New Council members brush off Chamber of Commerce - Columbia ...

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Columbia, MO 

Volume 17 

Issue 19 

April 16, 2011 

Newly elected City Council members Helen Anthony and Fred Schmidt 

5 

10 

13 

People You Should Know 

Kate Stull, director of the Women’s Network, 

brings awareness to the business community 

— and shares the dangers of walking on ice. 

Power Lunch-Angel Investing 

Members of Centennial Investors discuss 

the type of fledgling companies they help get 

started in Columbia and what can be done to 

hasten the pace of deal making. 

Annual Economic Checkup 

Jeff MacLellan says the positives outweigh 

the negatives again this year, but the housing 

market continues to act as a drag on the local 

economy. 

By Annie Greenberg 

The City Council elections were over, winners Fred 

Schmidt and Helen Anthony were about to be sworn 

into office, and questions about the impact of their 

rejections by the Chamber of Commerce still lingered. 

The business organization’s leadership officially 

endorsed and advocated for Anthony’s opponent in 

the 5th Ward, Glen Ehrhardt, and declined to endorse 

a candidate in the 1st Ward. 

Schmidt and Anthony have been fielding questions 

about the Chamber endorsement decisions 

since they were announced in February. Schmidt, a 

www.columbiabusinesstimes.com � $ 1 50 

New Council members brush 

off Chamber of Commerce snub 

Chamber member and business owner, said he is still 

asked about the non-endorsement more than anything 

else. 

“It’s a private group and can do whatever it 

wants to,” Schmidt said shortly before the installation 

ceremony in the Council Chambers last Monday. 

“But I’ve been saying for a while it’s not a great idea 

for groups such as (the Chamber) to do endorsing 

because not all its members agree. It creates a lot of 

controversy. … But it’s water under the bridge now.” 

Schmidt added that he has many friends in the 

Chamber and will happily continue to be a member. 

SPECIAL SECTION 

Home 

& Garden 

See Page 14 

(continued on Page 7) 

Photo by august kryger

2 April 16, 2011 Columbia Business Times | ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com 

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21 

Columbia Center for 

Urban Agriculture 

The CCUA has plans to 

become a self-supporting 

organization while tending 

its mission — making 

farmers out of city folk. 

Business Profile 

Alliance Water Resources 

expands its presence 

in Missouri, offers 

communities access 

to an entire company’s 

expertise. 

3M ......................................................................................... 6, 13 

Adams & Witt Property Professionals ....................................... 26 

Agents National Title Insurance Company .................................. 4 

All Vacuum Care ........................................................................ 26 

Alliance Water Resources ...................................................... 2, 21 

Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories ........................................ 4 

Artlandish Gallery .................................................................. 3, 27 

Atkins ......................................................................................... 17 

Auto-Owners Insurance............................................................. 24 

BeautiControl W.H.O. Foundation ............................................. 17 

Benton K-Kids ............................................................................. 7 

Bluffs Nursing Home ................................................................. 20 

Boone County Council on Aging ......................................... 18, 19 

Boone County National Bank .................................................. 4, 7 

Boys and Girls Club..................................................................... 6 

Bramon Remodeling & Design .................................................. 19 

Bucket Media ............................................................................ 17 

The Callaway Bank ...................................................................... 4 

Centennial Investors .................................................................... 1 

Central Trust & Investment Company.......................................... 4 

CenturyLink ........................................................................... 4, 13 

Cherry Hill Massage .................................................................. 26 

Club at Old Hawthorne ................................................................ 5 

Columbia Carpet Cleaning ........................................................ 18 

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture ..................... 2, 14, 15, 17 

Columbia College ........................................................................ 4 

Columbia Daily Tribune.......................................................... 6, 13 

Columbia Energy Center ............................................................. 6 

Columbia Regional Airport .......................................................... 6 

Commerce Bank .......................................................................... 4 

D&H Drugstores......................................................................... 19 

Designer Landscape, Columbia .................................................. 4 

Divas Uncorked ........................................................................... 5 

Edward Jones .............................................................................. 7 

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center ....................................................... 20 

End of the Rainbow CDC ............................................................ 4 

Fairview Church of Christ ............................................................ 4 

Flooring America ......................................................................... 9 

Frito Lay/Quaker ........................................................................ 13 

Hollywood Theaters................................................................... 24 

Hubbell Power Systems Inc. ..................................................... 13 

IBM ........................................................................................ 4, 13 

Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches ......................................... 18 

Joe Machens Automotive ...................................................... 3, 13 

Kilgore’s Medical Pharmacy .......................................... 14, 15, 17 

Kliethermes Home & Remodeling ............................................. 18 

Landmark Bank ......................................................................... 13 

Lenoir Woods .............................................................................. 7 

Linen King .................................................................................. 13 

Little Dixie Construction ............................................................ 24 

The Market Place ...................................................................... 19 

MayeCreate ............................................................................... 25 

MBS ............................................................................................. 4 

Missouri Association of REALTORS ............................................ 4 

Missouri Employers Mutual ....................................................... 13 

Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation ................................... 7 

MU Children’s Hospital ................................................................ 7 

My Green Cities ..................................................................... 3, 27 

Nora Stewart Early Learning Center .................................... 14, 17 

Pure ............................................................................................. 4 

Red & Moe ................................................................................. 14 

Redlight Photobooth ................................................................. 26 

Regional Economic Development Inc. .............................. 4, 6, 13 

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri ................... 5 

Rost Landscaping ..................................................................... 17 

Schneider Electric: Square D .................................................... 13 

Slow Food Katy Trail .................................................................. 14 

Socket ....................................................................................... 14 

State Farm Insurance ................................................................ 16 

Stephens College Equine Center .............................................. 14 

Superior Garden ........................................................................ 23 

Susan G. Komen ......................................................................... 5 

Sycamore .................................................................................. 14 

Tranquility .................................................................................. 25 

TreecePhillips LLC ..................................................................... 19 

Trinity Presbyterian Church ....................................................... 20 

UMB Bank ................................................................................... 4 

U.S. Rents It .............................................................................. 14 

VA Mortgage Center .................................................................. 13 

Walk About Acres ...................................................................... 14 

Westminster College ................................................................... 4 

The Women’s Network ........................................................ 1, 3, 5 

Allstate Insurance ........................................ 11 

Beckett Taylor Insurance .............................. 6 

Bee Seen Signs, Inc. ..................................... 7 

Boone County National Bank ...................... 28 

The Callaway Bank ...................................... 10 

Carpet One .................................................. 16 

City of Columbia Water & Light ................... 23 

Columbia Regional Airport ............................ 7 

Columbia Turf & Landscape ........................ 20 

Delta Systems ............................................. 26 

HealthLink ................................................... 18 

Huber & Associates ..................................... 27 

Landmark Bank ............................................. 2 

Magic Service ............................................. 17 

Meeks Lumber ............................................... 3 

Mid-City Lumber Co .................................... 21 

Savant Business Development Systems ......11,24 

SOCKET ...................................................... 25 

Songbird Station.......................................... 18 

Sycamore .................................................... 17 

The Bank of Missouri ................................... 12 

The Insurance Group ..................................... 4 

Tiger Turf ..................................................... 19 

Triangle Blueprints ....................................... 17

CBT BUSINESS CALENDAR — APRIL 

April 18 

Logistique Studio, Grand Opening Event 

Noon to 12:30 p.m. Walton Building Community Room, 

300 S. Providence 

The ambassadors for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce 

will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of 

Logistique Studio LLC, an artistic project and event management 

company. 

City Council Work Session, Meeting 

6 p.m. Council Chambers, Broadway and Eighth St. 

The Council will discuss a planned stormwater rate increase 

to go before voters in the fall. The ordinance will go before 

Council on May 2. The city hired a consulting firm that recommended 

the rates be doubled in the first year and continue 

rising for seven years to cover rising costs, particularly those 

associated with reducing stormwater flow into Hinkson Creek, 

as mandated by the EPA. 

April 19 

Short Street Parking Garage Stakeholders Meeting 

10 a.m. City Hall Conference Room, Broadway and Eighth St. 

City officials will meet with downtown stakeholders to discuss 

issues relating to the planning, design, construction and contract 

administration of a multilevel off-street parking garage 

north of Broadway on Short Street. 

April 21 

SPARC Networking Reception 

4:30 to 6 p.m. MU’s Bond Life Sciences Center 

The Scientific Partnership and Resource Connection is hosting 

a networking event designed to build relationships between 

the science and business communities. The reception 

will have local foods and Missouri wines and is part of MU’s 

annual Missouri Life Sciences Week. 

ATHENA International Awards Banquet 

5 to 7:30 p.m. University Club 

The Women’s Network of the Chamber of Commerce will announce 

the winner of the ATHENA Leadership Award and the 

winner of the ATHENA Young Professional Award. Finalists for 

the Leadership Award are Lynda Baumgartner, Karen Miller 

and Jolene Schulz. Finalists for the Young Professional Award 

are Shelly DeVore, Shatenita Horton and Jennifer Thoma. 

Understanding Financial Statements Class 

5:30 to 8:30 p.m. W0009 Lafferre Hall, College of Engineering, 

University of Missouri, 416 S. Sixth St. 

During this course, students will learn to identify key business 

information that is captured on the income statement, 

balance sheet and cash flow statement. This is the last part 

of a two-part series. Cost is $79. Register online, or contact 

the Small Business and Technology Development Center at 

(573) 882-7096. 

April 22 

My Green Cities iPhone App Launch 

5:30 to 7 p.m. Artlandish Gallery, 1019 E. Walnut 

My Green Cities, a sustainable lifestyle development and consumer 

information company, is hosting a free event on Earth 

Day to celebrate the launch of its new iPhone app, which will 

allow users to find local, green companies in Columbia. For 

more information, contact Arianna Parsons at (573) 239-4235 

or info@mygreencities.com. 

April 29 

Grand Opening, Ribbon Cutting 

3 to 7 p.m. Joe Machens Body and Paint Center, 

1606 Commerce Court 

Machens expanded its adjacent repair facilities. With its 

Collision and Repair Center on Bernadette, the dealer now 

has 81 vehicle body repair bays. 

(573) 499-1830 | (573) 499-1831 fax 

editor@businesstimescompany.com 

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David Reed | Group Editor | Ext.1013 

Annie Greenberg | Intern | Ext.1009 

Katrina Tauchen | Copy Editor 

Alisha Moreland | Art Director 

Kristin Branscom | Graphic Designer 

Betsy Bell | Creative Marketing Director 

Cindy Sheridan | Operations Manager 

Annie Jarrett | Marketing Representative 

Joe Schmitter | Marketing Representative 

Writers in this issue: Dianna Borsi O'Brien, 

Annie Greenberg, David Reed, Sean Spence, 

Katrina Tauchen 

Columnists in this issue: Al Germond, Dave Griggs, 

Monica Pitts, Ed Robb 

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3 April 16, 2011 Columbia Business Times | ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com


Watkins Schaefer Dierker Crabtree Barger Miller Stuby Beshore 

Hirings 

Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories announced the following hirings: Danielle 

Keeling, quality assurance associate I; Roger Summers, senior scientist; Kahsay 

Teclay, technician, operations support; Adam Jennings, technician; Melissa Holou, 

associate toxicologist; and Alan Moylan, assistant scientist. On the corporate level, Lise 

Nyrop joined the company as a human resources manager, and Jeremy Burt is now a 

senior marketing communications specialist. 

MBS hired Carrie Watkins, Rachel McNeal and Stephanie Schaefer to join the 

advertising and promotions department. Watkins was hired as a marketing manager 

and has worked for four years as a marketing specialist with Boone County National 

Bank and three years as the marketing director for its wealth management affiliate, 

Central Trust & Investment Company. McNeal is a new copywriter for MBS. Her role 

includes developing copy for marketing materials such as newsletters, emails, news 

releases and a variety of advertising. Schaefer was hired as a new copywriter for MBS 

Systems and Wholesale. She began at MBS as a marketing intern in October 2010. 

Designer Landscape, Columbia hired Philip Dierker as landscape designer and commercial 

estimator. Dierker has more than 18 years experience in landscape design and 

construction and was recently the lead designer at Dierker Design. 

Jennifer Williamson joined The Callaway Bank as the branch sales manager of the 

West Broadway facility. Williamson will be responsible for overseeing the organizational 

and sales functions of the branch. Williamson was previously employed by Regions 

Bank as a vice president and branch sales manager. 

Promotions 

CenturyLink promoted Karen Crabtree from vice president of provisioning to 

vice president/general manager for the northern Missouri markets. She has 25 years of 

telecommunications experience. Now that the CenturyLink-Qwest merger is complete, 

Crabtree will serve as the local leader for the combined company in the area. 

Jamey Jouret has been promoted to a commercial loan officer at UMB Bank. In 

this role, he is responsible for developing new commercial business, credit underwriting 

and aligning bank products and services with client needs in the Jefferson City market. 

Jouret has been with the bank for three years and was promoted from a personal banking 

representative in the Columbia market. 

Boone County National Bank promoted several employees last month: Amber 

Dykes, to senior teller for the Rock Bridge Bank; Andrea Waterfield, to consumer 

banking representative for the floating pool of consumer banking employees; Meredith 

Hamilton, to financial associate for the Smiley Lane Bank; Candace Morphew, Jessica 

Nelson and Jessica Barnes, to customer service representatives II; and Jim Salings, to 

a senior customer service representative for the Customer Service Center. 

Melanie Barger has been promoted to be the director of the Office of Alumni 

Engagement & Event Management in the Institutional Advancement Department of 

Westminster College. She has worked at Westminster since 2001 as the alumni and college 

relations coordinator, institutional advancement Web coordinator and the assistant 

director for alumni programming. Kris Lensmeyer was promoted from executive 

director of alumni and college relations to the executive director of marketing management 

and strategic communication, and Gina Campagna has advanced from marketing 

coordinator to assistant director of advancement services. Lensmeyer has worked at 

Westminster since 1989, and Campagna has worked at the college for almost two years. 

Columbia College has promoted Nathan Miller from senior course review specialist 

for the online campus to director of special projects for the Division of Adult Higher 

Education. In this new position, he is responsible for nationwide campus commencement 

ceremonies, anniversary celebrations, lease management and office startups. The 

college has also promoted Jamie Davis to senior coordinator, financial aid and Steve 

Dotson to social media coordinator, public relations. 

Appointments 

Bill Stuby, procurement counselor with MO PTAC at the MU College of Engineering, 

has been elected president of the National Association of Procurement Technical 

Assistance Centers Counselors. Stuby has been with MO PTAC, part of MU Extension’s 

business development program, for more than 10 years and serves as a counselor for 

business clients seeking to bid on business contracts from federal, state and local government 

agencies. He began a one-year term as president of APTAC on March 23. 

Erin Hervey, director of public policy for the Missouri Association of REALTORS, has 

been selected to participate in Leadership Missouri, a seven-month leadership enhancement 

program sponsored by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This 

month she will join more than 20 business and state leaders in helping business, government 

and civic leaders better understand the diverse issues facing Missouri employers, 

communities and government. 

Teresa Maledy, president of Commerce Bank Central Missouri Region, recently 

announced the election of community and business leader Brent Beshore to the bank’s 

local advisory board of directors. Beshore is an entrepreneur and owner of a number of 

businesses, including Pure. 

Licenses, Accreditations 

Agents National Title Insurance Company has become licensed to issue title insurance 

in the state of Minnesota. ANTIC is based in Columbia with licenses in Arkansas, 

Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota and Wyoming. 

The Missouri Center for Accreditation has awarded a certificate of accreditation to 

End of the Rainbow CDC. The certificate is granted to quality programs that offer 

developmentally appropriate experiences in an environment conducive to children 

flourishing intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically. 

Awards 

Dave Griggs has been selected to receive the third annual Howard B. Lang Award 

for Outstanding Volunteer Service to the City of Columbia. Griggs was nominated by 

the staff and board of directors of Regional Economic Development. Inc. for the leadership 

he provided to help attract IBM to Columbia. 

Winners of the 10th annual HERO Awards were announced Tuesday. The Lifetime 

Achievement Award was presented to Dean Berry, who created the Columbia 

Youth Basketball Association in 1992 that recruits coaches, referees, board members 

and playing space. From 50 kids the first year, CYBA has grown to 1,000 players. 

We want to hear from you. Please email your submissions to editor@businesstimes company.com. 

(continued on Page 7)

Photo by taylor allen 

PEOPLE YOu SHOULD KNOW 

Katherine Stull 

(Kate or Katerdater to friends and family) 

Director of Women’s Network, Columbia Chamber of Commerce 

AGE: 27 | YEARS LIVED IN MID-MISSOURI: 18 | ORIGINAL HOMETOWN: Charleston, Mo. My family moved to Columbia when I was 4 so my dad 

could attend graduate school at MU. We liked the city and the public school system so much, we stayed. 

JOB DESCRIPTION: Women’s Network member and loyal volunteer Kerrie Bloss recently said, “Kate is the boss of all of us,” but 

I have to admit, after six months at the Chamber, my job is mainly to keep members like her happy. In short, I work 

with Women’s Network leadership and volunteers to achieve goals, create public awareness about our members and 

events and make sure members are recognized for their accomplishments in and outside of our organization. In addition 

to that portion of my job, I am the staff liaison to the Small Business Committee and the database manager for the 

Chamber. I’m also the newly dubbed grammar wizard, or grammar Nazi, depending on the project. 

EDUCATION: Fairview Elementary, Smithton, Jefferson Jr. and Rock Bridge High School. I went to Dallas after that and 

graduated from Southern Methodist University with a major in creative advertising and a minor in fine arts. 

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: I’m part of a wine group named Divas Uncorked, which meets monthly. I, as so many 

others, sometimes trade my business-like demeanor for a glass of wine (or two!) and a good laugh among girlfriends. 

I’ve helped organize fundraisers such as the Always A Bride Ball, which supports the Ronald McDonald House 

Charities of Mid-Missouri, and I’ve walked in the Susan G. Komen 5K race. I’m also the new technology advisor on the 

alumni board for the University of Missouri Chi Omega House–Rho Alpha. 

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: When it comes to years of work experience, I think quality trumps quantity. After graduating 

from college, I moved to Arizona, where I worked as an account coordinator at a small advertising firm. Once my 

husband popped the question, we moved back to Columbia, where I was an account manager for VANGEL for three 

very quick, action-packed, happy years. 

A COLUMBIA BUSINESSPERSON I ADMIRE AND WHY: Hopefully this is not too cliché, but I have to name my mom, Francee 

Shelby, a businesswoman who’s outstanding at taking care of others. She owned and grew her own business for 

years, and she now has clients (and friends) whom she takes care of as if they were family. That’s just her paid job. 

She’s also done an exceptional job taking care of her real family — the unpaid yet most important job — through 

some exciting as well as rougher years. 

WHY I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT MY JOB: First, I get to work with such amazing people each day. Not only is the Chamber staff 

made up of hard working, compassionate people, but the volunteers and Chamber members are a diverse and hilarious 

group that often presents new ways of thinking and opportunities to give back to the community that I never knew about. 

Being at the Chamber, I think I’m becoming a more well-rounded person in that I get to help others while actually making 

a difference in the face of the city by supporting local businesses. Second, there’s an abundance of food and snacks at the 

Chamber building at all times. 

IF I WEREN’T DOING THIS FOR A LIVING, I WOULD… be painting murals all over the city with my son strolling alongside. 

BIGGEST CAREER OBSTACLE I’VE OVERCOME AND HOW: Walking across Flat Branch bridge on my way to work in January. Literally. 

Let this be a warning to all: The ice builds up on the bridge so easily, and it’s very difficult to spot. One morning the thick ice 

took me down. Luckily, I recovered and arrived at my desk before The Donald (Don Laird) suspected anything or could use that 

embarrassing information to tease me with throughout the day. 

A FAVORITE RECENT PROJECT: Design! For example, I’ve had the opportunity to do some design work for Divas Uncorked, the 

Chamber’s EPIC–Emerging Professionals In Columbia, and I created a graphic celebrating the 30th year of Women’s Network. 

WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PROFESSION: At the Chamber, we work hard and play hard. Recently named Missouri’s 

Chamber of the Year, we do a lot of work to keep our members happy by promoting business in Columbia in any and every 

possible way. Some would say Chamber work is thankless, but I happen to be thankful for all the work we do. It makes me 

appreciate what a wonderful place Columbia is to live, play in a park, raise my son, network, grow as a professional woman… 

The list goes on. 

FAMILY: My husband of nearly five years, Kevin Stull, is the first assistant golf professional at the Club at Old Hawthorne. My 

1-year-old son, Rob, enjoys reading books, eating carbs and walking like a big boy. 

WHAT I DO FOR FUN: This is a longer list than you care to read, so I’ll give you a top five: cook and eat (that counts as one), 

sip wine, chat with friends, play with Rob and be outside. Preferably all at the same time. 

FAVORITE PLACE IN COLUMBIA: MKT Trail. I love the fact that you can get almost anywhere in Columbia and see so many 

interesting sights from this one trail: Flat Branch Park, Twin Lakes Dog Park, Forum Nature Area, etc. 

ACCOMPLISHMENT I’M MOST PROUD OF: Surviving six months with Chamber staff. 

MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT I … painted five murals on the walls of Rob’s nursery to match a quilt my mom made for him (consequently, 

I often get asked to help decorate people’s homes and pick out paint colors). I also compete in a Meatloaf Smackdown competition 

every year (’08 champion, baby!) and won a Dallas Addy for my work at SMU. v 



CBT News Review 

Joe Machens Dealerships announced 

Wednesday that it has acquired the Volkswagen 

franchise for Columbia, which will be the company’s 

seventh local dealership. President Gary 

Drewing said construction of the Volkswagen 

facility will begin this summer on the recently 

purchased Ramada Inn site on Vandiver Drive just 

north of Interstate 70. The site will be designed 

to include a second dealership that has yet to be 

determined. 

The Columbia Public Schools board swore in 

new members Helen Wade, Jonathan Sessions 

and Tom Rose on April 11. The new school board 

authorized the sale of $43 million in general obligation 

bonds for new district projects. This sale is 

the first of the $120 million bond sale approved by 

voters in April 2010. 

The new Columbia City Council members were 

also sworn in Monday night. Local business owner 

and accountant Fred Schmidt now represents the 

1st Ward, and Planning and Zoning Commissioner 

Helen Anthony is the new councilwoman for the 

5th Ward. 

Voters on April 5 also approved Proposition 2, 

a $49.5 million bond issue financing the purchase 

of the Columbia Energy Center. The purchase 

of the gas-fired turbines that had been leased by 

the city will save the city $1 million per year, city 

officials said. 

The City Council has approved an agreement 

with Kansas City engineering firm Burns & 

McDonnell to provide engineering services for 

runway expansion and other projects at Columbia 

Regional Airport for the next five years. Each 

project will be presented to the City Council on a 

case-by-case basis, and the city retains the right to 

hire other firms. Repairing and expanding the airport’s 

two runways will cost an estimated $26 million 

of about $34 million in projects, according to a 

notice to airport consultants. The rest of the money 

would go to expanding the apron and taxiways and 

other projects in the hope of attracting more business 

for the airport. 

3M announced that it has received a $4.4 million 

grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to 

manufacture solar film at its manufacturing plant 

in Columbia. The company said the funding, to 

be allocated over a three-year period, will lead to 

increased production and about 120 new jobs, the 

Columbia Daily Tribune reported. The DOE’s goal is 

to reduce the cost of solar energy systems by about 

75 percent. The company’s solar film product is a 

flexible film for solar panels that would replace the 

heavier glass used for most systems. 

Business leaders and MU researchers are 

working to put the city at the forefront of economic 

development in space by attracting a NASA 

national laboratory to Columbia, the Columbia 

Daily Tribune reported . If Columbia is chosen to 

receive the $15 million-per-year grant being made 

available through NASA to establish a new national 

laboratory, it would be a research facility with a 

“venture capitalist” bent, said Rob Duncan, MU 

vice chancellor for research and an ex-officio board 

member of Regional Economic Development Inc. 

A proposal Duncan helped write with fellow MU 

researchers was submitted to NASA on April, and 

the agency’s decision could be announced as early 

as May. 

A Senate committee approved legislation 

sought by utilities as a potential first step toward 

the construction of a second reactor at the Callaway 

Nuclear Plant, the Associated Press reported. 

Missouri utilities want permission to charge cus- 

CBT BUSINESS NEWS DIGEST 

tomers for the cost of an early site permit from the 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A state 

law approved by voters in 1976 currently bars utilities 

from charging customers for the costs of a new 

power plant before it starts producing electricity. 

The Missouri General Assembly passed legislation 

that would phase out Missouri’s remaining 

franchise tax on businesses in five years. Only corporations 

with $10 million or more in assets pay the 

franchise tax. Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia, 

argued unsuccessfully that the $87 million generated 

annually is vital, especially in lean times such 

as now when lawmakers have been forced to cut the 

state budget, Missourinet reported. 

The Missouri Senate has advanced a bill 

requiring public employee unions to get annual 

written consent to deduct union dues from a member's 

paycheck. The legislation given first-round 

approval April 6 would also require the unions to 

get separate permission to use the dues for political 

purposes. 

The University of Missouri System could gain 

almost $9.4 million from a Senate plan to offset cuts 

to higher education. The Senate Appropriations 

Committee approved a proposal from Sen. Kurt 

Schaefer, R-Columbia, the committee chairman, to 

distribute $20 million more to colleges and universities 

than Gov. Jay Nixon had requested. Nixon had 

proposed all schools take the same 7 percent cut; 

Schaefer’s plan pares that to 4.81 percent. 

Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation that paves 

the way for longtime unemployed Missourians to 

once again draw federal aid. The measure, which 

was stuck in a Senate filibuster for weeks, temporarily 

restores 20 weeks of added benefits for jobless 

Missourians who have exhausted their 79 weeks of 

regular and emergency benefits. However, the legislation 

also reduces the number of state-paid benefits 

beginning next year from 26 to 20 weeks. 

The Missouri House has approved a new map 

of the state’s congressional districts, but the Senate’s 

initial reaction was unfavorable. Missouri is losing 

one of its nine seats in the U.S. House because of 

population changes, and the legislature is in charge 

of drawing the new eight-district map. The map 

merges two congressional districts covering parts 

of the city of St. Louis into a single district. Both districts 

currently are represented by Democrats. 

The City of Columbia has been mailing out surveys 

to gauge residents’ interest about public safety, 

utilities and other day-to-day operations. The 

responses from the 800 surveys randomly administered 

to Columbia homes will provide the city with 

information to improve services. Four specific areas 

— communication between residents and government, 

neighborhood services, unresolved stormwater 

issues and customer service — are of particular 

interest to the city, Public Communications 

Director Toni Messina said. 

The Boys and Girls Club of the Columbia 

area will receive $42,900 in state tax credits for 

the Seventh Street Teen Center, the Missouri 

Department of Economic Development announced. 

The club received the credits from the department’s 

Neighborhood Assistance Program, which awards 

tax credits to not-for-profit organizations that provide 

services in crime prevention, job training and 

community service. According to a news release 

from the department, the new center will provide 

academic assistance and career skills training for 

youths in grades six through 12. v

Council Members... continued from Page 1 POTM... continued from Page 4 

Anthony said the strength of her city planning experience and campaign platform helped her counteract 

her opponent’s Chamber endorsement — and the financial advantage that came with it. 

“Whenever you have a race running against a Chamber-backed candidate, you have to expect it will 

be a well-funded campaign for sure,” she said. “There was a decision that faced the voters, whether to 

keep going with the same old, same old, or were we going to move forward?” 

Anthony said she plans to move forward in a positive relationship with the Chamber as well, starting 

with sitting down and having lunch with some of its leadership. 

This is the second election in which the Chamber endorsed candidates. Last year, the Chamber backed 

three eventual winners: Mayor Bob McDavid, 3rd Ward Rep. Gary Kespohl and 4th Ward Rep. Daryl 

Dudley. 

The local Chamber has, for many years, publicly advocated for or against issues impacting business 

development and has more recently ramped up the effort with mass emails to members. 

Don Laird, president of the Chamber, agreed there were no hard feelings between the winning candidates 

and the business organization. 

“We look forward to working with the two new Council members, and I'm sure they'll do a good job 

for the people of Columbia,” he said. “It was never antagonistic.” 

Paul Sturtz and Laura Nauser were elected before the endorsement process began and did not seek 

re-election to the 1st and 5th wards, respectively. 

After he was sworn in, Schmidt recalled how Sturtz tried to dissuade him from running and told him 

how everyone was going to end up hating him. Schmidt added, jokingly, “I know when all this is over 

and my star has plummeted, at least Paul will talk to me.” 

At the Council ceremony, Sturtz joked that he was leaving office with more enemies and fewer friends. 

Sturtz, who often clashed with development advocates, stressed the importance of the city’s comprehensive 

plan: “We need to grow bigger in a smarter, more efficient way…so we're not Anytown, USA.” 

Nauser said despite disagreements she and other members of the Council might have had over certain 

issues, they were still always able to walk out the door as friends. Nauser added that she was glad 

another woman filled her seat. 

During the ceremony, Anthony grew emotional as she thanked her family and friends for their support. 

She said she’s going to continue to need it: “I have a list exhaustively long, and I’ve only (been 

elected) to this office for less than a week.” 

Now that Anthony and Schmidt have been sworn in, they’re ready to tackle a top priority — the city 

budget. They both cited infrastructure repair and supplementing the police and fire pension funds as 

major issues to address. 

But they’re not without their pet projects. Anthony, with her passion for city planning, said she wants 

to make sure more people get involved in the comprehensive plan. Schmidt said he wants to coordinate 

job counseling and job training services into a one-stop shop where people who want to work can get 

help to do so. v 

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Fairview Church of Christ won the group category award for 

its work with neighbors in need of anything from yard work 

to a home renovation. The winner in the Youth Category was 

the Benton K-Kids, a group of fourth- and fifth-graders who 

give up their recess time several times a month to help others at 

places such as the food bank and the MU Children’s Hospital. 

The winner in the Individual Category was Chuck Everitt, 

who for almost four decades has helped drive the success of 

the Columbia Youth Football League and organized an annual 

golf tournament to raise money for the league. The Outstanding 

Volunteer in Education or Literacy was Melinda Elmore, for 

her volunteer work at the Southern Boone Public Schools to 

help those students most at risk in improving their literacy. The 

Outstanding Community Protection Volunteer was Richard 

Gray, for helping transition the Neighborhood Watch program 

when it separated from the Police Department. The Health Care 

Volunteer of the Year was Jean Finn, who for the past four years 

has played the piano three times a week at Lenoir Woods. She 

also plays a couple of times a month at two other nursing homes. 

During a company ceremony, Boone County National Bank 

presented the following employees with its most prestigious 

annual awards: Cindy Whaley, the business banking manager, 

received the Dorothy Jacob Legendary Service Award; Ryan 

Bross, a commercial loan officer, received the Connie Martin 

Sales Award; Deborah Graves, a vice president and director 

of mortgage lending, received the Wayne Mountjoy Leadership 

Award; and Matt Burns, a consumer lending officer, received 

the Bo Fraser Legendary Service Award. 

J.R. Lawless, a financial advisor with Edward Jones in 

Columbia, and Emily Bosse and Laura Murphy, the branch 

office administrators, recently were honored by the firm for their 

performance and client service. The trio was among 50 branch 

teams, out of the firm's 12,000, selected to attend Edward Jones' 

Drucker 100 Conference at the firm's headquarters in St. Louis. 

The Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation, headquartered 

in Columbia, was recently selected as one of the 50 Best 

NonProfit Organizations to Work for 2011. The awards program 

was created in 2010 and is a project of The NonProfit Times and 

Best Companies Group. v 



vOICES 

From the Roundtable 

Nixon should rescind billion-dollar rail bid, focus on road woes 

Al Germond 

Al Germond is the 

host of the "Columbia 

Business TImes Sunday 

Morning Roundtable" 

every Sunday at 8:15 

a.m. on KFRu. 

Algermond@gmail.com 

While watching our state’s highways crumble 

and hearing the widespread calls for budget cutbacks, 

Gov. Jay Nixon has come up with a pothole 

of a plan. The governor has applied for nearly 

a billion dollars in federal funds for various 

dubious passenger rail projects. 

The Nixon administration is seeking federal 

funds spurned by several other states to shore up 

railroad passenger service on the 283-mile transstate 

line AMTRAK has used since 1971. Another 

allocation, perhaps more appropriately sought, is 

for initial planning of a true high-speed rail line 

linking St. Louis and Kansas City — presumably 

electrified and running through Columbia. 

“Attention! Listen up, Columbia and Boone 

County!” Like the stationmaster of old calling out 

arrivals and departures, this might revive plans to 

build what in 1933 was referred to as the shortest 

rail connection between Missouri’s two largest 

cities — a 232-mile route that would have passed 

through the Columbia area. 

The project dating back 80 years included construction 

of two new bridges across the Missouri 

River, for which all approvals had been secured. 

Of course, the Great Depression squelched the 

whole idea. 

Columbia, Boone County and its various 

adjuncts need to pay attention and be sure they’re 

at the table when this high-speed rail comes up 

for discussion. 

Rail fans love to recount the euphoria in this 

country after World War II, when dozens of privately 

funded railroad companies poured hun- 

dreds of millions of dollars into passenger equipment 

and the infrastructure these new cars rolled 

upon. The thrill and any prospect of profitability 

were largely gone by 1955, undone by burgeoning 

highway and airline competition, onerous taxes 

on structures and right-of-way and costly union 

“featherbedding” practices. 

“High speed” at the time was an illusion at 

best in North America: 80 mph was the exception, 

and an average speed of 50 mph was typical on 

the majority of passenger lines. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, France was 

showing the world what grande vitesse was 

really all about. 

On March 29, 1955, state-owned SNCF’s 

Alstrom electric locomotive No. CC-7102 was 

clocked doing 206 miles per hour (331 kmph) on 

a straightaway between Bordeaux and Dax in 

the Landes department. That established a speed 

record that stood for more than 50 years. 

Then came the construction of the first ligne 

à grande vitesse (LGV) on a new dedicated 

right-of-way between Paris and Lyon, followed 

by other new high-speed lines and upgrades. 

Although 300 kmph (186 mph) is the advertised 

speed of France’s TGV trains, most of the ordinary 

electrically propelled trains in that country 

attain average speeds between 100 and 120 miles 

per hour. 

But this is in France, a country about the size 

of Texas with 13 times the population of Missouri. 

Here, questions must be raised about making 

significant investments in the old Missouri Pacific 

Econ Matters 

Inflation is here? Let’s take a look under the hood 

Joseph Haslag 

Haslag is a professor 

of economics at the 

university of Missouri. 

For anyone who has filled a gas tank during 

the past three months, there is no denying that 

the price is marching upward. Based on this 

observation, inflation is here. 

After increasing by less than one percent 

between November 2009 and November 2010, 

the Consumer Price Index has recorded annualized 

rates of change equal to 4.8 percent in both 

December and January and 6 percent in February. 

So the United States’ most recognized measure 

of inflation indicates an uptick in the inflation 

rate. 

First, it is important to define what we mean 

by inflation. Economists see inflation as a sustained 

increase in the price index. Is three months 

a sustained increase? In my view, three months is 

not long enough to be a sustained increase. I do 

not want to rest my entire case on the number of 

months. 

Let us take an encompassing approach to the 

current situation. 

One factor that bears on the inflation conclusion 

is the circularity of it all. When one looks 

at the seven major components of the CPI, the 

main reason why the inflation rate has increased 

is because of the transportation component. In 

other words, the measured inflation rate is rising 

because energy prices have been increasing. 

Three months with rising inflation rates, 

owing chiefly to one major category, especially 

one that is historically quite volatile, makes me 

more comfortable calling this a non-inflation. 

Energy price increases can last for several 

months. In addition, energy is a ubiquitous input 

in world production and can therefore account 

for higher costs and higher prices for other goods 

and services. Once the energy price increase is 

completed, there are no sustained cost-push 

forces to act on the price of the market basket of 

goods and services. 

Economists see inflation 

as a sustained increase 

in the price index. … In 

my view, three months is 

not long enough to be a 

sustained increase. 

Another thing is the absence of protection 

sought by financial market participants. 

Sustained inflation is built into people’s forecasts. 

In other words, someone expecting prices 

to rise at a 10 percent rate during the next year 

will need more than a 10 percent return on 

even the safest assets held during the year. It’s a 

whole-time-value-of-money thing. 

Despite the recent increase in oil prices, the 

returns on Treasury bills have been remarkably 

line. Is the idea to atone for the nearly 30-year 

period that began in the 1930s when the MoPac 

was bankrupt and operating under the tutelage 

of a receiver? This is, largely, a single track rightof-way 

that’s more than 50 miles longer than it 

needs to be, sensitive to river flooding in places 

and more than 30 miles from Columbia, central 

Missouri’s largest city. 

One dreams of the construction and operation 

of a true high-speed electrified rail line between 

St. Louis and Kansas City with Columbia in 

between. Another dream speaks of high-speed, 

all-electric service between Hannibal and Branson 

that connects Columbia, Jefferson City, the Lake 

of the Ozarks and Springfield. Both new lines 

would be reliable customers if the Callaway II 

nuclear plant is ever built. 

Following French practice, Missouri’s new 

TGV line would mean laying down a brand new 

dedicated right-of-way laced with an overhead 

network of 25,000 volt catenary wires along a corridor 

that would be proximate to Interstate 70. 

The latest news from France tells us that 

high-speed rail progress has been slowed by the 

world economic malaise and the stupendous and 

continuously rising cost of construction. Billions 

of euros. No, tens of billions of euros is the anticipated 

cost to upgrade with all new right-of-way 

between Tours, Bordeaux and Toulouse with 

another new line proposed between Bordeaux, 

Bayonne and Hendaye on the Spanish border. 

Cities such as Poitiers and Angoulême are 

already annoyed because the new line will skirt 

(continued on Page 12) 

low and constant during the past year or so. Lest 

you believe that the Federal Reserve policies are 

keeping one-year Treasury bill rates low by creating 

lots of money, note that the return on oneyear 

Treasury bills was 14.7 percent in August 

1981. The return on one-year Treasury bills has 

not exceeded one-half percent since the end of 

2008. My point is that people buying Treasury 

securities are not bidding up the return to insure 

themselves against the sustained inflation. 

Perhaps, inflation has not worked its way past 

the threshold that marks the kind of sustained 

rates that are embedded in market interest rates. 

Despite compelling evidence, we do observe 

Washington-dwellers citing inflation. Rhetoric 

aside, it would be folly to ignore the potential 

for inflation that exists. If inflation is always 

and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, the 

Federal Reserve has accumulated a lot of kindling 

to fan inflationary fires. Printing money 

was adopted when the financial crisis first 

began and the Federal Open Market Committee 

enacted quantitative easing II last fall. 

Thus far, the absence of higher inflation likely 

means that demand for money matched the 

supply. Demand for money can be rather tricky 

though, and a nimble Federal Reserve must be 

prepared to undo the previous easing to keep 

inflation away. For us, the results come from an 

extremely complicated set of interactions among 

people operating in the economy. It might be 

worth watching those rates on United States’ 

Treasury securities. v

vOICES 

County view 

Local governments revise formula for sharing road, bridge costs 

Ed Robb 

Robb is Boone 

County’s presiding 

commissioner 

In 1993, the voters of Boone County approved 

a new one-half-cent sales tax dedicated to road 

and bridge maintenance and improvements. 

The tax has been re-approved by voters twice: 

first in 1997 and most recently in 2007. In return 

for this new revenue source, the county rolled 

back the road and bridge property tax levy from 

29 cents to 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation 

effective January 1, 1994. The rate was subsequently 

reduced to 4.75 cents as of January 2005. 

Passage of the new sales tax also required 

the enactment of a new revenue allocation formula. 

Under the property tax, taxing entities 

in the county shared the property tax receipts 

according to state statute. Cities, towns and villages 

received a rebate equal to 25 percent of the 

receipts generated within their boundaries, and 

the Centralia Special Road District received a 

rebate of 80 percent. 

Because property tax receipts were now much 

lower, the county initiated two new allocation 

categories: revenue replacement and revenue 

sharing. The revenue replacement portion was 

calculated as 1.5 times the amount that the old 

29-cent levy would have generated, less any 

property tax rebates. The revenue sharing portion 

was an application-based distribution based 

on the merits of requests received from cities and 

the CSRD. The projected distributions for the 2011 

fiscal year are summarized in the following table. 

Revenue: 

Rebates Replacement Sharing Total 

228,456 1,734,298 550,000 2,512,754 

The problem with this allocation formula 

is that the bulk of the shared revenue is based 

on the growth of the property tax, while the 

source of the funding is based on the growth 

of sales tax receipts. 

During the early years, 1995 to 1998, this 

posed no problem because the sales tax grew 

faster than the property tax, 31 percent and 

15 percent respectively. From 1999 to 2010, 

however, the opposite occurred, with property 

tax receipts growing at an average annual rate 

of 5.2 percent compared to 2.9 percent for the 

sales tax. The net result has been a continual 

erosion of the funding source for county road 

and bridge projects. 

When the county's share of sales tax receipts 

plummeted to 66 percent in 2008 compared to 

the historical average of 81 percent, all parties 

agreed that changes in the distribution formula 

were necessary. 

Work began on the new formula in September 

2009 with the formation of a revenue sharing 

subcommittee comprised of members from the 

county, the CSRD and the cities of Ashland and 

Columbia. The goal of the subcommittee was 

to draft a new distribution mechanism that recognized 

the funding needs of all parties while 

simultaneously tying the necessary revenues to 

the growth of the sales tax. 

A preliminary draft of the new formula 

was presented to all parties in December 2010. 

Subsequent comments and feedback were then 

incorporated into the draft to produce what 

is hoped to be the actual formula that will be 

adopted in April. 

Guest Column 

Independent contractors serve our community 

Dave Griggs 

Co-author Dave Griggs, 

owner of Flooring 

America 

These days, for small-business owners like me, 

access to independent contractors can sometimes 

serve as a lifeline to stay afloat. At other times, they 

are essential for continued growth. 

In either case, our local economies depend on 

the service of independent contractors — professional 

men and women who serve their community, 

provide for their families and deliver skilled 

services to businesses like mine. 

Hiring independent contractors is very commonplace 

in countless industries across the country. 

From computer software engineers, ER physicians, 

hair stylists, power plant engineers to the carpet 

and tile installers whom my business depends on, 

independent contractors are everywhere and fulfill 

an important function, which often includes creating 

much-needed jobs for others. 

Despite the fact that there are 10 million 

independent contractors in the United States 

— attributing $473 billion in personal income 

— the federal government is attempting to overregulate 

their independent status. Pushed by 

labor interests at both the national and state level, 

the campaign against independent contracting, 

if successful, will have severe consequences on 

an independent contractor’s ability to grow and 

prosper and a company’s ability to hire locally on 

a pay-for-performance basis. 

For more than 36 years, I have been granted 

the opportunity to carve out a successful entrepre- 

neurial niche in Columbia. In addition to serving 

customers, my business serves a wide range of 

markets including retail sales, construction, insurance, 

real estate and contract and commercial work. 

Hiring independent contractors not only significantly 

cuts overhead expenses and helps ease 

the burdens of small businesses, but it also allows 

me to be far more responsive to my customers’ 

needs while allowing installers the flexibility of 

being their own bosses and pursuing their own 

entrepreneurial ambitions while creating jobs for 

their helpers. 

As many Missourians struggle with persistent 

unemployment, higher prices and slow income 

growth, the focus should be on creating jobs, 

not taking them away. Independent contracting 

is a winning combination for businesses and 

citizens alike. The hardworking people of Missouri 

should have the freedom to turn obscurities into 

opportunities. 

Why independent contracting is under attack 

• States are facing a financial “double-whammy.” 

• More citizens demanding unemployment/ 

worker’s comp benefits 

• Fewer contributions/contributors to these 

funds because of job loss 

• The IRS is focused on finding opportunities to 

raise more revenue. 

Although the property tax rebate portion of 

the new allocation formula remains unchanged, 

the revenue replacement and revenue sharing 

portions are significantly different. Unlike the 

old formula, both are directly tied to the level 

of net new road and bridge sales tax receipts. 

Under the proposed new allocation mechanism, 

the county would retain 82 percent of net new 

road and bridge fund receipts, with 18 percent 

distributed to cities and the CSRD. 

The new revenue replacement is calculated 

as the actual difference between the mandatory 

rebate and the level of property taxes that 

would have been collected at the maximum 

levy allowed by state statute rather than the 

29-cent levy under the old formula. 

For 2010, the maximum rate ceiling was 26.49 

cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The new 

revenue sharing segment is divided into three 

pools: one based on competitive applications 

and the other two based on relative assessed 

valuation. The proposed distributions for the 

2011 fiscal year are summarized in Table 2. 

Revenue: 

Rebates Replacement Sharing Total 

228,456 1,045,053 1,172,643 2,446,152 

The net effect of the new formula is to 

move approximately 2.5 percent of net new 

sales tax receipts from city to county projects. 

Additionally, the county will also recognize 

all existing multi-year revenue sharing agreements. 

And unlike the old formula, the new 

version will be subject to annual review. v 

• Labor unions are seeking to reverse declines 

in membership and member dues. They are 

pressing state regulators and legislators to classify 

independent contractors as employees that 

can be organized into unions. 

“For decades the IRS has played a game of find-thefreelancer 

at businesses where independent contractors 

remain on the payroll for months or even years. 

Companies, especially small ones, increasingly rely on 

such workers because they offer greater flexibility — and 

because they're cheaper. Employers can save as much as 

30 percent on wages by avoiding payroll taxes, unemployment 

insurance, worker's compensation coverage 

and benefits they provide regular employees.” — Anne 

Field, Bloomberg Businessweek, April 2010 v 

Who are independent contractors? 

Wikipedia defines an independent contractor 

as a person, business or corporation 

that provides goods or services to another 

entity under terms specified in a contract 

or within a verbal agreement. Independent 

contractors range in size from one-person 

operations to large organizations with many 

employees. According to the U.S. Bureau of 

Labor Statistics and Chamber of Commerce, 

an estimated 10.3 million people work as independent 

contractors, or about 7.4 percent of 

the U.S. workforce. 



POWER LUNCH | AnGEL InvESTInG 

The forum discussion was moderated by Bruce Walker, president of Centennial Investors and former dean of MU’s Trulaske College of Business. From left: Walker; Andrew Beverley, president, Landmark Bank, founding 

CI member; Mike Brooks, president, Regional Economic Development Inc.; John Thompson, founding member of CI, founder, Sneezeguard Solutions; Gene Gerke, president, Gerke & Associates, founding CI member 

Angel investors nurture startups, mentor executives 

By David Reed 

Landmark Bank President Andrew Beverley 

pulled out a printout from a 5-year-old power point 

presentation to illustrate the progress of Columbia’s 

angel investment group and the city’s symbiotic support 

system for startup companies. 

Beverley, one of the founders of Centennial 

Investors, pointed out that the MU Life Sciences 

Business Incubator and Discovery Ridge research 

park were still in the planning stages back then, and 

his group was still short of qualified investors. 

When Beverley was making his presentation in 

2006 during a member recruitment meeting at the top 

of the Tiger Hotel, one of his arguments was that MU 

research funding was at an all-time high and likely to 

continue growing. 

“We didn’t know if we would find enough people 

to invest and if there would be enough deals to look 

at,” Beverley said during a recent lunch forum at 

the Tiger Hotel that brought together members of 

Centennial Investors and leaders of startup companies 

they’ve invested in. 

Now, Discovery Ridge has two major tenants, the 

Business Incubator is nearly full, and startup companies 

are taking MU research from lab to market at 

a record rate. CI has more than 50 members who’ve 

put up more than $2 million in early-stage funding 

for nine fledgling companies and mentored their 

inexperienced executives. 

“It gives you an idea of just how much has happened 

in a few years,” Beverley said. 

Centennial Investors was founded during the 

100th anniversary of the Columbia Chamber of 

Commerce, which covered the startup costs and still 

manages the group’s finances. Members are required 

to be “accredited investors” as defined by the 

Securities and Exchange Commission, which means 

having a net worth exceeding $1 million or annual 

income exceeding $200,000. 

There are, generally, three levels of early-stage 

financing needs. Seed capital, the money typically 

used to help validate an idea, generally ranges from 

$5,000 to $30,000 and often is provided by friends and 

family members rather than risk-averse banks. Angel 

PHOTOS BY NICHELLE LAWRENCE

POWER LUNCH | AnGEL InvESTInG 

From left: David Schaller, CI member, former project manager, Trabue, Hansen & Hinshaw; Shelly Simon, architect, planner and 

executive director of Greater Mo. Leadership Foundation; Jake Halliday, president & CEO, Missouri Innovation Center 

From left: Brent Beshore, Founder of Pure, League of Innovators; Xandra Sifuentes, CEO, Adroit Motion; Lu Alleruzzo, vice 

president-operations, Immunophotonics. Adroit Motion, a medical device maker, and Immunophotonics, a bioscience company 

developing a cancer drug, are startups that received CI funding and are located at the MU incubator. 

investments are generally more than $100,000 

and target established companies; venture 

capital investments are usually greater than 

$750,000 and typically run in the low millions. 

Incubator CEO Jake Halliday, who coordinates 

the screening of applicants seeking CI 

investments, said they’re getting “slammed” 

with 15 to 20 solicitations a week. 

Beverley said now that CI has answered the 

initial questions about the flow of prospective 

deals and investments, “there are a different 

set of issues,” such as the management of the 

companies and the marketing of products and 

services. 

And now that CI is filling startup needs at 

the angel investment level, its members and 

other advocates for entrepreneurs are developing 

ways to fill other holes in the system 

for bringing ideas to market. They’ve helped 

develop a student angel investment network 

at MU, started a series of educational seminars 

and put together an entrepreneurial summit 

two months ago that drew 250 participants. 

Brent Beshore, a CI member who founded 

Pure Partners and the League of Innovators, 

said entrepreneurs often don’t have the support 

network or personal funds to meet their 

seed capital needs. 

“Right now in Columbia, that gap has not 

been filled,” Beshore said during the forum. 

Beshore is organizing a seed capital funding 

process that will target entrepreneurs involved 

in emerging media and communications technology. 

They’ve put together $400,000 and 

brought in a managing director for the “accelerator” 

that’s modeled after LaunchBox Digital 

in North Carolina. 

LaunchBox Digital describes itself as a seedstage 

investment program helping entrepre- 

neurs maximize their chance of success through 

hands-on mentorship. Once a year, LaunchBox 

selects seven to 10 teams out of hundreds of 

applications to receive $20,000 in seed funding, 

three months of mentorship and the opportunity 

to pitch to more than 100 venture capitalists 

and angel investors at the conclusion of the 

program. 

“The model has proven to be very effective,” 

Beshore said. v 

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From the Roundtable... continued from Page 8 

and no longer pass through 

their city centers. Private capital 

now mingles with Réseau 

Ferré Français, the government 

entity that builds and 

maintains these lines while 

the départements traversed 

by the new lines increasingly 

balk at forking over their 

share of needed capital. That’s 

like asking Boone County for 

money; one wonders how far 

that would go. 

The French have one wild 

and wacky dream. And as 

much as I admire how other 

countries have attacked and 

executed their high-speed rail 

projects, here in the states we 

need to call a time-out for a 

serious reality check. 

What needs attention 

today is our infrastructure 

of deteriorating roads, highways 

and bridges. Think 

what the nearly billion dollars 

the governor wants to pry 

from the federal government 

for unrealistic passenger rail 

improvements could mean 

for our highways. 

Would someone tell 

the governor to drop this 

boondoggle? Then let’s start 

begging for our highways 

because they sure could use 

our help right about now. v 

The map above shows the extensive lines of the Missouri-Pacific Railroad in 1917. A project planned in 1933 for the shortest rail connection between Kansas City and 

St. Louis would have passed right through the Columbia area. Those plans, however, were squelched by the Great Depression.

housing market still dragging economy 

Post-recession, the positives are once again outnumbering the negatives in Jeff MacLellan’s 

annual report on the Columbia area’s economy. 

On the plus side in 2010: There’s strong population growth, continued college enrollment 

increases, an upturn in retail sales, a bit of a building rebound, a drop in unemployment 

from above to below 6 percent, relatively low cost of living, property values holding 

steady and extremely low interest rates. 

The population spike from the census-estimated 102,324 in 2009 to the census-verified 

108,500 in 2010 must have been caused by an underestimate, MacLellan said. A net increase 

of 6,176 people, or 6 percent, is more than three times the typical annual rate during the past 

few decades. But there’s no doubt that the 28 percent jump in population since 2000 is good 

news for the local economy. 

On the minus side: The number of jobs dropped for the third straight year, foreclosures 

hit a record high, the number of houses sold dipped, the value of commercial building 

dropped to the lowest of the decade and the number of business licenses fell. 

Although there was a slight increase in home-building permits, “real estate is still in the 

dumper,” he said. (Last year at this time, MacLellan predicted that “any recovery in the 

housing market is likely to be prolonged.”) 

MacLellan, the semi-retired former chairman and CEO of Landmark, said there are also 

a few intangibles that are having both positive and negative impacts on the local business 

climate. 

The plus: Openings of the IBM Service Center and Linen King and the production expansion 

at 3M “has provided a psychological boost to the business community,” MacLellan said 

during an interview in his office. 

The minus: There’s uncertainty caused by the national deficit problem and a drop in 

consumer confidence. “People know we can’t keep spending at this pace,” MacLellan said. 

“The math doesn’t work.” With the uncertainty, business operators and consumers “are less 

likely to make commitments.” 

Then there’s what might be called the potential plus: Regional Economic Development 

Inc. has an extraordinary large list of pending deals, such as companies interested in locating 

a data center here, which could create significant numbers of jobs and tax revenue, according 

to MacLellan, who’s a former REDI chairman and has been on the board for about eight 

years now. 

“REDI is seeing more activity than it ever has,” he said. 

MacLellan has been charting the local economic indicators for nearly a quarter century 

now. Here are highlights of his latest compilation, put in perspective: 

Boone County’s Top employers in 2010 

The economic downturn had a delayed impact 

on some public sectors, which held steady during 

the actual recession but had to reduce employment 

last year because of funding cuts. The public 

school system shed 12 percent of its workforce, and 

the state jobs based here fell about 7 percent. The 

county and the Post Office also had cutbacks. 

As pointed out last year in the CBT chart, the 

strength of higher education and health care 

helped minimize the local impact of the recession. 

After years of steady losses, manufacturing jobs 

rose in 2010 at Hubbell, Schneider and Frito Lay/ 

Quaker and are expected to rise significantly at 3M 

this year. 

The numbers collected by REDI don’t reflect 

the new jobs at the IBM Service Center, which is 

expected to jump into the top 30 next year. 

Companies with job growth greater than 10 

percent in the past year included Columbia College 

and VA Mortgage Center, and the biggest gainer 

was Joe Machens, which joined the list this year 

because the dealerships were consolidated. v 

Dropouts in 2010: Columbia Daily Tribune, 

Missouri Employers Mutual 

Additions in 2010: CenturyLink, Joe Machens 

Dealerships 

* Includes MU, Extension and System 

employees. 

** Excludes MU | n/l Not Listed 

*** ABC has added 48 employees since the 

survey 

Source: Regional Economic Development Inc. Full-time, benefited 

employees. Numbers provided by individual companies, government 

personnel offices\ and Harris Online Directory (Watlow) 

Households/Individuals Per House 

2007....................40,856 ....................2.32 

2008....................40,233 ....................2.38 

2009....................42,143 ....................2.43 

2010....................43,722 ....................2.48 

(MacLellan said the rise in individuals 

per household might be a result of the 

economic downturn and “difficult job 

market,” as more young adults live at 

home while working. “We’ll see what 

happens when the economy improves.”) 

MU Enrollment 

1997................................................22,500 

2010................................................32,415 

(There have been gains of 1,691, 1,553 

and 1,101 in the past three years.) 

Retail Sales 

2007....................................$1.88 million 

2008....................................$1.84 million 

2009....................................$1.92 million 

2010....................................$1.97 million 

Labor Force (jobs in market) 

2007................................................93,041 

2008................................................92,747 

2009................................................92,533 

2010................................................92,484 

Foreclosures 

2008.....................................................307 

2009.....................................................298 

2010.....................................................347 

EMPLOYER EMPLOYEES 1 YR CHANGE ’09 RANK 5-YR CHANGE 

1. University of Missouri* 8,630 +85 1 +988 

2. University Hospital & Clinics 4,279 +40 2 +727 

3. Columbia Public Schools 2,140 -288 3 +110 

4. Boone Hospital Center 1,647 -5 4 +313 

5. City of Columbia 1,286 +1 5 +97 

6. U.S. Dep. of Veterans Affairs 1,250 Same 7 +334 

7. Shelter Insurance Companies 1,171 +76 9 +152 

8. MBS Textbook Exchange 1,084 -185 6 +149 

9. State Farm Insurance Cos. 1,043 -61 8 -36 

10 Hubbell Power Systems Inc. 680 +90 11 -120 

11. Joe Machens Dealerships 613 +45 ** n/l 

12. State of Missouri ** 557 -54 10 +104 

13. Kraft Foods Columbia 522 +19 12 -78 

14. Columbia College 490 +67 13 +165 

15. Boyce & Bynum Pathology Labs 369 -8 15 n/l 

16. Boone County Government 365 -12 14 +8 

17. ABC Laboratories Inc.*** 348 +18 17 n/l 

18. U.S. Postal Service 341 -21 16 n/l 

19. Columbia Insurance Group 324 +3 18 +50 

20. Schneider Electric: Square D 300 +49 22 -1 

21. MidwayUSA 294 +10 20 n/l 

22. Boone County National Bank 275 +23 19 +10 

23. Watlow Inc. 270 Same 21 -30 

24. U.S. Dept of Agriculture 258 +11 24 n/l 

25. MFA Inc. 250 Same 23 +9 

26. VA Mortgage Center 249 +29 27 n/l 

27. Frito-Lay/Quaker 240 +10 25 n/l 

28. CenturyLink 230 +xx xx +16 

29. Woodhaven 220 +7 28 n/l 

Business Licenses 

2007..........................4,982 

2008..........................5,008 

2009......................... 4,933 

2010 .........................4,859 

Houses Sold 

2005......................... 2,900 

2006..........................2,301 

2007..........................2,079 

2008..........................1,715 

2009..........................1,688 

2010..........................1,634 

Building Permits 

Total Value 

2007.............$214 million 

2008.............$144 million 

2009.............$168 million 

2010.............$128 million 

Commercial Permits 

Total Value 

2008............$86.4 million 

2009............. $111 million 

2010............$58.6 million 

Boone County Property 

Total Market Value 

2007............. $6.10 billion 

2008............. $6.80 billion 

2009............. $6.83 billion 

2010............. $6.87 billion 

30. 3M 210 -1 29 -366 


Urban farm center strives 

to become self-sustaining 

The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture is leveraging its expertise 

to expand its operating revenue sources from grants, donations and produce 

sales to consulting and contract labor. The nonprofit’s plan is to attract 

enough paying customers to become a self-supporting organization 

while tending its mission — making farmers out of city folk. 

By Dianna Borsi O’Brien 

As he watches compost slide off a truck bed at the corner lot next to Kilgore’s, 

Daniel Soetaert talks about the strategy for improving the community garden tended 

by neighborhood preschool students and pharmacy-recruited volunteers. 

With the expertise and oversight of the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, 

they can transform last year’s somewhat haphazard garden into a green oasis that 

will look better and produce more for the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center. 

Ann Bromstedt, a co-owner of Kilgore’s, said one of Soetaert’s first recommendations 

was to run the crop rows from east to west rather than north to south like 

they did last year so the plants get more sun exposure. 

“That’s knowledge I don’t have,” Bromstedt said. 

Soetaert also suggested the Kilgore's volunteers grow vegetables that kids want 

to eat. “Kids love peas,” he said, and cherry tomatoes. Both plants are now in the 

By Dianna Borsi o’Brien 

photos By august kryger 

garden’s master plan designed by the CCUA. As CCUA’s education coordinator, 

he’ll also teach the Kilgore’s staff how to make the volunteer experience more fun 

for those who show up to work. 

Yet, the Kilgore’s project is also a step toward making Soetaert’s organization 

more productive financially so it can eventually be self-supporting. 

The CCUA was founded in 2008 as a nonprofit dedicated to helping people 

learn how to grow food on urban plots in a sustainable way 

Soetaert said the CCUA cannot live forever on grants and donations, especially 

given that its 1.3-acre farm on Smith Street is expected to demonstrate how urban 

agriculture can be economically viable. 

But Soetaert acknowledged the farm and the CCUA’s other operations depend 

on having the right partnerships — and that means donations. 

One example is Mark Stevenson, who owns and manages rental properties and 

is letting gardeners freely use several of his vacant lots for community gardens, 

including the one next to Kilgore’s. 

Other partnerships include Socket; U.S. Rents It; the University of Missouri; 

the city of Columbia, which provides compost; and the Stephens College Equine 

Center, which provides manure and straw used as fertilizer. Other partners include 

Slow Food Katy Trail, Walk About Acres, the Community Garden Coalition, 

Sustain Mizzou and the MU Sustainability Office. 

CCU At A Glance | www.columbiaurbanag.org 

Office and Staff Residence 

214 Saint Joseph St. 

You can attend CCUA 

workshops on everything from 

raising chickens to preserving 

produce at this house, which 

is owned by CCUA Board 

President Adam Saunders. 

This historic home houses the 

CCUA’s office and provides 

housing for some of the 

CCUA’s staff. The front yard 

provides a demonstration 

site for edible landscaping in 

terms of herbs. Adjacent to the 

house is a community garden, 

where community members 

grow their own food. 

Demonstration Garden 

1211 E. Ash St. 

This is where you can see 

sustainable urban agriculture in 

practice. From irises to onions 

to chickens clucking as they 

lay their eggs, you get a look 

at what might work for you at 

your urban landscape. There 

are also self-guided tours. On 

May 28, the CCUA will hold a 

workshop on what to plant in 

your garden. 

Urban Farm 

1209 E. Smith St. 

You can buy fresh produce 

here on Monday, Wednesday 

and Friday afternoons once 

the market opens later this 

spring. Volunteers work at the 

farm from 3:30 p.m. to dusk 

on Mondays, Wednesdays and 

Fridays. A chicken-processing 

workshop will be held here in 

June and July. 

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as important are the partners who buy their produce; chief among them 

amore and Red & Moe, two downtown restaurants. 

tnerships also come from many individuals throughout the city who 

ntributed in a thousand different ways,” Soetaert said. 

agronomist is learning how to help the CCUA stand on its own financial feet. 

have cash-flow meetings all the time,” said Soetaert with a rueful smile. 

come a businessman.” 

ded by Soetaert, Bobby Johnson and Adams Saunders, the CCUA operth 

a board of directors, headed by Saunders, the president. 

10 the CCUA began selling the produce grown at the Smith Street farm 

ded some 4,000 pounds of vegetables and fruits and another 300 pounds 

en. But according to its annual report, that only brought in $4,210. To 

the CCUA only started working on the farm last spring, so production 

increase this year. 

the CCUA isn’t putting all its “eggs” into one basket. 

ard bucks 

10, the center kicked off a new project called Backyard Gardens/Edible 

aping. In this money-making project, the center provides services such as 

pe designs, oversight of projects and planning or oversight for organizach 

as Kilgore’s. 

A’s new landscaping-for-pay plan does not mean the CCUA is turning 

on its nonprofit mission. A portion of the money made from its landservices 

will be funneled back into its Opportunity Gardens, which proe 

garden help for low-income families and schools. Some funds will also 

rd other needs of the organization. 

the new landscaping venture has helped the CCUA start paying some 

ployees. This is the first time Soetaert has drawn a salary, budgeted for 

for 2011, according to the annual report. “Most of our money has come 

oduce sales, landscaping and donations,” Soetaert said. 

there are dangers in CCUA’s new landscape-for-cash move. Some of the 

re from grants, which once again could mean the income could end. “Our 

Habits project with the CDC, PedNet and CHA (Columbia Housing 

ity) is grant money,” Soetaert said. 

example, though Kilgore’s is allocating some of its advertising budget to 

den project, CCUA’s fees are partially funded by a grant received by the 

center. 

ant is also partially funding the work the CCUA is doing for the new comgarden 

soon to be planted at the Columbia/Boone County Department 

th and Human Services location on Worley Street. 

Kilgore’s community garden is a good story, and there should be more 

ories like Kilgore’s,” Soetaert said. 

until there are, CCUA’s goals are to increase production and marketing of 

produce, increase the landscaping business and continue to seek other 

. The organization will also continue to expand its education offerings 

eschool tours to workshops to college internships, Soetaert said. 

ough Soetaert said he’s become a businessman, he added that the CCUA 

want to lose its focus on serving the community. 

a nonprofit run like a business,” he said. “We want to provide good 

and goods to people while staying committed to the community. … We 

grow but not grow too fast.” • 


As a partner in Kilgore’s Medical 

Pharmacy, Ann Bromstedt knows what ails 

an ever-increasing number of people: diabetes, 

high blood pressure, obesity. 

She also knows that many of these diseases 

could be alleviated with better nutrition. 

That’s why she’s so passionate about the 

community garden Kilgore’s created last year 

next to its Providence Street location and why 

they’re expanding it by one-third as well as 

increasing expenditures on it to create a landscaped 

oasis of produce production. 

That’s also why almost all the produce 

grown at the former vacant lot goes to the 

Nora Stewart Early Learning Center, a nearby 

educational daycare that serves more than 50 

children from ages 2 to 10. Last year, they also 

sold some of the produce, cucumbers, cantaloupes 

and tomatoes from a basket at the 

pharmacy counter, and the $100 made from 

that also went to the nonprofit daycare. 

FAR, LEFT: Billy Polansky laced up his well-worn 

boots to plant peas in the community garden on 

Ash and St. Joseph streets on Sunday (April 10) 

during a CCUA volunteer workday. 

Left: Adam Saunders, the CCUA president, 

planted lettuce during the volunteer workday. 

Despite impending rain, several people came out 

to the garden to get a few of the crops started 

in the garden. "If there's something to be done, 

we'll be out here as long as the rain doesn't get 

too bad," Saunders said. 

Right: Polansky shoveled compost, put up 

fencing and planted peas and other crops with 

volunteers at the community garden. 

Cucumbers with that aspirin? 

Bromstedt said she believes the garden is 

first an educational center, which will help 

children learn about the benefits — and joys 

— of fresh food. She hopes that someday 

moms and dads picking up their children 

at the nearby center will stop by the garden 

for strawberries for dessert that night or tomatoes 

for tacos rather than stopping at the 

nearby fast-food restaurants. 

But if nutrition can help minimize disease, 

isn’t the garden being tended by community 

and pharmacy volunteers going to hurt her 

business? 

Bromstedt isn’t worried. 

“It is not a PR stunt,” she said. “We’re leading 

the way. That’s what businesses should do.” 

She’s backed by the four other Kilgore’s 

partners, including Bob Kilgore, Bill 

Morrissey, Beth Stubbs and Laura Kingsley. 

In fact, in addition to expanding its size, the 

pharmacy this year is spending five times as 

much on the project. 

(continued on page 17)


Growing Together 

After more than 90 years, the Columbia Garden Club continues to 

beautify the city with civic plantings and community service 

By Katrina Tauchen 

Behind the Columbia home of Karen Blackmore, a gallery sits on display. The 

pieces are impeccably kept, each marked with a detailed metal marker. On the 

marker, specifics such as formal name and hybridizer, if known, offer background 

and guide expectations for viewers of the hand-selected pieces. As curator of this 

backyard garden, Blackmore reinvents her gallery annually; she fills the confines of 

her space with as much or as little color and style variety as she sees fit. Last year’s 

exhibit was marked by an abundance of daylilies and irises, though she’s never met 

a plant she didn’t like. 

“As the daylilies open, I think, ‘Oh gosh, that’s my favorite,’” said Blackmore, 

president of the Columbia Garden Club. “Right now, my very favorite is named 

Julia’s Love. It was hybridized by one of our local members, Julia Semon.” 

Blackmore joined the Columbia Garden Club in 2006 after retiring in 2004 from 

State Farm, where she worked for 37 years. In addition to her work with the garden 

club, Blackmore is also a master gardener and member of the Central Missouri 

Hemerocallis Society and the Show Me Iris Society. She attributes her love of gardening 

to her early upbringing. “I was raised on a farm in Arkansas, and I had a 

mother who was, by necessity, a gardener,” Blackmore said. “I’m not a vegetable 

gardener. I have a few onions, tomato plants, pepper plants, eggplant and rhubarb, 

but what I really like is flowers. My mother really liked flowers, too; I can’t imagine 

that I wouldn’t.” 

Like many of the members of the Columbia Garden Club, Blackmore’s home 

garden serves as the perfect place to work on her hobby; it’s also ideal for experimenting 

with new techniques. Not uncommon among mid-Missouri gardeners, 

Blackmore is in a constant battle with the deer that mistake her flower beds for 

food. Although garden club members don’t typically garden together, they do 

swap tips for addressing problems and offer expertise. “A few of our members 

have been garden club members since the mid-1950s,” Blackmore said. “There’s a 

lot of knowledge there.” 

SPECIAL SECTION | hOMe & gArDen 

Historical roots 

Organized July 21, 1919, and federated May 19, 1934, the Columbia Garden 

Club celebrated 90 years in summer 2009. The club operates under the objective: 

“To stimulate knowledge and love of gardening; to encourage civic plantings and 

beautification; to aid in the protection and conservation of all natural resources, 

forests, wildflowers, birds, water quality, etc.” 

The club began with a group of women who wanted to beautify the city, 

Blackmore said. Back in 1919, few women worked outside the home; a gardening 

club not only offered them a chance to learn more about gardening, but it also 

provided the opportunity to improve the way certain places in Columbia looked. 

Since then, the make up of the group has expanded to include women and men 

from all different walks of life, though that founding principal of beautification 

through civic plantings remains an integral part of the club’s mission. The garden 

club continues to serve the community by caring for some of the flower beds at the 

(continued on page 20) 

PhoTo By ReBeCCA RAdemAn


Green for Greens 

Grants for growing: It takes more than compost to turn a former parking lot into a sustainable 

community garden. It takes green dollar bills and a systematic change to make 

a former parking lot a community garden. A new garden at the Columbia/Boone County 

Department of Health and Human Services is funded by a PedNet grant, but it is de- 

signed to keep running even when the money runs out. 


Inc., the local organization charged with administering 

the Unite 4 Healthy Neighborhoods 

Mike Burden is looking forward to eating Initiative, a four-year, $400,000 Robert Wood 

sweet potatoes he grew himself this fall, but Johnson Foundation policy-focused grant proj- 

he’s not tilling his own land. He’s going to be ect. Of that amount, approximately $4,000 is 

growing the space-devouring, nutritious crop in earmarked for developing this garden, but the 

a new community garden going in next to the funds are not going to simply get it growing; 

Columbia/Boone County Department of Health the money is being spent to make sure it keeps 

and Human Services. 

growing long term. 

“I want to plant sweet potatoes because that’s “This is not a program grant,” said Sam 

what I like to eat,” Burden said. But he won’t Robinson, director of PedNet’s Healthy 

just be gardening there. He’s also helping to get Communities Initiative, which is funded by the 

Columbia’s newest community garden started RWJF grant. Instead, he said, the grant is designed 

as a co-leader of the project, and he’s charged to implement a short-term program to create long- 

with solving any potential problems to make sure term policy. As Robinson explained, the funds are 

the garden stays a friendly place to grow produce. designed to bring together community members 

This adds another neighborhood communi- and stakeholders to create a policy change that will 

ty garden to the 10 listed on the website of the ensure the project continues even after the money 

Community Garden Coalition, a volunteer-run runs out. 

nonprofit that provides support, supplies and In this case, the project involved developing 

garden plots to gardeners. The CGC is funded a land-use agreement to create a way for the city 

by $5,000 to $7,000 a year from the city and coun- of Columbia to allow community members to 

ty, which it uses to provide tools, hoses, seeds, use city property to garden. 

transplants, water and insurance for properties Creating such an agreement is complex, 

that require it, according to Bill McKelvey, presi- said Maureen Coy, a Columbia/Boone County 

dent of CGC. The City of Columbia Landfill also Department of Health and Human Services 

provides tons of compost for the gardens, a con- health educator who was involved in the projsiderable 

donation, he added. 

ect. This led the group that included the health 

There are another 12 affiliated gardens listed department, the Community Garden Coalition 

at cgc.missouri.org/gardens. 

and community members to hire the Columbia 

The city’s community gardens provide food Center for Urban Agriculture, a local nonprofit 

for roughly 1,000 people, estimated McKelvey, but dedicated to education about sustainable urban 

the main attraction is camaraderie, with gardeners farming, to help create the land-use agreement, 

sharing tips, information and tools and techniques. develop a landscaping plan and plant fruit and 

In some ways, this newest garden is much berry plants in the future. 

like the others, planted in otherwise unused Coy is also looking well beyond this year at 

ground. In fact, part of this one will be on the the garden. 

former parking lot of Nowell’s grocery, which “This is the pilot,” Coy said, adding, “Now 

used to occupy the building that now houses the that a model is in place, perhaps other public 

health department. 

land, including that operated by the city Parks 

But this community garden is being devel- and Recreation Department, will be used to 

oped using funds from the PedNet Coalition grow food.” 

Kilgore's ... continued from Page 15 

Last year, Kilgore’s put roughly $3,000 into 

turning the weedy field into a garden. This year 

Kilgore’s is transferring advertising dollars so 

the pharmacy can put $10,000 to $15,000 into the 

project. They’ve hired the Columbia Center for 

Urban Agriculture to create a plan for the garden, 

which will include fruit trees, berry plants, 

walks, areas to rest and advice and guidance on 

how to get the most out of the corner garden. 

Bromstedt’s not the only businessperson who 

thinks donating to gardens is good business. 

JoLynn Miller, an independent BeautiControl 

consultant, helped the Nora Stewart Learning 

Center apply for a grant from BeautiControl 

W.H.O. Foundation, and part of those proceeds 

will go toward funding the garden. Atkins Inc. 

also donated the installation of the sprinkler 

system using parts donated by Kenney Outdoor 

Solutions, said Emily Thoroughman of Atkins, 

who serves on the Nora Stewart board. “Early 

childhood education is crucial…and Atkins is 

proud to support that,” she said via email. 

Other contributors to the Kilgore community 

garden include Rost Landscaping as well as 

Bucket Media, which set up a Facebook page for 

the garden. 

Although Bromstedt is clear about why the 

garden is important, she’s also pragmatic and 

noted the land wasn’t being used and in this economic 

market probably would not attract much 

interest. 

That pragmatism is the same thing Mark 

Stevenson of REMI expressed when asked why 

he allows four community gardens on various 

plots of land in Columbia. “I was hungry (when 

they asked me),” he joked, but added, “It was 

vacant ground…and I don’t have to mow it.” 

Then, on reflection, Stevenson noted he 

comes from an agricultural background, having 

grown up in northwest Missouri, so he supports 

people growing their own food. 

“It’s good for people to eat good food and to 

meet each other and not be isolated,” he said. 

“It’s a good community service.” v 




Kitchen with a Cause 

Boone County Council on Aging’s 2011 Kitchens in Bloom Tour 


Sometimes it’s crazy easy to help others. By going on the Kitchens in Bloom Tour of four beautifully 

renovated kitchens, you can help low-income seniors get their sidewalks shoveled, food delivered, 

necessary home repairs or yard work done. 

That’s because the Kitchens in Bloom Tour, in its ninth year, is a major fundraiser for the Boone 

County Council on Aging, a local nonprofit that provides this kind of help to more than 1,700 lowincome 

people older than 55 in Boone County. 

“It’s not just a fundraiser,” says Jessica Macy, executive director of the BCCA. “It’s an opportunity 

to get our message out in the public more.” So what’s the message? That the BCCA helps seniors to 

live quality, independent lives. 

Typically, 300 people attend the tour, providing roughly $6,200 to the agency, which is also funded 

by the United Way, the city of Columbia and Boone County. 

The agency provides services using more than 1,600 volunteers, including Keith Anderson, owner 

of Columbia Carpet Cleaning, who has been helping one particular senior get her allocation of food 

from the food pantry for years. “We’re all busy, but you just say yes and you fit it in,” Anderson said. 

Honey, I Tore Out the Walls, 

Amy and mike monahan, 701 Westwood 

When it comes to sandwiches, Amy and 

Mike Monahan know fast is good. But when 

the owners of four Jimmy John’s Gourmet 

Sandwich shops in Columbia set out to renovate 

their kitchen, it took them more than six 

years to get going. 

Amy and Mike had been talking about 

renovating their kitchen for years, but they 

were having trouble getting started. Then, 

one weekend while Mike was away, Amy 

had the men who work on their more than 80 

rental properties tear into the walls and soffits 

in the kitchen to see what was behind them and what kind of renovations were possible. 

Once Mike got home, it was full speed ahead; the project took just four months to complete, from 

March until June in 2010. 

Amy didn’t hire a contractor and instead organized the work herself. She started by asking her 

father, Dave Moreno, an architect who lives in San Francisco, to draw up the plans. Then she and 

Chris Heston of Traditions in Wood modified the plans. At first, Amy said Heston balked at her requests 

— until he spent an evening watching her cook. “I was rolling out pies, making stock, making 

sauces,” she said, and finally, he understood her many requests. 

The result is a kitchen with a 14-foot island of Danby white marble, a durable material used in the 

Lincoln Memorial and other state and federal buildings. 

“I love to cook, and I love to entertain,” said Amy, who doesn’t flinch at having 75 people at her 

home for dinner, which explains the two sinks, two ovens, warming oven, pot filler, Viking range 

with griddle, the condiment cooler and touch-control faucets. 

Yet, the kitchen retains a homey, classic look that fits the 1920s Craftsman style, featuring missionstyle 

cabinets, topped by lighted display space with waterfall glass to minimize the need for compulsively 

neat cabinets. 

Animal Room to Family Room, 

Cavanaugh noce and Cindy neagle, 

1836 Cliff drive 

Cavanaugh Noce and Cindy Neagle’s kitchen 

renovation started with a dishwasher that 

wouldn’t fit. 

They’d bought the house at 1836 Cliff 

Drive in 2004 and had always planned to renovate, 

but when the old dishwasher conked 

out and the new one didn’t fit, the husband 

and wife attorneys knew it was time to update 

the 1953 Cape Cod. 

And it wasn’t just the kitchen they were 

unhappy with, truth be told. The adjoining 

sunroom featured orange shag carpet, and until the 2007 renovation it was only used as a place to 

keep the family cat and dog while the homeowners were at work. 

At their first meeting, Dan Kliethermes of Kliethermes Home & Remodeling said the couple told 

him they wanted to open the cramped, chopped-up space while maintaining the architectural integrity 

of the house. Cavanaugh also wanted a firm financial budget. 

Today, the dishwasher is in place, along with a dual-fuel range with a gas stovetop and electric 

oven, an appliance Cindy loves because it replaced a range with only one working burner and an 

oven that was too tiny for even the smallest Thanksgiving turkey. The renovation also included 

PhoTos By TAyloR Allen


installing new cabinets and granite counters as well as moving the appliances and taking out a small 

peninsula to create a more functional kitchen. 

The renovation also involved removing the wall between the kitchen and the sunroom to create 

a family room and flood the kitchen with light. Now the room they once called “the animal room,” 

is their favorite place in the whole house, Cindy said. 

A Light Transformation, 

dave mcdonald, 101 W. Parkway 

Sun-filled. State-of-the-art gourmet. 

That’s how Dave McDonald now describes 

the kitchen in his 1938 Colonial home at 101 

W. Parkway. 

Yet, before the 2010 renovation, he could 

sum up what he liked about his kitchen in 

one word: nothing. 

Kerry Bramon of Bramon Remodeling & 

Design called the kitchen before the renovation 

a “galley-minus.” Bramon and the firm’s 

designer Angela Holloway transformed the 

kitchen by using the space within a wall to 

create a pantry and took out a wall between the kitchen and the dining room to create a better work 

flow for the space. 

Bramon said at their first meeting, McDonald said he didn’t want to remove any walls, but when 

his son Thomas suggested removing the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, he listened. 

Now the kitchen is open to the dining room with its generous windows resulting in the sun-filled 

description McDonald enjoys. 

Another reason the room feels bright is McDonald’s choice of creamy white quartz for the countertops, 

a decision he said stems from his research area, sleep. “The key to waking up is to turn on the 

lights,” said McDonald, who retired from the University of Missouri’s Department of Psychology in 

2009 but still teaches. He said those bright counters help him wake up when he stumbles into this 

kitchen in the morning. 

Other aspects also contribute to the kitchen’s expansive feel, including the upper glass cabinet 

doors and his own photographs of Hartsburg and Easley, beautiful landscapes that create a sense of 

looking out into the countryside. 

Using space within a wall, Bramon and Holloway also created something McDonald had longed 

for every day prior to the renovation: a pantry. 

McDonald’s goal when they started in August 2010 was to have the renovation done by 

Thanksgiving, which was met despite the discovery of complex plumbing problems within the walls 

and ceiling during the project. 

Not only was the project done by Thanksgiving, but McDonald’s newly renovated kitchen also 

made the holiday fun because he and his niece Sandy could work together on the meal. “It was a 

real joy,” he said. 

Step into Europe, 

mary Phillips, 101 W. Brandon 

From the outside, Mary Phillips’ 

Grasslands house looks like an ordinary 1957 

ranch-style home. But step into the kitchen, 

and you feel like you’ve been transported to 

Europe. 

Today, Phillips is the managing partner of 

TreecePhillips LLC, a Jefferson City government 

and public relations firm with local, regional 

and national clients. But she grew up 

in Germany and the Philippines before her 

family settled in Springfield. 

That’s why in 2008 when she renovated 

the kitchen, Phillips wanted a room with the warmth of an English library and the features of a 

functioning kitchen. And as a person who loves to cook with friends and family, she wanted a place 

where everyone could gather and feel comfortable. 

The result is a kitchen with lots of warm wood and places to gather, such as seating at the counter 

and a European-style banquette. But in keeping with the library feel, much of the necessary technology 

is hidden, such as the mixer, which pops up out of a cabinet. Even the granite counters are kept 

clear of toasters, microwaves and other odds and ends, and instead various areas have photographs 

of her family, including her son, Price. 

The kitchen also reflects her family background. Now, Phillips’ parents, Robert and Mary 

Hodgson, summer on a yacht near Washington state. Similar to the boat, the kitchen is packed with 

clever storage solutions, from the sliding drawers behind the banquette’s benches to the linen storage 

under the bench seats. 

“There’s no wasted space,” Phillips said. v 

Kitchens in Bloom Tour | Noon – 4 p.m., Sunday, May 1 

Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 day of the tour (available at The Market Place, 1100 Business 

Loop 70; and D&H Drugstores, 1001 W. Broadway and 1814 Paris Road) 



PhoTo By ReBeCCA RAdemAn 


Columbia Garden Club ... continued from Page 16 

Bluffs Nursing Home and taking flowers monthly to 

the Wyatt Guest House at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center 

and Daniel Boone Regional Library. The club also 

gives a yearly scholarship to one high-school student, 

selected from a group of applicants with an interest in 

pursuing horticulture. 

Another group project is an after-school program 

at Russell Boulevard Elementary School, a junior garden 

club appropriately deemed the Russell Sprouts. 

After the regular Columbia Garden Club meeting, 

members go to the elementary school and hold a 

meeting with the junior club. Together, they do a variety 

of projects such as planting seeds, planting outside 

and working on garden-related arts and crafts. 

Growing new membership 

At its peak, the Columbia Garden Club boasted 

132 members; membership as of May 2010 stood at 

67. “There’s no reason Columbia should only have 67 

people in the garden club; we should have many more 

active members,” Blackmore said. Current membership 

stands at 62, according to the group's website. 

One explanation for the lower membership could 

be the meeting time. The club is still largely made up 

of individuals who do not work outside the home, 

many of whom are retired, so the monthly meeting 

reflects that flexibility of schedules. The group meets 

at 1 p.m. the second Monday of every month, except 

July and August. “We have a member looking into 

starting an evening club,” Blackmore said. “Several 

people have expressed an interested in joining but 

can’t attend our club because they work during the day.” 

Programs at the meetings cover topics of interest 

to gardeners such as harmful and beneficial insects 

or selecting and planting trees. At the upcoming June 

meeting, members and their guests will have the opportunity 

to tour some of the members’ gardens. 

Blackmore’s garden has previously been included on 

the tour. “Our annual member garden tour is held in 

June, so lots of things are blooming, and it really is very 

nice,” she says. 

Planting for the future 

The Columbia Garden Club will hold its Annual Plant 

Sale, the group’s only fundraiser of the year, on April 30 

at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Club members will sell 

countless blooms of all shapes and sizes, most donated 

from their own gardens, with proceeds from the sale used 

to pursue its next projects. 

When asked what tips she has for new gardeners, 

Blackmore sat back and smiled. “I think gardening is 

just like anything else,” she said. “A good photographer 

takes a lot of pictures and keeps the good ones. A 

gardener does much the same. There’s a lot of trial and 

error involved. I plant a lot of different plants, and if 

they don’t do well, I plant something else in their spot. 

That’s just how it works for me.” 

The Columbia Garden Club meets at 1 p.m. the second 

Monday of each month (except July and August) 

at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1600 W. Rollins Road. 

For more information about the club or how to become 

a member, contact Karen Blackmore at Karen@kewpie. 

net or (573) 442-1873. v 

(This story originally appeared in the June/July 2010 

issuhe of Columbia Home.) 

We’d like your property to be next! 

Columbia Orthopaedic Group 

M.S.H.S.A.A. 

Canterbury HOA 

“Keeping it GREEN & GROWING” 

MFA Oil Company 

Your 

Business 

Here! 

“Professional Grounds Maintenance” 

www.ColumbiaTurf.com • 7105 Henderson Rd., Columbia • Office: 573.443.5681 • Landscape Office: 573.449.7855

PhoTo By AugusT kRygeR 

By Sean Spence 

Alliance Water Resources, quietly going 

about its business at its corporate headquarters 

on Keene Street, has grown during the years into 

one of Missouri’s leading managers of water and 

sewer systems. 

“There are other companies that do what we 

do,” Sandy Neal, vice president of marketing 

and business development, said. “No one does 

as much as we do here in Missouri.” 

The primary job Alliance performs 

is to manage and maintain 

water and sewer systems for communities 

and districts. The company 

provides service to 25 locations, 

ranging from smaller communities 

such as Bowling Green to the 

largest district it serves, St. Charles 

County Water District No. 2, with 

more than 100,000 customers. 

“We’re a Columbia-based company 

and serve communities all 

throughout Missouri and two communities 

in Iowa,” Neal said. 

In recent months, Alliance announced renewal 

of its contract with the Public Water Supply 

District No. 1 of Franklin County, with whom 

Alliance first started working in 2005, and the 

award of a new five-year contract to manage the 

city of Nevada’s wastewater treatment system. 

Alliance Water Resources started in 1976 as 

Mid-Missouri Engineers Inc. to provide specialty 

services to the water and wastewater industry. 

In the early 1980s, the company began to 

play a role in the professional management and 

maintenance of water and wastewater systems 

and districts, the role it fills today. 

Across Missouri and in Iowa, Alliance employs 

more than 250 people, mostly in the communities 

and districts it serves. The Columbia 

BUSIneSS PROFILE 

FROM LEFT: Dale Wagner, sandy neal and Dick tuttle are vice presidents at alliance Water resources in Columbia. 

Alliance Water Resources 

expands presence in Missouri 

gary anger, president of alliance 

headquarters offices 15 employees, including 

President Gary Anger and other company 

leaders. 

The company does not have any contracts in 

Boone County. 

The diversity of Alliance’s services occasionally 

goes beyond water and sewer system management 

and maintenance. In Bowling Green, 

for example, Alliance started managing the 

water and sewer systems and expanded the relationship 

with the city over many years. Now, 

Alliance serves as the community’s 

department of public works. Its 

services include non-water-related 

activities such as mowing the cemetery, 

making minor street repairs 

and putting up the city’s Christmas 

lights. 

“The city liked what we were 

doing, so eventually we added to 

the scope of services,” Neal said. 

Neal said a key advantage that 

Alliance offers is access to the 

entire company’s expertise. In Ste. 

Genevieve, for example, the city typically would 

have hired four people to do the job that Alliance 

was hired to do. Alliance provided a staff of 

four but with access to the rest of its employees 

throughout the company. 

“If one of our community’s has a problem, 

instead of completely relying on the knowledge 

of the local staff, they can reach out to the rest of 

our company to find someone with the expertise 

they need,” Neal said. 

“Instead of buying four people, they bought 

a company of resources,” Neal said. “There is 

no way these communities, particularly smaller 

communities, can even begin to afford the multitude 

of service that they get, as they need them 

and when they need them.” v 



It’s here. 

CBT mobile 

News updates and a 

compact version of the 

Columbia Business Times 

on your smartphone or tablet. 

Sign up today! 

columbiabusinesstimes.com 

PUBLIC RECORD 

$200,000,000 

T6 UNISON SITE MANAGEMENT LLC 

DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY 

AMERICAS 

STR 36-50-13 /SW/SW SUR BK/PG: 

350/244 AC 30.000 

$6,246,000 

RBA INVESTMENTS LLC 

GREAT SOUTHERN BANK 

LT 1 KELLY'S NUMBER ONE 

SUBDIVISION 

$6,246,000 

RBA INVESTMENTS LLC 

GREAT SOUTHERN BANK 

BL G PT HIGH SCHOOL COURT SUB 

$4,340,000 

COLUMBIA HOTEL INVESTMENTS INC 

TIGER COLUMNS LLC THE 

LT 2 COLUMBIA LT148-150 

$3,000,000 

G LEWIS-MISSOURI LLC 

BOONE COUNTY NATIONAL BANK 

LT 64B CORPORATE LAKE PLAT 15 

$2,300,000 

LOEWENBERG, BRUCE J 

REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST 


LT 6 PT FF LAGRANE PLACE 

$1,350,000 

LOEWENBERG, BRUCE J 

REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST 


LT 6 PT FF LAGRANGE PLACE 

$1,250,000 

PERRY, LINDALL A & JANE ANN 

FCS FINANCIAL PCA 

STR 22-48-12 //SW 

$885,000 

LINEN KING REAL ESTATE 

HOLDINGS LLC 

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT CORP 

LT 24 CONCORDE OFFICE & 

INDUSTRIAL PLAZA PLAT 10 

$600,000 

BELL C PROPERTIES LLC 


STR 3-50-13 //S SUR BK/PG: 1674/105 

AC 143.800 

$550,000 

GLENDALE PRAIRIE FARMS LLC 

FCS FINANCIAL 

STR 19-49-11 //SE AC 160 

$416,250 

MCCARSON, TIMOTHY A & JUNE 

U S BANK NATIONAL ASSN 

LT 182 THORNBROOK PLAT 6 

$416,000 

KNOX, WILLIAM A & KAY E 

FAMILY TRUST 

CENTRAL TRUST BANK 

LT 26 HILL CREEK SUB 

$410,000 

KERLEY, MONTY S & KELLI A 

MID AMERICA MORTGAGE 

SERVICES INC 

STR 18-48-13 /W/NW SUR BK/PG: 

3088/73 FF TRACT 2A 

$400,000 

SCHNELL, DENNIS E & REBEKAH 

COUNTY BANK 

STR 32-51-12 /S/NW FF W/ 

EXCEPTION 

$375,050 

GLENNON, JOHN JOSEPH & 

CYNTHIA LYNN 

LANDMARK BANK 

LT 1411 HIGHLANDS PLAT 14-B THE 

$375,000 

JONES, CARLA J & JERRY B 

CONSERVATION EMPLOYEES' 

CREDIT UNION 

LT 64 THORNBROOK PLAT 3 

$372,000 

CLAPPER, ADAM & ANGELIQUE 


LT 19A COUNTRY FARMS REPLAT 

LOT 19 

$362,800 

BLACK, LUCAS YORK & 

MARGARET ANN 

COMMERCE BANK 

STR 29-48-11 /E/SE 

$348,000 

SPRING CREEK PROPERTIES LLC 

COMMERCE BANK 

LT 48A VANDIVER CROSSING 

$347,000 

ALEXANDER, RANDALL S & KATHLEEN 

U S BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION ND 

STR 17-49-14 //NW SUR BK/PG: 

432/72 AC 27.60 

$336,775 

BELL, ROBERT D & CRYSTAL L 

LANDMARK BANK 

STR 5-47-11 //NW SUR BK/PG: 

3161/152 AC 10.030 

$335,000 

BOWLES, DOUGLAS KENT & NIETO, 

YVETTE KATHLEEN 


LT 31 PT SUNNY SLOPE SUB 

COLUMBIA FF WEST RIDGE S 

$330,000 

CHILDS, CRAIG A & ANGELA J 

FCS FINANCIAL 

STR 27-51-11 //SW 

$328,500 

BOHN, STEVE & MARY BETH 

WELLS FARGO BANK 

LT 54 CHAPEL HILL ESTATES PLAT 1 

$327,000 

BEARELLY, DILIP & SMITH 


LT 303 COPPERSTONE PLAT 3 

$312,000 

HUSTEDDE, BLAKE A & ANDERSON, 

TIFFANY N 

U S BANK 

LT 241 OLD HAWTHORNE PLAT 2 

$309,000 

LINDELL, EVERETT & EVELYN 


LT 100 LAKE WOODRAIL SUB PLAT 8 

$300,000 

DURK, LARRY E FAMILY TRUST 


STR 21-50-11 //SW 

$300,000 

SOUTH PACIFIC LLC 


STR 19-49-12 /E/NW 

$300,000 

COLUMBIA CURB & GUTTER CO 


LT 1 4-B ACRES 

$300,000 

LEVY, BARBARA J & KENNETH W 

REVOCABLE TRUST THE 

COMMERCE BANK 

LT 64 PL 4 COUNTRY CLUB FAIRWAYS 

$284,000 

CRON, ROBERT A & SARAH L 

AMERISAVE MORTGAGE CORP 

STR 16-48-14 /SW/SE SUR BK/PG: 

406/388 FF PT OF TR 

$282,000 

TWENTER, BYRON TODD & SUSAN A 

BANK OF MISSOURI THE 

STR 11-50-13 //SE SUR BK/PG: 

1502/526 FF TR 1 

$277,102.24 

VILLANUEVA, LITO & MERCED 

HAWTHORN BANK 

LT 1393 EL CHAPARRAL 

TOWNHOMES CONDOMINIUMS 

$272,750 

NGUYEN, HENRY T & LAM, HONG 

CUC THI 

FLAGSTAR BANK 

LT 313 QUAIL RUN 

$266,600 

FORBES REALTY LLC 

COMMERCE BANK 

STR 36-48-13 /SE/SW SUR BK/PG: 

396/660 

$264,000 

MARTIN, CARRIE L & CLINT D 

STATE FARM BANK 

LT 138 BELLWOOD PLAT 1 

$261,600 

S & S ENTERPRISES OF CENTRAL 

MISSOURI LLC 

LANDMARK BANK 

LT 136 WYNDHAM RIDGE PLAT 1 

$260,913 

GOLD, MICHAEL A & WILFORD- 

GOLD, JULIA C 

FLAT BRANCH MORTAGE INC 

LT 138 PT PARK HILL NO 1 

$257,400 

BOLES, KEITH E & JANE E 

MISSOURI CREDIT UNION 

LT 29 PT CEDAR LAKE SUB BLK 1 

$256,000 

BACHMEIER, DANIEL & LINDA 

UNITED WHOLESALE MORTGAGE 

STR 15-50-14 /NE/SW SUR BK/PG: 

3363/100 FF TRACT 1 

$255,000 

RUETSCH, DIANNE E & RAYMOND L 


LT 5 ROEMER LAKE SUB PLAT 5 

$253,500 

RED TOP RANCH LLC 

HNB NATIONAL BANK 

STR 8-50-12 /SE/NW FF WITH 

EXCEPTIONS 

$252,141.52 

MEYERS, TIMOTHY A & STEPHANIE 

MAINSTREET BANK 

LT 11 PT HARPERS POINTE 

$250,000 

VICENTE, BETTY A LIVING TRUST THE 

CARROLLTON BANK 

LT 47A COUNTRY CLUB VILLAS II LT47 

$250,000 

HARLAN, THOMAS & SHARON 

MAINSTREET BANK 

LT 327 OLD HAWTHORNE PLAT 3 

$250,000 

LEWIS, GARRY L & BRENDA G 


STR 9-48-12 //SE 

$250,000 

MATHENY, RICK & TERRY 


LT 315 STONERIDGE ESTATES PLAT 3 

$247,422 

TOTH, ADAM L & ERIN 

WELLS FARGO BANK 

LT 139 VINEYARDS PLAT 1 THE 

$242,250 

WYATT, JUSTIN M & CHRISTINA A 

MISSOURI CREDIT UNION 

LT 46 BLUEGRASS SOUTH ESTATES

PhoTo By AugusT kRygeR 

Superior Garden reopens 

rost inc. reopened its retail operation, superior gardens, this spring 

after moving the inventory from its previous outlet near the southern 

end of old highway 63 to the northwestern corner of the city where 

its company operations are based. rost said it has a much larger 

selection of plant material and products to choose from, three retail 

greenhouses, a shade house and six acres of trees and shrubs. 

the new address is 2450 trails West ave. 

Contact: 442-9499. | superior@tranquility.net. | rostlandscaping.com 




City permits valued at 

$200,000+ issued in 

March 

Huebert Builders 

Inc. 

914 s. West 

$1,200,000 

Commercial addition 

nonresidential 

Coil Construction 

Inc. 

2101 Vandiver 

$1,200,000 

Commercial addition 


Paragon 

Construction Inc. 

6207 upper Bridle 

Bend 

$570,000 

new single-family 

detached 

Manor Homes LLC 

221 n. stadium 

$450,000 

Commercial 

alteration 


Baker Development 

Group Inc. 

1716 Worcester 

$375,000 


detached 

COnSTrUCTIOn PERMITS COnSTrUCTIOn UPDATE 

Heartland 

Mechanical Service 

2100 nelwood 

$330,000 

mechanical 

Pate-Jones 

Construction Inc. 

5801 morning star 

$299,900 


detached 

Smith Building 

Company 

3901 Astoria 

$290,000 


detached 

Vantage Custom 

Homes LLC 

3206 granite Creek 

$260,000 


detached 

Tompkins Home 

1107 Rollins 

$258,703 

Residential addition 

John Hansman 

Construction 

3906 Abbington 

$250,000 


detached 

Mike Haynes 

Construction 

3908 Abbington 

$250,000 


detached 

TKG 

221 n. stadium 

$245,000 

Commercial 

alteration 


Con-Tech 

Construction 

707 Copse 

$230,000 


detached 

Fairway Meadows 

Corporation 

4003 Ivanhoe 

$212,000 


detached 

Wilcoxson Custom 

Homes LLC 

713 Python 

$200,000 


detached 

John Hansman 

Construction 

4007 Blue hollow 

$200,000 


detached 

Sunrise Business Series 

A No-Compromise Approach 

to Sales Recruiting 

Join Chris Stark, President of The CAS Group, LLC 

May 17th, 2011 • 7:30 – 9:00 am 

Finding the right fit involves understanding the process, the behaviors, 

competencies and alignment issues that are critical to the selection of 

that A-Player candidate. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn information 

that could drastically change the success of your company. 

Register for this event at: www.savant.sandler.com 

or call (573) 445-7694 for more information. 

Cost is $39 and includes breakfast. 

All events are held at Sandler Training, 

1905 Cherry Hill Dr., Columbia, MO 65203 

Catherine Atkins | Sandler Training 

(573) 445-7694 | www.savant.sandler.com 

auto-owners insurance 

The Michigan-based mutual insurance 

company is building 

a new regional office on East 

Pointe Drive, between Stadium 

Boulevard and Hollywood 

Theater. Little Dixie Construction 

is the general contractor for 

the 18,000-square-foot building. 

The regional office of Auto- 

Owners Insurance, which sells 

auto, home, life and business 

insurance, is now located on 302 

Campusview Drive. 

PhoTos By AugusT kRygeR

Business Online » Monica Pitts 

Digital Navigating 

To phone book or not to phone book 

The seasonal marketing mega-drama continues. This time of 

year, we have many clients and potential clients call and ask, “Do 

I need to advertise in the phone book?” Now we all know the 

physical book is becoming harder and harder to throw our marketing 

dollars into. People are turning to online sources to make 

their buying decisions. But the institution has been around for so 

long that businesses are very reluctant, 

sometimes even scared, 

People are turning to pull the plug on their phone 

book ads. 

to online sources to How do you decide if 

make their buying you’re one of the rebels ready 

to nix the book? 

decisions. But the Once again we’re going 

back to marketing 101: Look at 

institution has been 

your audience because it all de- 

around for so long pends. Keep your ad if: 

• Your target market is 

that businesses older than age 60 and not very 

are very reluctant, Internet savvy. 

• Your audience lives in a 

sometimes even rural area with limited Internet 

connectivity. 

scared, to pull the • You expect buyers to 

plug on their phone make purchasing decisions as 

they’re moving and don’t yet 

book ads. 

have Internet access. (However, 

smartphones are fairly common 

in urban areas, which may negate 

this statement if your market is likely to have a smartphone.) 

• All your major competitors have ads. 

• You have zero online presence (in which case, please call us 

or at least list your company on Google Places). 

• You want to increase your marketing budget; who knows, 

maybe you need a write off. (If that’s the case I know some great 

designers who want to spiff up your current marketing materials.) 

Should you keep your listing on the phone book website? 

If you don’t have any online presence, it’s better than nothing; 

however, for the prices they charge, you can build a website for 

the price of your listing after a year or two. 

You have a listing on the phone book website now and are 

not sure if you should continue. 

Consult your Google Analytics report. Check the referring 

sites under traffic. This report does not lie. Look to see how many 

visitors have found your site by clicking on a link from the phone 

book site. 

What are we doing? 

Well, we’ve got an interesting mix of individuals in our target 

market. Tranquility, our sister company, often receives calls from 

individuals when they’re moving homes or offices or they are of 

an older demographic that needs a bit more technical support. 

Tranquility’s competitors both have phone book ads, so we decided 

we still need one, too. They threw in an ad for MayeCreate 

for another $10 a month, so we agreed to one for our Web division 

as well. 

As for the online listings, we visited our Google Analytics reports. 

Tranquility only had 88 visitors referred from the phone 

book site in the past 12 months. MayeCreate had zero. (The phone 

book’s numbers said otherwise, but we know our Web stuff, so 

you can’t fool us!) We decided to nix our online listing; with our 

monthly rate, we paid more than $20 per visitor last year. So this 

year we’re going to gamble and allocate that money to another 

form of online advertising for the next six months to see how it 

goes. Stay tuned for the results of our phone book dilemma/decision 

and journey v 



neW BUSIneSS UPDATE neW BUSIneSS LICENSES 

All Vacuum Care 

3709 Providence Road, Suite D 

(573) 443-1500, www.allvacuumcare.net 

All Vacuum Care is opening a second location at 3709 Providence Road, Suite D (three doors 

down from Panera Bread). The original store is located on Range Line Street, across from the 

former location of Everett’s Restaurant. Both are owned by Randy Peterson. The new store will 

host an event on May 1 to celebrate the opening. 

Adams & Witt Property Professionals 

1007 N. College, Suite 3, (573) 442-8941 

www.propertymanagementcolumbiamo.com 

Carmen Adams and Nancy Witt opened Adams & Witt Property Professionals on April 11. 

Adams has been a Realtor with RE/MAX for 11 years, and Witt has had her own pre-employment 

and tenant screening company for 14 years. They are focusing on residential property 

management for now but hope to eventually branch out into commercial properties. Both have 

worked in property management with their families since they were teenagers. 

Cherry Hill Massage 

307 Locust St., (573) 446-3376 

www.cherryhillmassage.com 

Cherry Hill Massage moved to its new location downtown at 307 Locust St. last month. 

Owner Andrea Morse said she is excited to be part of The District. The studio, which offers holistic 

and therapeutic massage services, opened in the Village of Cherry Hill in September 2006. 

Redlight Photobooth 

(573) 673-0319, luke@redlightphotobooth.com 

www.redlightphotobooth.com 

Luke Fletcher started his digital photo booth rental service on March 1. The booth, with an 

automatic high-resolution digital camera, can be set up at events such as weddings, birthday 

parties and reunions. Rates begin at $400 for two hours. Fletcher delivers the booth, sets it up 

and takes it away after the event. 

Issued by the city in March; 

includes ownership changes 

General licenses: 

A Better Car 

Phillip Marvin Hodges 

(573) 289-0127 

1208 E. Business Loop 70 

Auto and truck sales 

A Better Way Home Care 

Tina L. Kuehl 

(636) 236-8989 

109 N. Keene St. 

Home health agency 

Abigail’s Salon 

Abigail E. Sickman 

(573) 310-3328 

1506 Chapel Hill Road, Suite A-2 

Beauty salon 

Broadway Urgent Care LLC 

(573) 289-3042 

2003 W. Broadway 

Walk-in clinic 

Brow Threading 

Surinder Kaur 

(816) 795-5986 

2300 Bernadette Drive 

Brow threading kiosk 

Chim’s Thai Kitchen 

Pramuan Duncan 

(509) 295-3810 

3907 Peachtree Drive 

Thai food 

Fulbeli’s Inc. 

Donald E. Smith 

(573) 445-5760 

2300 Bernadette Drive, Suite 724 

Restaurant – food court 

Gina A. Butler 

(573) 449-9355 

1705 E. Broadway, HP3A 

Acupuncture services 

Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe 

Karen Sue Cox 

(573) 449-5648 

1414 Range Line St., Suite C 

Yarn and yarn supplies 

IBM Corporation 

2810 LeMone Industrial Blvd. 

Service delivery center (data 

processing) 

Knorr Marketing Communications 

Wendy Jo Knorr 

(573) 445-2209 

910 E. Broadway, Suite 200 

Marketing and PR services 

Media Cross Inc. 

Lori Sander 

(314) 646-1101 

1207 W. Broadway, Suite 102 

Marketing firm 

Mr. Goodcents Subs & Pastas No. 10 

Daniel Chaffin 

(573) 777-9500 

2540 Broadway Bluffs Drive, Suite 109 

Restaurant 

Open Studio Pilates 

Laura L. Deter 

(573) 289-9577 

300 St. James St. 

Pilates lessons 

The Glik Company 

(618) 876-6717 

921 E. Broadway 

Retail clothing store 

Join Columbia Home Magazine at the first 

gathering in a series of personal and professional 

development events designed for women. 

Tickets: $45 

Limited availability. 

Reserve your space 

immediately. Tables 

available for groups 

of 6 or more. 

See the pages of 

Columbia Home come 

alive. Enjoy lunch 

and networking 

opportunities while 

learning about Ms. 

Atkins effective 

negotiating tips. 

Tuesday, May 17 • Noon-1:30pm 

Country Club of Missouri • 1300 Woodrail Ave., Columbia, MO 

Cathy Atkins of Sandler Training – 

Savant Business Development Systems 

will provide a powerful presentation on “Effective Negotiations” 

Lunch will be provided in the Country Club of Missouri followed 

by a Q&A session with Ms. Atkins and a networking opportunity 

for all guests. 

For reservations call Cindy Sheridan 499-1830 x0, 

or go to www.columbiahl.com

PhoTos CouRTesT of ARIAnnA PARsons 

The Muse Café and Gallery 

Columbia Café and Gallery LLC 

(573) 289-3679 

110 Orr St., Suite 101 

Coffee shop and retail art sales 

Home-based businesses 

Bean Around the Block 

Kevin Salmons 

(573) 999-1924 

1000 Brook Trout Court 

Retail coffee beans 

Blanca’s Cleaning Services 

Blanca Arce 

(573) 289-0995 

2205 Creasy Springs Road, Apt. A 

Cleaning residential/commercial 

Columbia Detailing 

Adam Churchwell 

(573) 268-3295 

4658 Southampton Court 

Mobile vehicle detailing service 

D-Squared Designs 

James E. Garr III 

(573) 999-3876 

1204 Willowcreek Lane 

On-location photography and graphic 

design 

Davika Thomas 

(573) 424-9378 

411 W. Walnut St. 

Therapeutic massage 

NEW BUSINESS UPDATe 

My Green Cities 

3406 N. Moreau Road, (573) 239-4235, www.mygreencities.com 

By Annie Greenberg 

Global Static Media 

Steven Derek Carr 

(573) 999-3943 

2200 Warwick St., Apt. 17 

Online Web development software 

Golden Inspirations 

Michelle Renee Golden 

(314) 603-3087 

1107 Chantilly Court 

Professional organizing/assistant 

IMS 

Justin Ray Stillson 

(573) 499-1759 

4503 Revere Court 

Mowing, edging, snow shoveling 

Jo Ann the Cleaning Lady 

Joann Shavers 

(573) 356-5130 

511 Mary St. 

Cleaning 

JR’s Landscaping 

Jaime R. Lopez Jr. 

(573) 289-7211 

3400 Crow Court 

Lawn care, landscaping 

K.N. Janitorial Services 

Keyona Nicole Williams 

(573) 228-0944 

1507 Greensboro Drive 

Janitorial service 

A local online company 

founded on Earth Day 2010, 

My Green Cities, has widened 

its net. 

Owner Arianna 

Parsons’ original goal 

was to register 100 locally 

owned, independent 

businesses in Columbia 

that operate with sustainability 

in mind. 

So far, she’s signed up 

about 110 local businesses, 

along with another 50 from outside the area, 

such as Minneapolis and Houston. There’s even 

a listing from a company called Green Moves in 

Brighton, Australia. 

The My Green Cities app for the iPhone 

launches on April 22, which is the company’s 

one-year anniversary. With two or three businesses 

from around the country signing up every 

day, Parsons said the momentum is both 

overwhelming and inspiring. 

“I’m able to learn about all the great things 

people are doing for the environment and society, 

and it’s inspiring, even if sometimes I’m like, 

‘Slow down, slow down,’” she said. 

To register with the site, a business must be 

independent and locally owned. The application 

process involves a detailed survey about the 

business’ energy usage, waste disposal, water 

conservation and other social awareness issues. 

There can be some industry-specific questions as 

well, such as whether a dry cleaner uses the carcinogenic 

chemical PERC. 

Mel’s At-Home Creations 

Melissa Siani 

(910) 320-3160 

3601 Building 25 W. Broadway, Apt. 102 

Online retail homemade children’s items 

Modern Property Groups 

Donald E. Seitz 

(573) 808-3460 

1102 Ireland Court 

Residential/commercial property 

management/real estate broker 

Retail Heaven 

Julie Chang 

(573) 445-3094 

4308 Royal Aberdeen St. 

Internet retail sales 

Sabi International 

Alexis Noel Robinson 

(573) 442-4177 

1121 W. Stewart Road 

International travel/project and 

grant writing 

Sunrise Gardens LLC 

Troy R. Cox 

(573) 219-9053 

2414 Calder Court 

Landscape Garden Services 

The Pawlor LLC 

Kearby L. Williams 

(573) 268-9097 

3405 Derby Ridge Drive 

Pet grooming 

“It’s a really different way for people to think 

about where they want to shop, matching people 

on issues other than just how inexpensive a 

product is,” Parsons said. “It’s about…feeling 

good about your purchase because you’re supporting 

a business with policies you believe in.” 

The iPhone app will make conscientious purchasing 

even easier in Columbia. It lists about 

40 industries and allows users to filter through 

the different businesses to find the best fit for 

them: for example, a restaurant that uses only 

local produce or has a vegetarian menu or is the 

closest to their location so they don’t have to use 

much gas to get there. 

The launch of the app will coincide with the 

launch of My5, which will allow local artists, 

musicians, jewelry makers and fashion designers 

to showcase their five favorite products. 

To celebrate the new app and My5, participating 

stores in town will tie green biodegradable balloons 

to their doors on the launch date, April 22. 

That evening, there will be a launch party at the 

Artlandish Gallery from 5:30 – 7 p.m. v

New Council members brush off Chamber of Commerce - Columbia ...

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