Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner recently paid a visit to Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup as a part of a tour as part of National Small Business Week in Illinois.
The Bloomington Pantagraph reported Rauner downed a shot of the company’s signature maple sirup at the Route 66 landmark near Shirley, Illinois, then went back for seconds.
More details from the newspaper:
As Rauner listened to the Funk family stories, he added a few of his own.
Rauner said it was “a family tradition” before going to church, “we’d have waffles with real maple syrup and melted butter.”
Before leaving, he purchased two jugs of syrup, saying one wouldn’t last very long. […]
Rauner, an avid motorcyclist who organizes a ride through Illinois every year, said he will make sure the Funks Grove Real Maple Sirup shop is one of the stops on the next ride.
One could note Rauner is up for re-election in 2018, hence the glad-handing at small businesses now.
I suspect, however, his appetite for the company’s maple sirup was genuine.
The contrast between the governor and the Funks on other matters proved interesting, however.
Rauner gave his spiel about the need to cut regulatory red tape he said are hurting small businesses. He also said discussions are ongoing in the long-stalled process of passing a budget in the Illinois Legislature.
But Mike Funk said regulations haven’t hurt been a burden to its business.
And Debby Funk told the newspaper: “We hope the governor will compromise and pass the budget.”
The Funk family has run its maple-sirup operation commercially since 1891 and annually has tapped its trees to make its own sugar since 1824.
As for the spelling of “sirup” instead of the usual “syrup,” Funks Grove uses the former because of a 1920s definition of the words in a Webster’s dictionary. “Syrup” meant adding sugar to juice; “sirup” meant boiling sap for sugar. The “i” indicated it was a pure product, which is what the Funks desired to show in their marketing.
(Image of Gov. Bruce Rauner preparing to down a shot of Funks Grove Maple Sirup from Debby Funk via the governor’s office)