Effingham, IL – A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday, July 27 at the construction site for a new 19,950 square foot Farm Credit Illinois (FCI) regional office in Effingham. The facility will become the second largest of FCI’s 14 offices in central and southern Illinois – second only to the cooperative’s central office in Mahomet. The local staff team will continue serving members on farms and at the existing facility on Fayette Avenue during construction.
Farm Credit Illinois directors, senior managers, and local staff were joined by Effingham County Chamber leadership, a staffer from the Effingham office of Congressman Mike Bost, and representatives of project contractor AKRA Builders, Inc. and Milano & Grunloh Engineers, LLC.
The new facility, located less than one mile east of Legacy Harley Davidson and the Lake Land College Effingham Technology Center near Althoff Drive, will have more than three times the square feet as the current office and is positioned to serve a growing number of farmers, farmland owners, and agribusinesses across Clay, Cumberland, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, and Shelby Counties. The Effingham team currently serves 3,500 cooperative stockholders – more members than any other FCI office – representing nearly 2,000 farm families, rural landowners, and agribusinesses. More than $733 million of loan commitments and 215,000 acres of crop insurance coverage originate from the Effingham office. Twenty-five FCI staff are currently based in Effingham making it the location with the largest staff team beyond the cooperative’s office headquarters in Mahomet.
The future building will be strategically equipped to accommodate the Effingham team with 38 workstations, five small meeting rooms, and a large conference room and catering kitchen for up to 120 individuals. In addition to FCI events, the meeting space will be available for use by the local agricultural community. The new facility is expected to be complete bythe fall of 2027.
Pictured above in “Shovel Ready.jpg”from L to R: Adam Brown, FCI Board Chair & Macon County Farmer; Kelly Hunt, FCI President & CEO; Ryan Berg, FCI Chief Operating Officer; Bridgot Giles, Effingham FCI Regional Manager; and Wes Durbin, FCI Director & Shelby County Farmer
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About Farm Credit Illinois
Farm Credit Illinois (FCI) is an agricultural financial cooperative owned by more than 17,100 farmer, rural landowner, and agribusiness voting stockholders in the southern 60 counties of Illinois. Dedicated to Helping Farm Families Succeed, FCI provides competitive and flexible financing, crop insurance expertise, and Rural 1st® country life lending. FCI manages an $8 billion loan portfolio, sells 1.5 million acres of crop insurance coverage, and employs approximately 300 staff in the Mahomet headquarters and 14 regional offices. The Association returned $30 million of 2025 earnings as cash patronage to member-borrowers in June. The Farm Credit System is a national network of locally owned cooperatives supporting rural communities, farm families, and agriculture with reliable, consistent credit and financial services today and tomorrow.