint a picture for a listener if they've not don't know what BizTown is or maybe somebody here's got a third grader and they're like oh our my my son or daughter will get to do that coming up so we've we've mentioned they get to do different things like banking and and um voting or different things like that.

SPEAKER_03 34:23

Can you tell us a little bit about what when someone walks into the physical BizTown what is what is in there and uh what different jobs can they hold and what is that like yeah so every every little business I think there's if memory serves me correct there's 14 businesses in Biztown and they range anywhere from a city of Moline has the has the mayor's office there right uh we have a credit union we have uh arconics over there john deere has space uh modern woodman so when you when you look into the the Biztown uh businesses they look real they look like a real business every business has a CEO a CFO uh there's a chief marketing officer uh depending on the business they may have sales folks they may have uh folks that go out and uh like the utility company they're out reading the meters uh but uh this businesses are responsible for taking out a business loan imagine that a fifth grader that has to take out a business loan and pay it back during the day and they do that by selling their goods and services it's kind of fun too the way they sell their goods and services are on little breaks that are built into the curriculum where then they go and shop right at the other businesses. They become consumers.

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Yeah it's pretty it's pretty fun and and they get really uh excited about that they're so excited to go and buy the other uh people's um services yeah um right and and there's a newspaper and a radio station and and um it's it's so fun it's a fun day and I would encourage anybody to either accompany their child there volunteer um it it's a lot of fun now I kind of told you about my experience with the BizTown that was located downtown Davenport but your one of your were probably your most visible accomplishments was overseeing the development of the uh the relocation of BizTown and the new inspiration center which came to Moline um and it is located in the vibrant uh facility which used to be the Sam's Club uh that opened up years ago in Moline and ended up closing and it was vacant for a little while vibrant bought that facility but was using only the John Deere Road front facing portion of that for their coffee shop and their headquarters and then they there was some vacant space over there. Right. And you guys led a capital uh campaign to raise$3.25 million dollars to become home to JA BizTown Finance Park and the career readiness and entrepreneurship programming what's different about what you had in Davenport to what is currently in practice in Moline?

SPEAKER_03 37:15

Yeah in in Davenport we could only run BizTown or finance park we could only run either one we couldn't run them both uh in Moline now we can run them simultaneously we have a separate finance park which is finance park is like the game of life right it's where kids really they're given a budget and they have to go out and and uh really understand what that means for example if they're if they're gonna buy a car it's not just the car right it's the tires the fuel the insurance all those things so as a junior high school student a middle school student they learn about how to live life right what the expenses they might see.

SPEAKER_02 37:51

You know it's a new facility so it's really tricked out uh you got to give some kudos to Edwards Creative out in my land they did all the design inside Russell Construction was the general on it and and surely thanks to Vibrant Credit Union for for their donation of the space right they gave us that space for a dollar a year uh which includes all the utilities the maintenance the uh safety the security everything so that in itself is a huge gift well you talked uh about how important that that gift is the community partnerships you had to you had to raise money um and get donations uh because the kids don't pay to go there right I mean you're you're providing this service to kids to improve their lives how important were these community partnerships and raising that money to make to make this a reality yeah if you've ever did any fundraising you you know what that's like right and uh it was as a professional it was fun for me I really enjoyed it I got to leave meet some new people some different people but the raising 3.25 million is no easy task uh but we did it and um it's uh I think it's money well spent uh you know that was at the time if you remember right when the cost of building materials went through the roof our original estimates were around two and a half and it it's it grew overnight uh but we didn't uh skimp on anything uh it's it's the real deal down there well and and during economic tough times too after after COVID people were not donating or businesses were not donating because they were laying people off jobs they were cutting back on and so it was a difficult time I think what is really amazing is that in that Moline facility you have approximately 14 sponsored storefronts and organizations that mirror our real local employers like John Deere, Vibrant Credit Union, uh Modern Woodman, MidAmerica Energy, Metrolink, Black Ow College, Jersey Mike's, Quetzey Times, Russell Construction, Bear Arconic, Edwards Creative, Kent Worldwide, and you mentioned the City of Moline. The City of Moline became uh an official sponsor through a multi-year agreement and created a city hall experience uh within BizTown right uh and uh so how important is it for these to be local and and reflecting our community?

SPEAKER_03 40:19

Yeah students come to Biztown from about an hour away uh our our territory goes clear up past Dubuque down past Burlington and Kiacuck and over to LaSalle Peru. It's a wide area so about an hour away kids come uh we could customize it to the local community when they get there uh through just through some curriculum not through storefronts but we make it feel like it's our own community when they get there.

SPEAKER_02 40:44

Now you're a humble guy very very uh proud of the work that you do but um you just do it because you love it and because you love the community you have had a couple of wonderful recognitions in 2022 you received the Carl Flemke Pioneer Achievement award from JA it's considered one of the organization's highest honors recognizing exceptional leadership and long-term contributions within junior achievement nationwide what did you think what was your first thought when you were notified that you were receiving that award well I I was pretty surprised I I you know I knew I was nominated but I never thought I'd win the award I mean this is 106 J areas across the country uh and I knew the players you know and I knew what other folks were doing it across the country and the money they were raising and there were folks that were you know have you know 10 20 million dollar budgets and they were expanding and and growing on those things but uh at the end of the day it's it's an award that's voted on by you know not only JA USA but some of my peers as well.

SPEAKER_03 41:52

So it meant an awful lot to me. Um really I could not have achieved those those uh numbers or those results without my team though I it I just have it there's an amazing team of people a junior achievement of the heartland uh they just have been there some of them have been there 20 years and they're just passionate about it and uh that's what makes it work.

SPEAKER_02 42:14

I said in the opener we were in presence of a hall of famer and uh you are in 2026 an official hall of famer Blackhawk College named you amongst its hall of fame inductees citing your contributions to the workforce education and youth development another uh really cool experience tell us about being inducted into uh the Blackhawk College Hall of Fame yeah uh something else I didn't expect and um you know I'm I'm I'm in a uh an elite class of folks with that I mean you think about guys like Bob Onaverez and and you know Hunt Harris and those other folks uh I think Blackhawk is a staple in our community.

SPEAKER_03 42:55

I think it's important. Um I hope I served them well. I talk about them all the time. Maybe that's why they asked me to be in the Hall of Fame but um you know I did take the opportunity at their at their gala just to talk about how important education is and and I I truly believe that and uh it's it's it's really an affordable place where where kids could get a good education.

SPEAKER_02 43:17

So what when did you know it was time to retire? What what uh what did you think and uh how did you help the transition into picking a new or or JA securing a new CEO?

SPEAKER_03 43:32

Yeah uh when I left habitat or when I left um Isabel Bloom I told my wife I was going to retire and volunteer but she had a different idea but uh so um I don't know you know I I we we had some goals I mean I wanted to get the inspiration center built finished and I I thought when that was finished that would be the right time uh we accomplished that and I gave it another year while we kind of transitioned, uh made sure the team was set knew what was going on. Um as a nonprofit leader, most of the time we're not involved in that hiring process. That's done by the board of directors. But I did give them some insight and some feelings about, you know, what it was going to take in the future to be to be successful. I still talk to a lot of those folks that work there and they're doing great. Yeah. Wonderful ride. It's been a great journey. But uh you know, I'm 65 years old and and I've seen a lot of my folk friends that uh you know they retire and they they're just not around very long. So wanted to make sure I I live life to its fullest and uh I I'm done working but I'm not giving back to the I'm not done giving back to the community.

SPEAKER_02 44:44

I see you around still you um I'm a member of the Moleine Rotary Club. You're a past president of the Rotary Club. I just saw you Wednesday at the Breakfast Optimus Club. Mike was an uh an honorary nominee for uh the top cop award there at Breakfast Optimist Club uh you're still around in these associations what if what have some of these civic organizations in the community like for example being the president of Moline Rotary have those enriched your life and and helped you both personally and professionally yeah well I was the president of Moline Rotary over COVID so that was an interesting time.

SPEAKER_03 45:21

We have a lot of um let's just call them senior members that really kind of wanted to go back and meet in person and and really weren't having anything to do with uh not doing that. It was a challenging time but uh we brought everybody together. Uh you know I think rotary service above self says it all right uh it and it helps you stay involved in your community helps you get uh get in front of the right people at the right time um yeah I I wouldn't uh trade rotary for anything I wouldn't trade the Optimus group for anything uh it's a great way for me to stay connected to folks uh I miss that that's the part I miss I miss I miss those daily meetings with professionals and and I I I hate to say it I kind of miss asking for money too.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Well you're you're good at it I think your personality and uh I I've seen you speak numerous times. You were uh I've been a member of Rotary since I've been the police chief here so um I've seen you speak at Rotary numerous times and uh various different uh community events and uh you're very persuasive and you just make a a great grounded argument about the the community impact and you know these things that that you you do that you're you're raising money for are impactful. I mean the the numbers uh are undeniable and the impact that the JA has and you know I've had many conversations with people uh you know our own elected officials and the investments in our community the investments in uh our youth uh also impact our crime rates because a healthier community a more educated community uh is shown to have less violent crime less property crime uh you know I'm hoping that people like Jay put us out of business right that right that people um are on better paths and have better opportunities and um I think JA is is doing that and it certainly undeniably has uh an effect on the health of the community.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

Yeah I've I've met some kids along the way that I I there's there's there's horror stories and I'm sure you've heard them too and you wonder how's that kid ever going to make it right well they're not gonna make it unless somebody gets in front of them somebody grabs him by the neck and says hey listen you know there's a better way to live there's a different way to live uh you don't have to do what you do I I think you know when I hear teens talk about fast money right you guys know what that is oh yeah uh it's true uh so how do we combat that and we can't combat that without a without a village and we all have to hold hands and and uh make sure that we embrace our youth and and just bring them to a better place.

SPEAKER_02 48:04

So you retired last fall are you enjoying retirement? How's it going?

SPEAKER_03 48:09

I just stole Mike on the way in I think in the last 30 days I played 20 rounds of golf so uh not that it's gotten any better done that. I've been uh you know the first day I retired I went up uh past the core went trout fishing for a couple days all by myself just quiet time was great uh checked off a bucket list item I went out and played Pebble Beach and Spyglass and Spanish Bay uh in November with a bunch of guys uh it was a great retirement gift uh yeah I'm I'm loving life um I'm I'm healthier it's so much easier to be healthier when you're retired it's crazy but uh and I actually told my wife yesterday I said I don't even mind doing yard work now so maybe that was foolish but uh any hole in one stories no hole in ones yeah I had one a couple years ago but uh I'm playing okay where'd you hit the hole in one at uh Hawthorne Ridge when they were still open okay number four yeah you got it framed or did you buy the round of drinks in the clubhouse? At Hawthorne Ridge that's not an issue there but yeah yeah I I'm uh yeah I I'm just playing some of the best golf I've ever played and I'm hanging around with the best people I know and it's it's been great.

SPEAKER_02 49:19

How about uh should we ask you about the big fish you've landed?

SPEAKER_03 49:22

I'm I'm more of a scout than a hunter when it comes to fishing. I I do better find good space good places to fish and then you know they're not very productive but uh I've really enjoyed the trout fishing.

SPEAKER_02 49:34

Uh what's next? What's next for you? Yeah you know I I'm gonna help some folks out that just you know quietly and you know maybe help them write a few grants uh you know just help them set up grant calendars things like that easy things um you know I don't want to be a full-time worker anymore I don't want to even work part-time I don't want to schedule so uh just uh stay close to my wife uh and do the right thing be a better human being and uh try keep giving back to my community do I remember you told me one time you and your wife are big uh antique collectors we are yeah yeah yeah it's kind of gone the other way now we need to sell some stuff some stuff yeah what uh tell us a little bit like what uh what things are you guys passionate about uh finding or what what's your favorite uh antique uh niche well uh we our house is built in 1920 up on top of the Hill of Moline it's a big old uh old four square two stories finished basement finished attic a lot of furniture uh my wife collects finished purses from the 20s um I have pretty massive uh sign collection that I need to let go of but uh yeah it's fun what kind of signs a lot of beer signs horse racing signs yeah well that's fun then now where where how did you procure those or what are you a picker are you uh estate sales yeah not so much estate sales you know just word of mouth really I I know a lot of folks that that buy and sell that stuff and uh just I hate to overpay for anything you know that you you talk about the pickers they've kind of ruined the sign market I mean everybody knows what they're worth now so yeah yeah well uh Dougle I really appreciate you coming in today fascinating story um impact the in in the community that is uh probably unmeasurable uh I want to personally thank you for what you've done for the Quad Cities for for kids out there uh I'm sure many of them are saying thank you uh as they're listening to this that I've been to JA I've been to BizTown been to Finance Park and uh it made an impact so know that uh you did a wonderful job at JA it's on to a new CEO Lisa Highland uh Heglin Hegland I'm sorry Heglin uh and uh she's doing great things I know you've uh met with her a few times and uh you mentioned uh encouraging people to volunteer we want uh anybody that's listening to reach out to JA of the Heartland and volunteer you can do that at their website you can reach them at heartland.jaorg uh just take an hour out of your day and volunteer if you can do the full uh day I know that they're always looking for volunteers right right thank you very much Dougle I appreciate you coming in uh if you've enjoyed this episode please check out the rest of our podcast vaults available on Apple Music Spotify uh your favorite podcast platform also on our website uh if you like this uh tell somebody about it tell somebody they can learn more about the Moline Police Department our people our cases and our community and until next time this has been the most recent episode of the Moline Police Department podcast