Allan Worrell retires from Worrell Land Services in Jacksonville
By Ben Cox
After more than four decades working in agriculture and more than 30 years building the business that bears his name, Allan Worrell is preparing to retire.
Worrell will turn 70 on Sept. 25 and will officially retire from Worrell Land Services, the Jacksonville-based agricultural real estate, appraisal and farm management company he founded in 1995.
He has requested no fanfare for the occasion. But after a career that has included decades of service to the agricultural community and the Jacksonville area, Worrell said stepping away is still a significant moment.
“It’s a hard step for me,” Worrell said during an interview on Sept. 17. “I’ve had such a work ethic. It’s like I never really ever thought about retiring, but the health issues got me to thinking, ‘Hey, you can’t hang on forever.’”
Worrell began his agricultural career as a farm manager at a bank in Springfield before transferring to Jacksonville in 1980.
The Worrell family includes (back row, L-R) Allan Worrell, Luke Worrell, Allison Worrell, Sophia Villarreal, Angela (Worrell) Villarreal and Robert Villarreal; (front row, L-R) Kale Worrell, Janet Worrell and Benson Worrell.
Fifteen years later, he decided to strike out on his own.
With two children in school and little more than an idea — and, as Worrell has recalled, a roll of stamps in the business account — he launched what would become Worrell Land Services from the spare bedroom of his home. His wife, Jan, provided support as the business got off the ground.
The company initially operated as Worrell-Leka Land Services with partner Randy Leka. In 2008, the growing operation moved into a dedicated office on South Main Street in South Jacksonville.
Leka eventually established his own operation, and the company became Worrell Land Services in 2015.
The business later moved to its current location at 2240 W. Morton Ave. in Jacksonville and expanded into a multi-specialty operation offering farm management, rural and recreational real estate brokerage, appraisals, auctions and land investment consulting.
Worrell’s son, Luke, joined the business in 2007 after working in professional sports sales in Florida. His initial work included odd jobs around the company, but he quickly rediscovered his interest in agriculture and committed to the family business.
Luke Worrell and his wife, Allison, purchased the company from Allan Worrell in 2018. They have since overseen its continued growth.
Today, Worrell Land Services has 12 professionals and serves clients across more than 40 Illinois counties. The company manages nearly 39,000 acres, conducts approximately 200 to 250 appraisals each year and, since 2020, has facilitated more than $327 million in real estate transactions.
Allan Worrell said he has gradually reduced his role in recent years, continuing to handle some appraisals, sales and consulting while Luke and Allison have increasingly managed the operation.
“The reality is my son, Luke, and his wife, Allison, really own the business now,” Worrell said. “I sold it to them and they’ve been running the show here for several years now. I’ve been playing a lesser role.”
His career has brought numerous honors. Among them, Worrell was named the first National Farm Manager of the Year by the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) in 1986. He received the 1997-98 Farm Management Conservation Award for soil and water conservation from the National Association of Conservation Districts, ASFMRA and Pioneer Hi-Bred International.
He served as president of the Illinois chapter of ASFMRA in 1998 and as president of the Illinois Realtors Land Institute in 2003. In 2005, he was inducted into the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce Ag Hall of Fame. He later served as chairman of the Chamber board in 2014 and was named the Illinois Realtors Land Institute Land Broker of the Year in 2015.
In 2023, he received the Torch of Leadership Award from the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation.
But when asked what he considers his greatest accomplishment, Worrell did not point to acres managed, farms sold, appraisals completed or awards received.
Instead, he pointed to community involvement.
“I think if we do anything right, and we have certainly been blessed as a business, that we really try to support the community,” Worrell said.
He cited the company’s involvement with local events and organizations, including the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corp. and Jacksonville Area Museum, as examples of the importance the Worrell family has placed on giving back.
“We’ve been really, really blessed,” he said. “But I think for all of us, it’s equally important to give back to the community that has supported us so well.”
Worrell said that remains his greatest source of pride as he looks back on the journey.
“I started as a one-man shop in the extra bedroom of the house and wondered what the heck am I doing?” he said. “Am I going to starve the family to death?”
Instead, the business grew into one of the region’s prominent agricultural service companies, with the next generation now leading it.
Worrell said the strength of the company’s staff and the values they bring to their work are also part of the legacy he leaves behind.
“We have such a great staff there,” he said. “People that are good people, I mean, that have a moral compass.”
While he is retiring, Worrell emphasized that retirement will not mean disappearing from the community.
“Jacksonville will always be our home headquarters for our business and our life and all the extracurricular activities,” he said. “Jacksonville is still it. I don’t plan on just completely fading away.”
For Worrell, however, the time has come to acknowledge that the business he built no longer depends on him being at its center.
“I don’t count on disappearing,” he said. “But it’s time to admit [the] reality that it’s probably time to step aside.” Worrell says that he looks forward to being a driver for his grandchildren’s many extracurricular activities after his retirement is official later this month.
Worrell Land Services announced Worrell’s retirement on its Facebook page, encouraging clients, friends and members of the community to send cards with well wishes or favorite memories to the company’s office.
For a man who spent much of his career building a business from a spare bedroom into a regional agricultural operation, the next chapter will be considerably different.
But it will still begin in Jacksonville.
