When Jon Keck built his kids a 4’x8’ Lego table covered entirely with Lego plates, I laughed and said, "So you're that guy." Jon's response reveals everything about his approach to life: "I go big or go home is kind of my mentality, my philosophy."

That philosophy has defined Jon's journey from outsider to community builder, from a teenager seeking opportunities to a man who creates opportunities for others.

Jon's story doesn't begin in Vandalia. Born in St. Louis in 1978, he navigated divorced parents from age one—his mother moving to northwest Indiana while his father stayed to build an air freight business around Anheuser-Busch and magazine distribution. "Back then, UPS and FedEx were not what they are today," Jon explains. His father found a niche bringing semi truckloads of magazines to St. Louis, then dividing them for air shipment to newsstands across the country. "It was very lucrative for a long time, until the Internet."

In 1992, his father's passion for farming and waterfowl hunting brought them to Vandalia. For Jon, the move meant trading a graduating class of 1,000 for one of 113. "I think part of the reason why I made that decision was because of opportunities," he reflects. "I don't think I would have been able to play basketball in Northwestern Indiana."

College took him to Florida State University, but homesickness brought him back. During those trips home, he connected with Jamie, a classmate of high school friend and current Assistant Principal, Mr. Mabry. His relationship and later marriage with Jamie became the foundation for his permanent roots in Vandalia.

Today, that "go big or go home" philosophy drives both his professional success and community commitment. As project manager for Lanracorp, Inc., a Brownstown-based vegetation management company, Jon has embraced cutting-edge technologies others avoid. He began flying drones in 2023, focusing on LiDAR technology for biomass calculation and terrain analysis. "What's there that doesn't need to be there and what does the terrain look like to help us accurately bid projects better?"

His interviewing responsibilities reveal another dimension of his problem-solving approach. "I like to think outside of the box and look at people's skills and see if they could be an asset to our organization." Rather than hiring for specific positions, Jon looks for talent that might fit roles that don't exist yet. "Sometimes the position that best fits isn't there yet."

The same philosophy built Vandalia's girls golf program from nothing. When Jon started coaching five years ago, the team had just two or three players and wasn't even school-sponsored. "If we're going to have a girls team, we need to have a girls team," Jon says. Last year, the team had 11 players—nearly 400% growth.

Jon and Jamie's parenting reflects this all-in approach. "One thing that we did with our kids was kind of put them at the center," he explains. The results speak for themselves: daughter Jadie, 21, studies fine arts at SIUE; son Jay, 18, will attend Washington University to study business and finance.

Both children participated in Vandalia's CEO program, which Jon considers invaluable. "It really teaches them how to be a grown up," he says. "They know how to work together, work with others who maybe have a different point of view, which you don't see a lot of today."

As someone who came to Vandalia from the outside, Jon brings unique perspective on what makes the community special. "When you're in a small community like this, you kind of rely on the people in the community to help raise your kid and you help raise other kids," he reflects.

Jon's appreciation for Vandalia has only deepened watching his children benefit from the same opportunities that drew him here. "I really didn't appreciate it at the time when I was a teenager," Jon admits. "But I did. I just didn't understand that it was because of this small, tight-knit community."

Whether he's piloting drones over pipeline corridors, coaching teenage golfers, or building epic Lego tables, Jon Keck continues to go big or go home—the same approach that brought him to Vandalia and convinced him to stay.