COUNTRY Financial® Expanding Partnership with Heartland Community College to Include Trail Expansion and Prairie Restoration

November 21, 2024

COUNTRY Financial® Expanding Partnership with Heartland Community College to Include Trail Expansion and Prairie Restoration

COUNTRY Financial (COUNTRY) and Heartland Community College (Heartland) are pleased to announce plans for the new COUNTRY Financial Trail at Heartland and restoration of the prairie on the east side of the campus.

The mile-long trail will include access from the Constitution Trail at Raab Road, the Heartland campus at Vermillion Way, and The Corn Crib parking lot, and will circle Birky Pond and border the newly restored prairie. Visitors to the trail can enjoy:

• views of the pond
• bird watch in the bird blind
• visit the pond dock
• overlook or relax in the gazebo

The project will include the restoration of 13 acres of native prairie that borders the north side of Birky Pond. Invasive species will be removed, and native plants will be planted to support pollinators and other wildlife.

Funding for the trail and the prairie restoration are additions to a multi-year investment. COUNTRY also supports the COUNTRY Financial Scholars program (now in its fourth year), which provides scholarship assistance, mentorship and technology support to high school students in McLean County. COUNTRY and Heartland also partnered to create a Claims Apprenticeship program to connect local talent with claims roles at COUNTRY.

"COUNTRY has had a longstanding, successful partnership with Heartland Community College that has led to the development of exceptional talent here in Bloomington-Normal," said Jim Jacobs, CEO at COUNTRY Financial. "We are excited to build on that success with this additional investment at Heartland, which will create a place where everyone, including the hundreds of COUNTRY employees living here, can gather and connect."

The COUNTRY Financial Trail will connect to the existing Constitution Trail that runs through Normal and Bloomington.

"This commitment from COUNTRY, alongside a grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, is an example of a public/private partnership that serves a mutual goal to enrich lives in the communities we serve," said Heartland President Keith Cornille. "Not only are we linking our campus to the existing Constitution Trail, but we are connecting the community with the native prairie to be restored around the pond and creating another space where individuals can relax, exercise, and learn."

Construction of the trail is planned to begin in the Spring of 2025 and be completed in July 2025.

Media contact

Carrie Skogsberg, COUNTRY Financial
[email protected]
309-821-4175

Steve Fast, Heartland Community College
[email protected]
309-268-8186

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