The second visit saved from last year took the 2026 YCCEO team to Wolf Lake toone of the most unexpectedly impressive businesses in our region — Schaefer Enterprises of Wolf Lake, Inc. — and each year, it does not disappoint.
What brothers Jerry and Eugene Schaefer started in 1967 as a small farm implement shop has grown into something truly extraordinary. Spread across 19 acres in the quiet river bottoms community, Schaefer Enterprises has become a nationally recognized heavy equipment parts operation that reaches buyers around the region and around the world. It’s the kind of business that reminds you just how much is happening right here in southern Illinois, if you know where to look.
We are especially grateful for the relationship our program has built with this company over the years. Schaefer Enterprises has been an investor in UCCEO since its very beginning, and that commitment to developing the next generation of young professionals in our region means more than we can express. It is a generous and meaningful investment, and we do not take it lightly.
As always, General Manager and co-owner Cody Levan was an outstanding host. Cody has a genuine passion for this business and a gift for communicating it — he keeps a room engaged without even trying. Beyond the business itself, he took time to share some thoughtful perspective on leadership: what it truly means to be a good boss, and why treating your team with dignity and respect is not just the right thing to do, but the smart thing. It was the kind of honest, grounded advice that stays with you.
An addition this year that really impressed our young professionals was a closer look at how Schaefer’s manages its vast inventory. Walking that property, the sheer volume of parts is something to behold — and seeing the online platform they use to catalog, organize, and make that inventory available to buyers worldwide brought it all together. Customers can search available parts from anywhere, and if something isn’t in stock, requests can be made through the same system to source it from other businesses. It is an impressive operation built on smart systems and decades of hard-earned expertise.
Thank you, Cody, and the entire Schaefer Enterprises family, for your continued hospitality and your enduring investment in our young people. We are proud to call you partners and friends. 🤝
