Local businessmen hit the radio airwaves

Grubb, a former professional magician turned marketing specialist, will be host of a radio show called “Making Money” starting Jan. 10 on KADI 1340 AM .

“A lot of people down here really know what they’re doing with their businesses, but there’s so much more that can be done,” said Grubb, a Springfield native who lived in Chicago for 20 years.

He returned to Springfield in September 2003 and started business development company Backyard Gazette Publishing.

Grubb dispenses marketing advice though Backyard Gazette Publishing via seminars, one-on-one consultations and 15 niche publications. He now wants to disseminate his business acumen over the airwaves.

“I thought, ‘Boy, this would be a good thing to help folks,’” he said. “To kind of open their eyes with some things.”

Grubb has a 13-show contract with KADI.

On-air company

Grubb plans to help businesspeople by offering his own advice and the advice of subject-matter experts – local and nonlocal – who he will interview at 4 p.m. every Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Springfield business adviser Tom Dapp has been broadcasting a radio show since July. “It’s Your Business” airs every other Monday at 3 p.m. on KWTO 560 AM.

On his show, Dapp interviews local business leaders with the goal of educating and inspiring budding entrepreneurs. Dapp’s guests have included business owners Lisa Nally of ACR Nally Communications, Doug Pitt of ServiceWorld Computer Center, Jack Stack of SRC Holdings Corp. and Dianne Elizabeth Osis of Springfield Business Journal.

“These are folks who have gone through the battles together,” Dapp said. “They’ve fought their own wars in getting the business up and running, and it’s really neat to hear what they went through and how it happened. The hour is really about them and their business.”

Neither Grubb nor Dapp have radio backgrounds, though Grubb hosted a magic show in the early 1990s on public access in Chicago. Both, however, feel that they have something to offer the local business community through their radio shows.

Dapp, who has a one-year contract with KWTO, owns two Springfield businesses: Business Financing Solutions Inc., which offers financing brokerage services, and TP Dapp and Associates, which offers business planning.

Dapp formerly owned New Horizons Computer Learning Center, Cookies By Design and Computer Renaissance, all in Springfield.

Grubb formerly owned a speaking business and a distribution business, both in Chicago.