[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S7064]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EVELYN BRANDT THOMAS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, since 1963, the State Journal-Register, 
the oldest newspaper in Illinois, has awarded its First Citizen Award 
to residents of Springfield who have selflessly given their time and 
resources to help and serve others. This year, the State Journal-
Register has selected a central Illinois legend to receive its 2022 
First Citizen Award: businesswoman and philanthropist, Evelyn Brandt 
Thomas.
  If you ask Evelyn Brandt Thomas how she is doing, she often replies, 
``Better than I deserve.'' She is a true pioneer with deep roots in 
central Illinois. Evelyn was born in 1923 on a farm in Salisbury 
Township, just outside of Pleasant Plains. Her father, Albert Brandt, 
raised horses for the first 12 years of her life. And as life on a farm 
goes, Evelyn had to do it all. She would handle tractors, gather eggs, 
and milk the cows, all without the luxuries of electricity or indoor 
plumbing.
  She was ahead of her time. Evelyn graduated from Springfield High 
School at just 16 years old and went on to receive a degree in 
accounting from Illinois Business College, an impressive feat at a time 
when women had few higher education opportunities and even fewer 
prospects in the fields of business and accounting.
  After several years of working in advertising, in the early 1950s, 
Evelyn and her younger brother, Glen--``GB'' for short--founded Brandt 
Fertilizer, a company that sold liquid fertilizer to central Illinois 
farms. At the time, dry fertilizer dominated the local market, but it 
also would come in heavy, 50-lb. bags that farmers would have to haul 
all across the farm. GB and Evelyn recognized a need and seized on the 
opportunity. Their original motto was, ``All You Have to Do is Lift the 
Hose.'' GB relied on his ``gift of gab'' going farm-to-farm selling 
this new product to make farmers lives easier while Evelyn handled the 
financials, which she watched like a hawk. Evelyn and GB were quite the 
duo, building their business on the principles of honesty and hard 
work.
  Their principles paid off. What started as a liquid fertilizer 
company operating out of a truck and an office has now grown into 
BRANDT Consolidated, Inc., a successful agricultural business that 
sells products in more than 45 countries, has several hundred 
employees, and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue 
each year. And it is still a family business. GB's son and Evelyn's 
nephew, Rick Brandt, has served as CEO and president since 1995.
  But Evelyn's long list of accomplishments goes far beyond profits and 
sales. Over the years, she has pursued a number of philanthropic 
projects and given back to central Illinois and the region. She has 
been a champion of education--especially in encouraging more women to 
explore careers in agriculture--supporting a variety of institutions of 
higher learning, like the University of Illinois Springfield and 
Lincoln Land Community College, as well as nonprofits like the 
Education Center for the Visually Impaired. Evelyn has established 
scholarships at the University of Illinois Springfield--UIS--and the 
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She continues to support 4-H, 
the youth development nonprofit organization where she met her late 
husband Gordon, and the Future Farmers of America--an organization that 
prepares young people to be leaders in business and agriculture.
  In her work with the Education Center for the Visually Impaired, 
Evelyn has sought to improve the quality of life for people who are 
blind or visually impaired. In doing so, she has helped to provide 
education, training, and development opportunities through services and 
programs.
  For her decades of work, Evelyn has received numerous awards. She 
received the ATHENA International Award presented by the Greater 
Springfield Chamber of Commerce in 2009, a Doctor of Humane Letters 
award from UIS in 2014, and was inducted into the Senior Illinoisans 
Hall of Fame in 2020.
  I have also been glad to get to know Evelyn's family over the years. 
In 2019, I worked with Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White to help 
the Brandt family secure the specialized World War II license plate, 
``GB,'' in honor of his military service. GB passed away in June 2020 
at the age of 94. In January 2020, we held a press event at BRANDT 
Consolidated, Inc., to celebrate the benefits of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada 
Agreement for the agriculture production industry and the Brandt 
family's global leadership.
  How is Evelyn doing? I would say she is doing pretty well for a farm 
girl from central Illinois. And she deserves it. Evelyn and her family 
are a true Illinois success story. I want to thank Evelyn for her many 
years of service to the central Illinois community and congratulate her 
for receiving the State Journal-Register's 2022 First Citizen Award. 
Illinois is grateful for all of her service and sacrifice.

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