PEORIA MAGAZINE September 2023

Matt Whitehall cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of GoodJava, a software company that won the Turner Center’s 2023 Startup of the Year

TURNER CENTER HONOREE

STARTUP OF THE YEAR GoodJava Inc. pours out business software solutions, not cups of cappucino

BY STEVE STEIN PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

G oodJava Inc. opened in Mor ton on June 1. But there’s no sign for the company on the front door of its office in the Field Shopping Center. “We didn’t put up a sign because people would think we’re a coffee shop,” said Matt Whitehall, GoodJava’s president. “They’d be breaking down the door.” GoodJava, named the 2023 Startup of the Year by Bradley University’s Turner Center, is a software development firm that specializes in custom software solu

tions for business challenges. The name is a reference to software programming language, not the slang for coffee. GoodJava also does business as GoodFarm Solutions, serving clients in the agriculture industry. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION A GoodFarm Solutions sign is on the front door at GoodJava’s new office at 2109 S. Main St., next door to the VIP Morton Cinemas. Previously, GoodJava

had operated out of a building on Sher idan Road in Pekin. “The best way to describe that build ing is a ‘barndominium’ or ‘barndo,’” Whitehall said. “In any case, it was get ting cozy in there for us. We needed to move into a bigger space.” The 2,800-square-foot Field Shopping Center location on the outskirts of Mor ton “checked all the boxes,” Whitehall said. Among those is that it was once the home of CSE Software, so it had the computer tower outlets and network capabilities already in place. The space

50 SEPTEMBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE