Columbia Business Times August 2018

Dr. Jeff Lashley MACC President

OPTING OUT OF TRADITION PG . 73

#MIZZOUMADE PG . 67

THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE PG . 79

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CONGRATULATES our very own

Kari Vogt, CFP

This year, Kari received her CFP® certification in May, graduated from Leadership Columbia in

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Dr. Jeff Lashley MACC President

utting each issue of CBT together is dependent on many people. There are the more noticeable people on the magazine staff, like the publisher,

editor, and designers, but the magazine wouldn’t come together without the writers, the people interviewed for stories, and the photographers.

OPTING OUT OF TRADITION PG. 73

#MIZZOUMADE PG. 67

THE SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE PG. 79

Dr. Jeff Lashley, Moberly Area Community College president, is this month’s cover model. He has served as MACC’s president since 2013. Ask him about his guitar collection the next time you see him. Photography by Anthony Jinson.

Local educators share their favorite short quotes.

With so many people involved, there are bound to be hiccups. Sometimes, coordinating between the busy schedules of a writer and their source can be tricky. Other times, people are completely unavailable. Anticipating the bumps in the road is simply a part of the process of putting a magazine together, and this is accomplished in part with the willingness of people to partici-

ON THE COVER

STICKY NOTE MOTIVATION

pate in its creation. Without the people who contribute to each issue, there wouldn’t be a magazine. Remaining fluid is just the name of the game.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” - Aesop

Similarly, teachers enter the classroom each school day not knowing what will greet them. Their students could be well-behaved and quiet in the morning and bouncing off the walls in the afternoon. In reality, the switch between

Caysea Dachroeden, educational diagnostician at Hickman High School

calm and crazy probably happens multiple times a day. Through every energy change in their students, teachers must remain fluid. They change their tone, speech, and actions to encourage the behavior they would like to see the students emulate. When the day does not go as planned, they adjust. Adjusting is not as easy when policies and procedures are involved, however. Policies and procedures are formed to create a framework for how specific situations are to be handled for all students, and while the plan makes sense and works on paper, it’s a different matter

“Life is school and you gotta show up!”

- Kid President

when a teacher or education professional is looking in the eyes of a student they know personally. Just like all the hiccups that come with publishing CBT each month can't be handled with a onesize-fits-all approach, every teacher knows that each one of their students is unique. Teachers work hard to get to know each student and learn how to best motivate them to be the best student and person they can be.

Cassandra Farris, teacher at Mill Creek Elementary

It’s this difference that compelled us to use the Education Issue to explore the national school to prison pipeline trend and what Columbia Public Schools is doing to work against the trend in our schools (page 79). We also look into how CPS is equalizing the socioeconomic differences between students at the elementary schools across the city to ensure that every child has access to similar educational opportunities (page 54). You will also read about the good that the Partners in Education program is making across the community in each school. Check out their story on page 60 to see the students they help support.

potential to become better.”

- Bill Bradley

Cheers,

Emma Bentley, Editor Emma@businesstimescompany.com

/Co l u m b i a B u s i n e ss Ti m e s

“Leadership is unlocking people’s

@ Co l u m b i a B i z

Co l u m b i a B u s i n e ss Ti m e s .co m

Miranda Fernandez, preschool teacher at UPC Child Development Center

Ed i to r @ B u s i n e ss Ti m e s Co m p a ny.co m COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 17

18 AUGUST 2018

EDITORIAL Emma Bentley, Editor Emma@BusinessTimesCompany.com Megan Whitehead, Managing Editor MWhitehead@BusinessTimesCompany.com Madison Love, Department Editor

Inside the Issue Around the Office

DESIGN/CREATIVE SERVICES Jordan Watts, Senior Designer Jordan@BusinessTimesCompany.com Kate Morrow, Graphic Designer Kate@BusinessTimesCompany.com Cassidy Shearrer, Graphic Designer Cassidy@BusinessTimesCompany.com Sadie Thibodeaux, Graphic Designer Sadie@BusinessTimesCompany.com

CBT ADVISORY BOARD LUNCH CBT’s 2018 advisory board members met for lunch at Eleven

MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES Deb Valvo, Marketing Consultant Deb@BusinessTimesCompany.com Bonnie Hudson, Marketing Consultant Bonnie@BusinessTimesCompany.com

Eleven to discuss the next three magazine issues. We came away with great

MANAGEMENT Erica Pefferman, President Erica@BusinessTimesCompany.com Renea Sapp, Vice President ReneaS@BusinessTimesCompany.com Amy Ferrari, Operations Manager Amy@BusinessTimesCompany.com Beth Bramstedt, Editorial Director Beth@BusinessTimesCompany.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Keith Borgmeyer, Anthony Jinson CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kacen J. Bayless, Sgt. Robert Fox, Al Germond, Jodie Jackson Jr., Brooke Kottmann, Eli Marchbanks, Nikki McGruder, Kermit Miller, David Morrison, Steve Spellman INTERNS Helena Jordheim, Madeline Knapp, Elizabeth Quinn SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription rate is $19.95 for 12 issues for 1 year or $34.95 for 24 issues for 2 years. Subscribe at columbiabusinesstimes.com or by phone. The Columbia Business Times is published every month by The Business Times Co., Copyright The Business Times Co., 2008. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. OUR MISSION STATEMENT The Columbia Business Times and columbiabusinesstimes.com strive to be Columbia’s leading source for timely and comprehensive news coverage of the local business community. This publication is dedicated to being the most relevant and useful vehicle for the exchange of information and ideas among Columbia’s business professionals. CONTACT The Business Times Co., 2001 Corporate Place, Suite 100 Columbia, MO, 65202 (573-499-1830) • columbiabusinesstimes.com

story ideas and names of people to interview. We can’t wait to start working on those issues!

Twitter Chatter Mizzou Business @MizzouBusiness Great story this week in the @ColumbiaBiz on this summer's #EBVMizzou program.

Simon Oswald Arch. @SOArchitecture It is only fitting that the @ColumbiaBiz Top of the Town #TOTT2018 award for Top Office Digs was designed by this year's Top Architect...@SOArchitecture. We are proud @truemediaagency (1st Place) and @MEMinsurance (2nd Place) were honored for their offices.

Contributors

Kermit Miller, KRCG 13

David Morrison

Jodie Jackson Jr.

Kacen J. Bayless

@DavidCMorrison

@JJacksonJr

@KAC3N

Eli Marchbanks

Write to CBT editor Emma Bentley at Emma@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 19

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AUGUST 2018 VOL . 2 5 / ISSUE 2

TA BL E OF CON T EN TS

The Education Issue

17 FROM THE EDITOR 19 INSIDE THE ISSUE 23 CLOSER LOOK 24 BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS 28 BUSINESS UPDATE Columbia Area Career Center

30 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT Heritage Academy

32 CELEBRATIONS MizzouMACC

35 MOVERS & SHAKERS 37 P.Y.S.K. Dr. Jill Dunlap Brown, Columbia Public Schools

41 9 QUESTIONS Keisha Edwards,

Columbia Police Department

43 A CAPITOL CONVERSATION Welcoming a New Governor

45 LOCAL PERSPECTIVES: Sgt. Robert Fox

49 OPINION: AL GERMOND City Survey Results

51 OPINION: NIKKI MCGRUDER The Inclusive Excellence Framework

53 OPINION: STEVE SPELLMAN Use Your Vacation Days

More Than Training The Columbia Area Career Center is helping local high school students get on the fast track to college and the workforce.

84 NEW BUSINESS LICENSES 86 DEEDS OF TRUST 87 ECONOMIC INDEX 89 BY THE NUMBERS 90 THIS OR THAT Gwendolyn Roche, Fr. Tolton Catholic High School

Mind the Gap

Building Community

#MizzouMade

Opting Out of Tradition

In Focus: School to Prison Pipeline

Bridging Columbia’s social economic gap through educational opportunities.

Partners in Education is pouring into CPS students and sharing their resources. Here’s how.

Why are students choosing to forego college? And what are their higher education alternatives in Columbia?

CPS and MU staff were asked why there’s a trend across the nation of students moving from the school system into the prison system.

A closer look at why MU hired a branding company and what their impact on the school’s enrollment numbers has been for the fall.

22 AUGUST 2018

BUSINE SS • P EOP L E • VOIC ES • F YI

C LOSER LOOK

Closer Look

Rho Engine Room

Columbia Post Acute

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

Rho Engine Room is the only dedicated rowing studio in Columbia. Rowing is, traditionally, a low-impact workout, but Rho Engine Room trainers will vary workouts for their clients so they can achieve peak metabolic conditioning. Owner Laura Kitzi says rowing is a sensory experience because clients can hear the audible whoosh of water connected with every stroke. Classes are an hour long and include strength and balance training as well as music. Kitzi opened the workout studio in May after being inspired while traveling. “[The studio] was developed by touring around the U.S. and seeing all the cool fitness concepts emerging and then picking one that I think Columbia residents would enjoy,” she says. Kitzi is looking forward to creating a supportive customer base as her business expands. “I hope to build a culture that rewards hard work but is also a lot of fun,” Kitzi says.

Columbia Post Acute, a physical rehabilitation facility that caters to people age 50 and above, started accepting patients in May. The facility is equipped with 70 private rooms and amenities like a game room, movie theatre, putting green, café, and pub. Trained staff members provide nursing care as well as occupational, physical, and speech therapy. The facility works as a supportive in-between health facility as patients transition from a hospital to home. Suzanne Jennings serves as facilities clinical nurse liaison for Columbia Post Acute. She meets with patients during their typical two- to three-week stay. “Our facility has its own little niche in our community,” Jennings says. Columbia Post Acute plans to accept more patients in the upcoming months. They provide services that were once unavailable to the elderly population. “I hope that we can continue to meet a need in the central Missouri area for folks that need this type of care,” Jennings says.

Eating out just got healthier. Tropical Smoothie Café’s menu has 25 smoothies and a list of healthy additives, like vitamin C and whey protein. The restaurant not only offers smoothies, but they have a full menu of food, including flatbreads, sandwiches, and bowls—all made to order with fresh ingredients. “It’s what separates us from your typical smoothie place,” manager Thomas Eckles says. The first Tropical Smoothie Café opened in Florida in 1997 and the company has been growing franchises ever since. Local franchisee Chris Hurst chose to open a location in Columbia after getting the idea from a friend who owns around 40 stores of his own. The Midwest is a growing market for Tropical Smoothie Cafés; Columbia can expect to see more than one location in the future. Eckles says they’re looking at possible locations in Jefferson City and on the south side of Columbia. “We really want it to take off,” Eckles says.

Location: 10 W. Nifong Blvd., Ste. 113 Website: rhoengineroom.com Contact: 573-312-3030

Location: 3535 Berrywood Dr. Website: columbiapostacute.com Contact: 573-397-7144

Location: 403 N. Stadium Blvd. #102 Website: tropicalsmoothiecafe.com Contact: 573-445-5115

Are you starting a new business? Reach out to our team at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 23

BUSINE SS • P EOP L E • VOIC ES • F YI

Briefly in the News AUGUST 2018

E DUC AT ION

COLUMBIA COLLEGE’S BEST FUNDRAISING YEAR Columbia College officials recently announced that the college raised $8.55 million during the 2018 fiscal year, the highest amount raised in a single year in the school’s 167-year history. The previous high-water mark was set in 2004, when the college raised $6.46 million. The school received more than 7,300 gifts throughout the year, including gifts directed towards student support, scholarships, and the new academic and residence hall that is currently under construction and is scheduled to accept students in the fall of 2019.

EDUC AT ION

RAMCHAND APPOINTED AS MU PROVOST MU Chancellor Alexander Cartwright announced that Latha Ramchand, dean of the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, has been appointed as provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at MU. Her appointment is effective August 15. As dean, Ramchand worked to promote inclusion and diversity across campus at the University of Houston, developing initiatives such as the Sustaining Urban Renewal through Entrepreneurship program, or SURE. Three out of four businesses launched by the SURE program are owned by women, and more than 67 percent are minority-owned. The Working Families Agenda she developed provides resources and support for women in business school along with research that organizations can use to implement policies that create a diverse workplace.

“Dr. Ramchand is a strong leader with a demonstrated track record in higher education, and I’m thrilled to have her join the University of Missouri.” — Alexander N. Cartwright, MU Chancellor

24 AUGUST 2018

BR I EFLY I N T H E N EWS

H EALT H

MU HEALTH CARE NAMED LEVEL 1 STEMI

E DUC AT ION

MACC AND STEPHENS COLLEGE JOINT PROGRAM Moberly Area Community College and Stephens College announced a program to help streamline the transfer process. In the partnership, specific graduation plans will be created for students transferring to Stephens from MACC; MACC students will have access to the benefits of Stephens, including study abroad trips, student ID card privileges, and eligibility for honors programs.

C OM MUNIT Y

HOTELS PARTNER WITH AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY In 2017, the American Cancer Society provided more than 25,000 individual cancer patients and their caregivers with 452,000 complimentary nights of free lodging in its own Hope Lodges nationwide, saving cancer patients an estimated $45 million in hotel costs. In addition to those served through the Hope Lodge program, more than 32,000 patients were served through the Hotel Partners Program with nearly 49,000 nights through participating hotels nationwide.

MU Health Care earned the state of Missouri’s highest designation as a Level 1 STEMI center, making it the only health care system in the region that offers patients Level 1 trauma, stroke, and STEMI care programs. STEMI stands for ST-elevation myocardial infarction, a life-threatening type of heart attack caused by the complete blockage of a heart artery. This blockage can cause some of the heart muscle to die from lack of nutrients and oxygen.

“I am extremely proud of our STEMI team and the excellent care we are able to give our patients. Earning this Level 1 distinction was a multi-year process that demanded excellence.” — Dr. Arun Kumar, medical director of cardiovascular services at MU Health Care

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 25

26 AUGUST 2018

B USINE SS • P EO P L E • VOIC ES • F YI

BU SI N ESS U PDAT E

Career Center’s High School Programs Ignite High school students receive career guidance before entering college and the workforce.

BY ELIZABETH Q U IN N | P HOTOG R A P HY BY A N TH O N Y J I N S O N

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 27

BUSINE SS • P EOP L E • VOIC ES • F YI

Dr. Brandon Russell, interim director

THE COLUMBIA AREA CAREER CENTER serves over 2,300 high school students at Battle, Hickman, and Rock Bridge high schools. Dr. Brandon Russell, interim director of career technical and adult education at CACC, explains why it’s important for the career center to pour into these students. “The whole idea is to give [students] a pathway to a career they're interested in,” he says. The 2018-19 school year theme at CACC is “I Can!” Students from the three high schools have the opportunity to choose courses from a wide variety of career-centered programs, including engineering and industrial technology; art and communication; business, management and technology; natural resources agriculture; human services; and health services. The programs are free for students unless they aren’t from Columbia, or if they want to be involved in a student organization that has membership fees. Even then, there are ways for the fees to be covered, says Russell. 28 AUGUST 2018

Classes can earn students dual credit with eight university partners. There are currently 58 dual credit opportunities and 290 students earning around 870 total credits. DUAL CREDIT PARTNERS • Central Methodist University • Columbia College • Missouri State University • Missouri University of Science and Technology • Moberly Area Community College • State Technical College of Missouri • Stephens College • University of Central Missouri • University of Missouri – Kansas City • University of Missouri – St. Louis MORE THAN LEARNING The center has three unique approaches to teaching students: experimental learning, emphasis on workplace expectations, and student organizations, says Russell.

There are six organizations that students can participate in to further their careers, including Future Farmers of America, DECA, Future Business Leaders of America, Health Occupation Students of America, Educators Rising, and their largest student organization, SkillsUSA. Each year, students can participate in regional, statewide, or national competitions with their student organizations. “Not everyone has to compete,” Russell says. “It’s not about competition. Not every student is motivated by competition, but it’s about bringing in community service, fundraising, and other professional development.” Students also get an opportunity to network and build a professional portfolio through the events. Russell emphasizes how the career center does more than just teach students about a certain profession. They also give students real world experiences and advice that they can use throughout their careers. A large part of the advice the career center provides comes from workplace expectations. Students can receive a brochure that outlines six key ways to ensure a student will be a “highly sought out candidate,” for example. The brochure encourages students to be positive, on time, prepared, valuable, honest, and friendly. “Preparing today’s learners for tomorrow’s careers,” Russell says. “That’s our motto.” A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP The career center serves as a place for students to get exposure to what they aspire to be when they enter the workforce. Although the career center’s programs can be a jump start on their careers, as Russell puts it, they also help students discover if a certain path isn’t right for them. Students have the chance to go into classes associated with a certain profession and really learn if that is the right career choice before investing in an associate or bachelor’s degree. “It’s not always about giving students the confirmation they’re headed in the right direction, but also about making the decision that it’s not right for them,” Russell says. Students get the opportunity to pursue a career early, and that also supports the community by creating a quality workforce. The students are going to be passionate about their career choice before they even start their careers. That mutually beneficial relationship between the career center, students, and employers in Columbia will only serve the city’s growth.

B U SI N ESS U PDAT E

Computer lab

Culinary arts kitchen

An important part of the career center is having the partnerships with businesses to continue to grow the relationships. “We need to continue building partnerships,” Russell says. “That way we can sit with experts about what we're doing in the classroom, what the new trends are, and so on.” When there are partnerships available, there’s a chance for guest speakers, field trip opportunities, real world problem-based learn-

ing, job shadowing, and serving on the advisory committee and giving feedback, Russell says. The partnerships can also help the career center teach students to become the best workready people possible. “The most important intent is to find ways to make connections to improve the experience of students,” Russell says. “We’re always looking for ways to make connections with businesses and industries at all levels.”

For students who are debating enrolling into one of the high school programs, Russell encourages students to give it a try. A lot of students who decide to take that plunge usually stick with the program. Russell often hears students say, “I just like it here better.” They like the experience, culture, and climate. “Every student asks ‘why?’ and we answer that question: Why do we do this day in and day out?” Russell says. “Give it a try.” CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 29

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Developing Educational Excellence Heritage Academy offers a University-Model, Christian education to K-12 students.

BY BROOKE KOT T M A N N | P HOTOS P R OV ID E D BY H E R I TAG E AC A DE MY

IN HERITAGE ACADEMY’S front office at Calvary Baptist Church, visitors will see a double-photo black picture frame hanging just past the awards case filled with silver and gold trophies. The first image features the school’s five founding families circa 2001. The founding families were a part of a local home-schooling co-op called Grace Cottage when, in 1999, the genesis of Heritage Academy emerged. The families sought resources, such as a qualified physical education teacher and a chemistry lab, to supplement their homeschooling. It takes a village not only to raise a child, but also to educate one. Since 1999, it has been a group 30 AUGUST 2018

effort among the families of the co-op to provide their children with superlative education. Enter University-Model, a home-schooling model of education built off a schedule that’s similar to a college course load. Heritage Academy is Columbia’s sole University-Model school. The K-12 school operates as a nonprofit and offers tuition assistance pulled from donations and a yearly Pi-themed trivia night fundraiser in March.

A FAITH-BASED CLASSROOM Providing an education for students from a Christian worldview was as important to

Heritage Academy’s founding families as it is to current parents and students. “We at Heritage exist to partner with Christian parents to prepare college-worthy character witnesses for Jesus Christ,” says Thomas Ragsdell, the school’s chief administration officer. “Everyone who attends the school agrees to the belief system, the core values, what the school is, and what the school is trying to accomplish.” Heritage aims to educate students with a solid foundation in community life and biblical knowledge. Every third period on Mondays, all students congregate in the chapel adjacent to

Heritage Academy FOUNDED IN 2002

MISSION To partner with Christian parents to prepare college-worthy character witnesses for Jesus Christ.

NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE 2017-18 SCHOOL YEAR: 84 students

BOARD OF TRUSTEES: Tod Moser, Chairman Sandra Colhour, Vice Chairman Paul Meiners, Treasurer Jason Gregory, Secretary Shea Kinkade

N ON PR OFI T

the school. The chapel’s cedar-stained beams twist across the ceiling, a nod to the interior of Noah’s ark. University-Model School International, the organization to which Heritage belongs, designates that courses are taught with a biblical worldview. The administrative team, along with teachers, write syllabi and handselect textbooks, which can be either secular or from a Christian printing press. Each teacher decides how they will lead lectures and integrate a biblical worldview component to their courses. “Our teachers are encouraged to pray with students,” Ragsdell says. “They're encouraged to share Bible verses and integrate biblical thought into every subject.” This school year, Ragsdell will teach a course for ninth and 10th graders comparing and contrasting biblical worldviews. Parents of Heritage Academy students are often impressed by how their children conduct themselves outside of the classroom. Kristin Gadsden, whose son attends Heritage, says she discovered the school a few years ago when two high schoolers in Phoebe’s youth group approached her about joining the school’s soccer team. “We were just so thrilled as parents to find a place where children could really thrive, and, of course, every parent wants that for their kids,” Gadsden says. “A place where they feel welcome, comfortable, accepted, and loved and are just able to grow up in that.”

FOCUSING ON COLLEGE PREP Heritage Academy prioritizes college preparation. They do their best to employ 11th and 12th grade teachers who can teach dual-credit classes with Columbia College, Moberly Area Community College, or Central Methodist University, says Ragsdell. Recently, the school also received approval from the state to be a part of the Missouri A+ program, which can grant students who complete the program up to two years of free college tuition. Heritage follows a college-like schedule. Students only attend class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Ragsdell says that, as students progress through their educational career, they begin to better

“We love the idea that [our children] are developing a greater sense of discipline and responsibility.” manage their time. “By the time our students are in high school, we want them to know how to do research, how to write their essays, work their math problems,” he says. The discipline works, says Tod Moser, chairman of Heritage. “My oldest daughter told me that when she went to MU, her freshman year there was easier than her senior year at Heritage Academy.” Students at Heritage enjoy the discipline of an accelerated curriculum without auditorium-sized classrooms. This past year, Heritage’s students numbered about 85, with one teacher to every 15 secondary students. This number is an estimate though because, like college, secondary students can opt to enroll in only one course or up to six courses per semester.

DISTINCTIVELY COLLABORATIVE On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when students are not attending classes, parents guide their children through their coursework at home. Elementary students rely on their parents to partner in their education, character development, and faith. Parents of high school students spend more time providing emotional and spiritual support and less academic guidance, Ragsdell says. “We really do love the university-style school,” Gadsden says. “We love the idea that [our children] are developing a greater sense of discipline and responsibility. We just like the idea of helping them prepare for the next stage.” Almost 20 years since Heritage’s inaugural year, the founding families have created a school strong in its vision. CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 31

Laura Mertens and Cecelia Olivares

1839

1927

1999

MU is founded after 900 Boone County citizens pledged $117,921 to win the bid to locate the new state university in Columbia.

MACC is founded as part of Moberlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public schools system.

MACC begins offering college credit courses in Columbia.

32 AUGUST 2018

BUSINE SS • P EO P L E • IM P R OV EM EN T • F YI

C ELEBRAT I ON S

MizzouMACC Celebrates One Year It’s only the beginning for this rapidly growing program that partners MU and MACC.

BY MA DELINE KN A P P | P HOTOG R A P HY BY A N TH O N Y J I N S O N

MU AND MOBERLY AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE formed a partnership last year to pave a new way for students to be successful. One year later, the partnership’s program, MizzouMACC, has surpassed their expectations — and enrollment cap. MizzouMACC is a concurrent enrollment program that allows students to take classes at both MU and MACC. It’s designed to make the transition into higher education easier, financially and academically, and ultimately provide a streamlined path for students to transfer fully to MU after two years. Discussions for MizzouMACC began four years ago when previous MU leadership suggested they look into a partnership with a local community college, says Cecelia Olivares, senior student services coordinator at MU. MACC produces the greatest amount of transfers to MU of any community college in Missouri and it’s the closest. After a few years of meeting and developing a plan, MizzouMACC was ready to accept a pilot group of students for the fall 2017 semester. MACC President Jeff Lashley says the program is designed for any student looking to take their next step into higher education. “The pathway to higher education is different for a lot of students, and some students, as they complete high school, maybe aren’t ready for an experience as large as a university is,” Lashley says. “Maybe they would do better at a smaller institution like MACC, but they’ve grown up thinking about attending the university their whole life and have a deep desire to be an MU graduate.” MizzouMACC helps students put a foot in both doors. The program requires students to take nine credits at MACC and up to six

credits at MU each semester. Seventeen students enrolled for fall 2017, which had a 30-student cap. MizzouMACC is looking at over 200 applications for fall 2018. Olivares says they did a little marketing for the program, but excitement among students has been the greatest recruiter.

THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS When students enroll in MizzouMACC, resources at both institutions — like tutoring, libraries, student organizations, advising, health centers, and student employment — become accessible. Kim Humphrey, MU’s assistant vice provost, says allowing students to feel like they’re a part of both campuses is important to the program. “It’s going to help with retention. It shows the more connected you are, the more you’re going to like it,” she says. Dual advising may be the most crucial part in making students feel confident and prepared for their higher education experience. Olivares and Laura Mertens, MACC director of site operations and student services, are the main points of contacts for MizzouMACC students. They’re ready for anything, even possibly accommodating over 200 students this fall. “It’s a good problem to have being overly busy right now,” Mertens laughs. Olivares and Mertens work closely with MizzouMACC students simultaneously, which makes the program unique. “It is very rare that two advisors at two different institutions can talk specifically about a student and what they’re enrolled in,” Olivares says. “It gives a student and their

parents peace of mind that they’re on track and taking appropriate classes and not having to navigate that themselves.”

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING When students attend MU in addition to MACC, they’re establishing a GPA and fulfilling required courses for an easy transfer into a competitive program. MizzouMACC allows students to skip the extra semester of classes most transfers to MU need. “We look ahead to your intended major so we can make sure you’re taking the courses that fit right into that program from day one,” Mertens says. “Instead of doing two years and then figuring it out, we are doing it right now.” MizzouMACC students are not required to complete their associate degree, but MU offers more scholarships for students with an associate degree, says Olivares. Lashley also says that the completion of an associate degree means better preparedness. “There’s research that shows that students who complete their associate degree are going to complete their bachelor’s degree because they’ve really shown that they know how to persist and how to be successful,” Lashley says.

THE FUTURE FOR MIZZOUMACC With the dramatic increase in enrollment, both schools are still deciding what’s next for MizzouMACC. “I don’t think we expected this kind of increase, but we need to look at our resources,” Humphrey says. “It’s not to say we won’t have bumps in the road, because we will and we have, but I think it’s safe to say we are off to a really good start,” Olivares says. CBT

2013

2014

2017

Dr. Jeff Lashley becomes president of MACC, the first to have also been a previous MACC student.

Discussion about a partnership between MU and MACC begins.

MizzouMACC’s pilot semester begins and exceeds expectations. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 33

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M OVER S & SH AKER S

Movers & Shakers AUGUST 2018

CONNALLY

Billie Connally

Victoria Mondelli

Chuck Bowman

Landmark Vice President Billie CONNALLY graduated from Southern Methodist University’s SW Graduate School of Banking at Cox. The SW Graduate School of Banking is a professional school for bank officers, regulators, and others holding management positions in the financial services industry. The 2018 graduates represent more than 69 financial institutions in 13 states.

Victoria Mondelli, executive director of the Office of Teaching Excellence and Engaged Learning at Mercy College, has been named founding director of MU’s Teaching for Learning Center, effective September 4. Mondelli joined Mercy College in 2012 as director of its Teaching and Learning Center. A year later, she was promoted to executive director of the Office of Teaching Excellence and Engaged Learning, where she managed the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning and the Center for Academic Excellence and Innovation. Prior to joining Mercy College, Mondelli directed the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship for The City University of New York’s Borough of Manhattan Community College from 2010 to 2012.

Chuck BOWMAN, president of Monarch Title Company and MHD Management Services, was recently selected to serve a oneyear term on the board of directors for the Missouri Chamber Federation Benefit Plan, Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement. In this position, he’ll be helping small businesses alleviate health care expenses.

Mitch Greenwell Mitch GREENWELL recently joined The Callaway Bank as a commercial lender. Greenwell’s goal is to help people realize their dreams, whether it is owning their own business or setting themselves on a path for future success. Greenwell has worked in banking for five years. After earning a bachelor's in business administration from Columbia Collage, he chose to stay in Columbia to build his career.

Syed Kamrul Islam Syed Kamrul Islam took over as head of MU’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department on July 1. Islam previously served as a professor, James W. McConnell Endowed Chair, and associate head for academic affairs of the electrical engineering and computer science department at the University of Tennessee. Islam earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and then earned both his master’s and doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

Mark Hassemer After 40 years as the executive director of Alternative Community Training, Mark Hassemer has announced his retirement. The ACT Board of Directors announced that Staci BOWLEN will become executive director. Under Mark’s leadership, in 1990 ACT opened the first individualized supported living home in Missouri funded by the Medicaid waiver. For the first time, people with disabilities were able to live in their communities and in their own homes. ACT also started one of the first supported employment programs in Missouri, giving individuals with disabilities the opportunities to work in competitive employment.

GREENWELL

Michael Love Michael LOVE was hired as a mortgage banking officer at Providence Bank Mortgage. Love will be responsible for originating residential mortgage loans in Jefferson City and surrounding areas. Love has more than 14 years in real estate sales and more than six years in mortgage lending. He has served as a supervisor in mortgage loan servicing and mortgage loan underwriting.

BOWLEN

BOWMAN

Talking Horse Productions Ed HANSON, Talking Horse Productions’ founding artistic and executive director, has announced his retirement. The board of directors announced that two members of the community, Rochara Knight and Adam Brietzke, will be jointly assuming the positions. Both bring a wealth of experience and training to the role, and Hanson will be working with them to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months. Hanson will also continue to serve as a board member once the transition is complete. CBT

LOVE

HANSON

Are you or your employees moving up in the Columbia business community? Send us your news at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 35

36 AUGUST 2018

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P E R S ON YO U SH OU LD KN OW

DR. JILL DUNLAP BROWN ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION | COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS | AGE: 41

Job description: I’m responsible for our 21 elementary buildings; the Center for Early Learning North; EEE gifted education; Parents as Teachers; elementary counseling; summer school; assessment, intervention, and data services; and our school improvement office. Years lived in Columbia/MidMissouri: I’ve lived in Columbia since 2005. Original hometown: Fulton. Education: Bachelor’s in elementary education from Westminster College; master’s in education in curriculum and instruction from MU; educational specialist degree in educational leadership and policy analysis from MU; and PhD in educational leadership and policy analysis from MU. Professional background: This year will be my 20th in education. Hard to believe! I’ve been fortunate to serve in many different roles. I have been a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, an educational consultant, a principal, and a district leader. A favorite recent project: Professionally, I’m so excited about the systems of support we’re putting in place in our district. We are being thoughtful about our planning for the future, and I’m very excited about this path we’re on together. A Columbia businessperson I admire and why: Not that I’m trying to earn points by saying this, but Dr. Peter Stiepleman is a wonderful role model and someone I admire and respect very much. He sets a high bar, and students are always at the center of all that he does and every decision he makes. He strives to be excellent every day. I have learned so much from him and know that will only continue.

Photography by Keith Borgmeyer

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 37

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P E R S ON YO U SH OU LD KN OW

Why I’m passionate about my job: We’re impacting the future. How can you not be passionate about that? Every child deserves the best, and in my heart, I truly believe that we offer this to every child in CPS. I want to see all children successful, and I have huge passion for ensuring this happens in our district. My own children go to school here. I am completely invested in the future of Columbia Public Schools. Why I’m passionate about my organization: The people who work for Columbia Public Schools are the most caring, dedicated people. Every day, each of us wakes with the intention of being just a little bit better than the day before. We believe in being the best for our kids. Working with people who embody this belief is truly inspiring. If I weren’t doing this for a living, I would: Be a professional traveler. I enjoy exploring new places and learning new things. I would love for someone to hire me to travel to other countries so I can study their education systems! The next challenge facing my industry: We face many challenges in education right now, but one I’m passionate about involves my belief in public schools. I believe in every child’s right to a wonderful, top-notch education. I believe our district offers fantastic schools with amazing teachers. I feel fortunate knowing my own children are attending our schools. My next professional goal: My goal has always been and will always be to learn and do more. I want to consistently be better every day. I want to continue to work with people who challenge me, and I want to say that we are providing the best education we can for all our students.

educating the Columbia of tomorrow. I do not take that lightly.

fortunate beyond belief, and I never take one day with them for granted.

Greatest strength: Perseverance. There are days the work is hard. On those days, I think of all we’ve done for our students. There are so many good things that happen in our schools every day. I hold on to the positive and do all I can to help it grow!

Favorite place in Columbia: Murry’s! We go every chance we get.

Greatest weakness: My inability to say no. My husband would call me a workaholic. This work is too important to rest, and sometimes I have a hard time turning it off.

Biggest lesson learned in business: Never say never! I’ve learned that life will take you on an unbelievable journey if you just say yes to opportunities.

What I do for fun: I spend every free minute with my family. We’re always looking for new adventures and new things to try.

How I would like to impact the Columbia community: I want to make our schools the very best they can be. We will always look for ways to be better and do more for the kids in our community. We are

Family: I have an amazing husband who’s a teacher for Columbia Public Schools. Together, we have three boys. One will be entering middle school this year, one will be in fourth grade, and our youngest is five. My family is my heart. I am

38 AUGUST 2018

Accomplishment I’m most proud of: Two-fold: first and foremost, my family. The title of mom will always be my greatest privilege and accomplishment. Professionally, the work we are doing right now with our team at CPS is exhilarating. I feel very fulfilled and very optimistic for the future. Most people don’t know that: I’ve held a series seven license, a series 63 license, and my insurance license! I worked for Edward Jones as a senior training specialist, where I taught classes to profitable brokers. To do this job, I had to earn all the credentials they held. What a great life lesson this job was! Those tests were very challenging, but I wouldn’t trade the experience I gained. It was a great job and a great company to work for. CBT

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Q&A OFFICER KEISHA EDWARDS School Resource Officer, Columbia Police Department

1. What’s your background? I’m originally from Chicago. I moved to Missouri to attend college at Lincoln University in Jefferson City and graduated with a bachelor’s in criminal justice. I’ve been a Columbia police officer since 2002 and a school resource officer at Rock Bridge High School since 2011. I have a 23-year-old son, and I am the proud grandmother of a 2-month-old granddaughter. And I’m a member of Second Baptist Church. 2. Tell us about your job: What can I say? I love my job. Every day there’s a new challenge. I have over 2,500 opportunities to make a positive impression on someone — that’s 2,200 students and 300 staff members at Rock Bridge High School and the Columbia Career Center, which I'm also responsible for. I’m a liaison between the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Public Schools. My job is to build relationships with students, staff, and visitors. I visit classrooms and talk about the law and topics related to young adults. I talk about use, prevention, and abuse of drugs and

alcohol, and how it pertains to the law. I talk about being a police officer, the court system, current and old “hot topics” involving police, and public safety in general. A lot of my job is deterrence through my mere presence and verbal contact — being in the right place at the right time and talking to people. Showing up as a human being, allowing people to see me as a person first and not just as a uniform, has allowed me to build relationships with the community I protect and serve. Rock Bridge High School and the Columbia Career Center is a community within Columbia. All members of the community should help protect and serve; no one person can or should do it alone. But you have to earn a seat at the table with young adults. Most kids want to do the right thing, but they also want to know that they matter and that what they have to say matters. That means listening, not judging, laying out options, and building trust. Since we all have a role and a stake in the community, when something negative is going on, people tell me. That’s my job. 3. What does your typical day look like? I’m up at 4:15 a.m. Monday through Friday, and I work out at a local gym from 5 to 6 a.m. I start work at 8:30 a.m. Every day, I play music loud enough so the students and staff can hear it as they walk past my office. I found that music is universal and a great conversation starter. On Wednesdays, I play music during each lunch shift for students, and we try to have student talent shows once a month. We call it “Wild Out Wednesdays.” I play all genres of music. My day also includes meetings to support teachers, students, and parents; presenting in classrooms; conducting restorative practice conferences or mediations to resolve conflicts; supervising after-school events and activities; and simply interacting with students. I am also the sponsor of a student dance club called UNIQ. 4. What drew you to your position? My mission was to find a stable job to support my son and myself. After I became an officer, I realized I didn’t choose police work; police work chose me. I originally went to college to be a teacher. The second semester of my junior year, I changed my major to criminal justice. Every day, I am given the opportunity to serve people in a way that empowers and encourages me and makes me feel great. This is what God wants me to do. I’m living out my purpose.

9 QU EST I ON S

5. What don’t people know about school resource officers that they should? That we don’t just see ourselves as police officers in the traditional sense of a patrol officer. We also see ourselves as members of the school community. We’ve always had a community policing approach, where we have a vested interest and impact in the communities we serve. 6. What would people be surprised to know about your work? In doing this job, I’m never off duty. The relationships I build don’t just stop at the end of the school day. They often carry over into my personal life. I’ve spent time working with families in crisis after receiving a call, mentored and given guidance to students who have long since graduated, and gone to countless activities and events to support students in the community even when they're no longer students. People inside and outside the school community know me as Keisha first, instead of Officer Edwards, and I like it that way. 7. What are some challenges you face in your work? I would say the negative use of social media has become one of the more challenging aspects of my job. When used as it is intended, outlets like Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter can be positive methods for communication. However, when students and adults use these outlets in ways that are harmful to themselves or others, this creates problems and situations that often filter into the schools and community. 8. Describe a success you’re most proud of: I have 1000 stories I am most proud of. At the end of the day, helping students, parents, and teachers by providing a listening ear, guidance as needed, and whatever resources they need gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment that is difficult to put into words. 9. Tell us something about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume alone: I was a DJ at Lincoln University while a student. This was my outlet to satisfy my love for music. It’s also why I appreciate music to this day. I also love food and trying different foods. I love cooking for others. My favorite dish to cook is seafood lasagna. CBT

Check out past questions and answers online at ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 41

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42 AUGUST 2018

BU SI N ESS • PEO P LE • VOIC ES • F YI

A CA P I TO L CON VER SAT I ON

Transition of Power: Introducing Governor Mike Parson BY KRCG 13’ S K ER M I T M IL L ER

SOMETIMES, fate is realized with irony. With all of the political drama surrounding the resignation of former Governor Eric Greitens and the ensuing elevation of former Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson to the office of Missouri governor, it’s tempting to assume that Parson was thrust into a spotlight for which he was not really prepared. The story that he was putting up cattle on his farm in Polk County when he got the official news of Greitens’ resignation certainly feeds that notion. Some people might not remember that two years ago Parson had sought the top job only to change his mind and opt instead to pursue the office of lieutenant governor (possibly after seeing the big money going to other candidates). He brought to that office — and subsequently to the governor’s office — a background in county law enforcement and legislative representation both in the Missouri House and Missouri Senate. Even so, it’s a safe bet that a lot of people across the Show-me State discovered him only when he became their governor. Parson’s credentials as a conservative lawmaker appear solid and familiar. Serving in the legislature for 12 years, Parson championed several high-profile causes. In 2010, he signed the pledge to not raise taxes, a promise championed by Americans for Tax Reform, the group led by conservative activist Grover Norquist. In 2014, he backed the “right-to-farm” amendment, giving farmers protection from environmental lawsuits. More recently, Parson championed expansion of Missouri’s “castle doctrine,” the second amendment legislation that allows people to use lethal force to defend themselves, their families, and their property without fear of lawsuits.

Unlike Greitens, Parson is an advocate for low-income housing tax credits. Greitens painted the program as a scam in which developers got rich off taxpayer subsidies without producing a return. Parson has described the program as essential to getting adequate housing into rural Missouri. He has put on the brakes, however, telling capitol reporters he intends to create a task force to study the efficacy of the program.

Parson’s credentials as a conservative lawmaker appear solid and familiar. At this writing, Missouri voters have not yet weighed in on the right-to-work referendum on the August 2018 ballot. In 2015, Parson supported the idea of ending closed union shops, saying it was “worth a try.” Reporters have also asked the new governor about the fuel tax question that will appear on the November ballot. Parson has responded by saying he is committed to improving Missouri’s infrastructure. That’s not an outright endorsement, but it’s at least an indication he will not stand in the way of a tax increase for that purpose. In his first speech to state lawmakers, Governor Parson called for a “fresh start.” He subsequently has promised a level of transparency most reporters would not associate with his predecessor. And this comes from a policymaker who once was the target of a lawsuit over transparency.

Three years ago, Parson, then a state senator, barred news cameras (as well as cameras operated by advocacy organizations) from hearings held by his small business committee on right-to-work legislation. He promised access through gavel-to-gavel video shot by the Senate communications staff, but that entailed some delay. That led to a lawsuit by the liberal advocacy group Progress Missouri naming Parson and two other senators. Ultimately, the lawsuit failed. The courts said the Senate can make its own rules and is not subject to the open meetings protections of Missouri’s Sunshine Law. Even so, Parson appears to have turned a page. His gubernatorial staff says he will no longer block users on his social media accounts, as he did while serving as lieutenant governor. Going forward, the sun could shine on the vacancy created by Parson’s ascension to higher office. On June 18, Parson appointed Senator Mike Kehoe of Jefferson City to replace him as lieutenant governor. Like former Governor Jay Nixon (who once vetoed legislation to require a special election), Parson concluded that he has the legal authority to fill a lieutenant governor vacancy. Mike Wolff, a former Missouri Supreme Court judge and dean emeritus of St. Louis University School of Law, has noted that there is no law that authorizes such an appointment. Within hours, the Missouri Democratic Party sued the appointment. At this writing, that question is pending before the courts. CBT Kermit is an award-winning 45-year veteran journalist and one of the longest serving members of the Missouri Statehouse press corps.

Kermit Miller anchors the 6 and 10 p.m. news for KRCG 13. You can reach Kermit at kmiller@krcg.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 43

44 AUGUST 2018

B USINESS • PEOPLE • VOIC ES • F YI

LOCA L P E R S P EC T I V E : SGT. R OBER T FOX

Implementing Community Policing Programs BY SGT. ROBERT FOX | P HOTO BY FOR R EST R AY I VY

VICTOR HUGO, a French author, wrote, “There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose time has come.” If community-oriented policing is an idea, its time has certainly come. Policing is still changing from the effects of high-profile incidents around the country. Community policing is one answer to many of those challenges; however, it is far from a new idea. The principles of community-oriented policing have an uncanny similarity with the original police principles promoted by the father of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel, in 1829. Locally, it’s nothing new either. Columbia’s city newsletter, “City Source,” announced in 1997 that the Columbia Police Department “instituted its city-wide community policing initiative.” At the time, Columbia’s population was approximately 77,000 with a police department slightly smaller than what we have serving a population of approximately 122,000 today.

Over the 10 years following the 1997 announcement, the Columbia Police Department started or implemented most of the community policing programs seen around the country today: coffee with cops; citizens academy; police cadets; school resource officers and the D.A.R.E. program in high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools; a community action team; neighborhood watch; and Fourth Squad. (Fourth Squad is made up of eight officers and a sergeant who work a small area in central Columbia.) More than 20 years later, the city’s population has outgrown the police department’s size, and the community policing programs and initiatives are gone or significantly reduced. Every city has a hierarchy of needs, and Columbia police have to respond to injury crashes and disturbances first; the luxuries have to wait. Critics and supporters alike are pointing to evidence that community-oriented policing

actually reduces the amount of crime, fear of crime, and calls for service which prevent departments from providing those communityoriented police services many want to see. This has proven to be true over the last three years with Columbia’s Community Outreach Unit, which has reduced both calls for service and reported crime in the strategic neighborhoods where the unit works. A 25-year trend of reducing crime has changed the public–police dynamic. At the same time, the demand for police response has increased. In Columbia, as in most cities, the default phone call for many problems is the police. A patrol officer may handle 12 to 20 calls for service in a 10-hour shift, but only three or four of those calls will result in a criminal police report being taken. The other calls require skills of the officer beyond their training or role. David Brown, former chief of the Dallas Police Department, has said, “We are asking too much of our police officers.” They are not de facto parents, civil attorneys, counselors, mechanics, or mental health professionals, yet they regularly find themselves doing the best they can in all those areas. Despite this, the criticism of the department and its leaders continues, mostly based on history and incidents hundreds of miles away and beyond our control. Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton introduced the use of body-worn cameras to the department in 2012, well before the incidents in Ferguson and other cities that led to national conversation around police transparency and accountability. He also implemented a documentation plan that has led the state for use of force by officers. Chief Burton has also consistently instructed officers to “treat people the way you would want your family to be treated,” a simple concept that communicates effectively the communityoriented philosophy of his department. The challenge for police in the 21st century is to not only be proficient with the different community approaches, but to correctly apply the right approach to the right situation and communicate that to the public. Columbia police officers do an excellent job of finding that balance and maintaining everyone’s safety. CBT

Sgt. Robert Fox serves in the Columbia Police Department and leads the department's community policing efforts. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 45

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Citizens Respond to Survey BY A L GERMON D

THE CITY OF COLUMBIA recently received the results of the 2017 DirectionFinder survey from ETC Institute. The survey, which looks at the city’s performance, was mailed to a randomized list of residents in Columbia. About 850 people filled out and returned the survey. The survey results are published and made available to the public. The most interesting part of the results is the openended comments section. You can read the comments yourself on the city’s website. Boy, the respondents can really pile it on, and anonymously, too, I presume. To summarize the survey, it would seem that, for the most part, residents like living in Columbia. Survey scores covering the performance of various city departments and

the functions they provide have remained largely unchanged over the 15 years that the surveys have been conducted. There are, of course, the predictable enjoinders — scolding the city on everything from the condition of the streets to concerns about crime and the performance of the understaffed police department. Fine. But on the eve of an August ballot initiative for an almost $43 million water system improvement bond, apprehension mounts in some quarters. There is concern that the public may give the city a good spanking on the vote for the bond, reflecting the people's loss of confidence in how Columbia is doing business these days.

What I really would like to see in the near future is an independent, unbridled survey of community-wide attitudes about the current mayor of Columbia, his six council elves, and the issues and controversies they’ve been dealing with lately. Of course, they’re elected legitimately, but they’re elected by constituent turnouts replicating the skimpy return ratio of the thousands of surveys the ETC Institute mailed out to Columbia residents. How disposed are we to these seven individuals, and on a case-by-case basis, the key appointed staff members of city hall? How do we feel about their attitudes and actions and the trust we have in their performance? Some of us believe governance here is at its lowest point in years. There’s the looming matter of promise versus performance on various matters. In some cases, the mayor and the city council have decided to balk at what voters have already assented to. The mayor and the city council consider themselves “experts" on various and often highly technical matters as they’ve gone about reversing or delaying what Columbia voters have previously assented to. This includes the Henderson Branch sewer project, the routing of electric power lines for future energy needs, and sorely-needed, oft-delayed improvements at Columbia Regional Airport, including a new terminal. But the one decision that still burns Columbia citizens the most is when the mayor and a trio of his elves blew a fabulous opportunity to develop the commercial property site at the southeast corner of Broadway and Providence. This corner will forever be enshrined as the aborted CVS corner, where a CVS pharmacy was going to be located. How could the mayor and his three cohorts blow this opportunity to create jobs and a new stream of sales tax revenue for the financially-strained city? I don’t know, but they did! They should be thrown out of office the next time they’re up for re-election because of their micro-managing of the CVS project to death. Something to think about when you’re casting your votes in August. Some of us — a pitifully small number, based on past experience — will bother to vote on a project that really needs to get done. Upgrading the half-century old water treatment facility in the McBaine Bottoms is one. Maybe not this time though. CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 49

Make it fun. Make it Sincere. Market you.

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50 AUGUST 2018

B USINESS • P EOP L E • VO ICE S • F YI

OP I N I ON : N I KKI M C GR U DER

Access & Success

Training & Education Organizational Infrastructure

Inclusive Excellence

Organizational Climate & Intergroup Relations

Community Engagement

of their ongoing efforts to increase access and inclusion and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members. We view the signing of the principles of community as the final step in the integration of the inclusive excellence framework. Businesses have made their dedication and intent clear when the principles are put into place.

The principles state: • We affirm the inherent dignity and value of every person and strive to maintain a climate for work and learning based on mutual respect and understanding. • We affirm the right of each person to express thoughts and opinions freely.

The Journey Toward Inclusive Excellence BY N IK KI M C GRUD ER | D ire ctor, In clu sive I m p a c t I n sti tu te

We encourage open expression within a climate of civility, sensitivity, and mutual respect. • We affirm the value of human diversity because it enriches our lives and our organizations. We acknowledge and respect our differences while affirming our common humanity. • We reject all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including those based

WHEN DR. KEVIN MCDONALD WAS brought to MU in the spring of 2016 and named the UM System’s first ever chief equity officer, many community leaders had high hopes for what his appointment would mean for the university and Columbia as a whole. For months during late 2015 and early 2016, Columbia made media headlines in part because of bias, discrimination, and lack of inclusion. McDonald’s appointment provided a glimmer of hope that change was coming. This hope, and the fact that we had a community ready to begin the difficult work of facing our challenges and striving for an inclusive community where every citizen could live and thrive, created the perfect foundation for clear and intentional initiatives. When McDonald introduced an inclusive excellence framework and began a system-wide initiative to implement the framework into each department, school, and division, we could see the potential solution for our business community as well. Through a collaboration with CBT, we shared the framework with business leaders, and we began conversations about translating the higher education language of the framework into business language. McDonald worked closely with leaders from the Diversity Awareness Partnership

(now the Inclusive Impact Institute) and corporate partners like Veterans United Home Loans and Shelter Insurance to lead the charge. An organization that accepts the integration of the framework makes the statement that they have a respect for and understanding of diversity, inclusion, and equity and stand on the principles that it represents. They have made the practice of inclusive excellence a part of who they are and what they do. Several businesses and organizations in Columbia have been working with the Inclusive Impact Institute and the MU Division of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity since January to understand each of the five dimensions of the framework: access and success; training and education; community engagement; organizational climate and intergroup relations; and organizational infrastructure. Businesses participating in the Journey Toward Inclusive Excellence diversity initiative will sign a document entitled “Principles of Community.” The principles of community are aspirational statements that embody an organization’s level of commitment to diversity and equality and reflect the ideals they aspire to uphold. Businesses and organizations adopt and practice the following principles as fundamental parts

on age, color, diverse ability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, and veteran status. We take individual and collective responsibility for helping to eliminate bias and discrimination and for increasing our own understanding of these issues through education, training, and interaction with others. • We pledge our collective commitment to incorporate these principles into our mission.

We will continue the work necessary to create the community that we wish to see — a beloved community. The concept of a beloved community is adopted from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s global vision in which poverty, hunger, and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. Our community should be proud of the work we are doing. One business at a time; one citizen at a time. The journey continues. CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 51

The Boone County Cradle to Career Alliance is a local nonprofit organization driven by the belief that every child deserves equal opportunity to a high-quality education as the basis of a thriving community. We bring community members together to work on common goals that can put students on a path to life-long success. Visit cradletocareeralliance.org to find out about our current initiatives in Boone County! 52 AUGUST 2018

B USINESS • P EOP L E • VO ICE S • F YI

OP I N I ON : ST EVE SPELLM AN

To Vacation or Not Vacation? BY STEVE SP ELL M A N | Host , Th e M id-M issou r i F re e d o m Fo r u m

AFTER AN EXTENDED WINTER, you may be thinking, “I need a vacation!” But according to HR Magazine’s April issue, in an article called “Reimagining Time Off,” 35 percent of Americans don’t plan to take all of their vacation days this year. From what stems this tragedy? Twenty-one percent of survey respondents say the amount of work they have to do keeps them from taking a vacation. Other reasons for not using vacation days include financial constraints, which about half of the respondents cited; feeling guilt for not being in the office, which nine percent cited; and feeling discouraged by their boss to take time off, which three percent cited. Some employers attempt to lower these percentages by modernizing their HR policies to merge the categories of days off — vacation, holidays, sick, and personal — into one omnibus time bucket category, often called personal time off. This has numerous advantages, not least of which is the boss not needing to be

concerned with whether the spike in employees taking the Monday after the Super Bowl off is legit. A few companies have gone so far as to provide unlimited vacation days. One might fear staff pulling a George Castanza and being gone, well, a lot. But employees in competitive, fast-paced, and driven work environments tend to actually take off fewer days. This stems from the perception that vacationers lack work ethic and their fear of missing out on important work projects or promotion opportunities. Some employees, even with unlimited vacation days, end up living for work anyway. For many dedicated, modern business professionals who do take vacation days, it’s not entirely free time. With the now ubiquitous laptops, tablets, and smartphones, the door to work is still constantly in your pocket. This can mean being on-call 24/7, whether that’s after hours or on a day off.

Staycationers — especially common near year-end, as employees want to burn off useor-lose vacation days — might pop into the office “just to do a few things.” Some vacationers reasonably fear the mountain of e-mails they’ll have to address upon their return, so they run email triage while lounging on the beach. Others even bow out of family activities to do work remotely. A friend of mine wanting to buck this trend took his family to a resort in the remote Ozark hills. He described with glee how there was no TV, cell coverage, or internet service. His kids played in the creek, told stories, and caught lightning bugs when they weren’t cooking s’mores over the campfire. Another busy businessperson told me of their initial anxiety of lacking a phone charger on a recent family trip. Then it set in that, with the battery dead, there was no need to peek at the stupid thing every few seconds. They said it was kinda nice for a change. Now, this would be torture for those suffering from a degree of nomophobia (the fear of being out of cellular phone contact — a real psychological disorder). For others, disconnectedness is the new luxury. Reflecting on the disconnectedness trend for travelers, the June issue of Travel and Leisure magazine included an article titled “The Digital Detox 2.0,” saying that, “with screen addiction on the rise, hotels are rolling out packages to help guests disconnect from their devices.” Just like not getting enough sleep at night, neglecting to take healthy amounts of time off from work increases one’s risk of fatigue, melancholy, and premature burnout. In fact, an investment in some occasional R&R should return a more productive businessperson. Some come back from vacation refreshed and inspired with a new outlook on work and life in general. Some even come back excited to implement some new light-bulb idea. Such muses can come from majestic Teton vistas, beach combing in Fort Myers, chatting with an engaging stranger while waiting in the ticket line for a New York show, or observing the creative customer interactions of hustling street vendors in Milan. So, contrary to popular belief, the office can indeed survive without your presence (physical or otherwise) for a few days from time to time. Any office that can’t has systemic problems that need sorted out — that is, after you get back from vacation. CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 53

MIND THE GAP How Columbia Public Schools is providing every student, no matter the school they attend, similar educational opportunities. BY JOD I E JAC KS O N J R .

Eighteen months ago, Columbia saw the possibility of two large companies building distribution centers or factories in the area: American Outdoor Brands and Aurora Organic Dairy. If the plans for these facilities were realized, hundreds of new, good-paying jobs would be available. City, county, and business leaders debated the pros and cons of using tax incentives to sweeten and seal the deal enticing these companies to set up shop here. Columbia Public Schools superintendent Dr. Peter Stiepleman stepped into the policy discussions to support the tax incentive measures. Stieplemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s affirmative stance on the measures was unusual for a public school superintendent. After all, CPS receives roughly 80 cents out of every dollar of property tax revenue, so Columbiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public schools would lose out on some potential money if the Boone County Commission granted the use of Chapter 100 bonds and tax abatement for Aurora Organic Dairy and American Outdoor Products. Months earlier, CPS joined the Columbia Public Library and other taxing entities to weigh in on tax abatements for a major expansion of Dana Light Axle Products, which would create more than 100 new jobs. Stiepleman, who attended the meeting, said the best way to fight poverty was to create new jobs. Jobs meant more earning power for families and more stability in the community. Those benefits, he said, deserved his advocacy in the role of superintendent. After all, the school district was not immune to the ubiquitous challenges of poverty, socioeconomic inequity, and related ills that keep city, county, and public health policymakers busy exploring data and trying to stem the tide of poverty. 54 AUGUST 2018

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 55

MEASURING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENRICHMENT Students come from varying socioeconomic backgrounds, and CPS has to have some way of measuring which schools have the most students who need extra assistance. One of the ways this is done is through analyzing the district’s free and reduced-price lunch percentages. There’s a disparate range of rates among the district’s elementary schools. Before speaking in favor of the tax incentives for Aurora Organic Dairy and American Outdoor Products, Stiepleman said he talked with former CPS superintendent Russ Thompson. “When I spoke at the podium, I spoke from the perspective of a leader who had seen free and reduced-price lunch percentages grow from 25 percent in 2000 to 44 percent last year,” Stiepleman said in an email statement that reflected on his comments from the Dana abatements process. There was very little Stiepleman could do in the short term to lower free and reduced-price lunch numbers. “Certainly, the long game is an excellent education that allows children to grow up to be productive citizens,” he says. “But what about now? What can we do now?” In the case of American Outdoor Brands, the company planned to build a 1-million-square-foot facility just east of Battle High School and add 100-plus jobs that would pay at least $30,000. “What an exciting possibility for our families,” Stiepleman says. “Because what we know is this: When families make more money, they invest it in their children.”

BRIDGING THE INCOME AND EDUCATIONAL GAPS CPS Communications Director Michelle Baumstark said the trickle down of new jobs and more local economic activity — for instance, those employees shopping and spending locally — will help bridge income and educational gaps. “It’s really a story of two Columbias,” Baumstark says, echoing the “tale of two cities” illustration that City Manager Mike Matthes has used to describe Columbia’s income and racial disparities. Baumstark said one part of the city is “well-educated, employed through the university, and well-paid.” In another part of the city, there’s “the service industry and lower wages. We’ve lost that middle sector. There aren’t a lot of well-paying jobs in that middle area.” Dana Light Axle Products, Aurora Organic Dairy, and American Outdoor Brands all received Chapter 100 tax abatement incentives. Hundreds of new jobs that pay well will create new economic activity over the next few years. Meanwhile, as Columbia’s public school district continues to grow and burst at the seams, education will become an even larger factor in the equity and oppor56 AUGUST 2018

STUDENTS WITH FREE LUNCH PLANS VS. TOTAL STUDENT POPULATION WEST BOULEVARD ELEMENTARY

320 / 345

PARKADE ELEMENTARY

213 / 440

ALPHA HART LEWIS ELEMENTARY

426 / 459

BENTON ELEMENTARY

295 / 318

BLUE RIDGE ELEMENTARY

418 / 450

CEDAR RIDGE ELEMENTARY

78 / 208

DERBY RIDGE ELEMENTARY

437 / 471

BATTLE ELEMENTARY

400 / 431

DOUGLASS HIGH SCHOOL

196 / 211

tunity equation. Putting new schools in or near the areas with greatest economic need is one way the school district can help shape the community’s demographics, but there are limits to that approach because lower income families experience a high level of housing instability. Steve Hollis, human services manager for the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services, is wellversed in poverty issues and social determinants of health, housing, and education. He has touted the Equality of Opportunity Project, based on a socioeconomic mobility study lead by Harvard researcher Raj Chetty, as a jumping-off point. Chetty’s study showed that children of parents in the bottom 20 percent of income earners were more likely than children in the top 20 percent to remain where they are along that distribution. “Everybody, I think, understands that education is the key” to changing the poverty and economic mobility picture, Hollis says. He has advocated for requiring affordable housing around schools and for placing new schools in the most high-need areas of the community. Using free and reduced-price lunch counts as a proxy for poverty indicators and elementary schools as a proxy for place, Hollis has produced a draft report titled “Race and Place in Columbia and Boone County.” The draft report mirrors the Chetty’s report’s keys to tackling poverty and inequity, quality public schools among them. Hollis says the local report seeks to “build a set of standing indicators” — a baseline for measuring future results of policy changes. “We’re early in the process,” Hollis says. Hollis says CPS is especially progressive when it comes to taking on the achievement gap in which children from lower-income families without access to early childhood education often fall behind their peers when it comes to academic performance. Perhaps not surprisingly, there appear to be links between high free and reduced-price lunch rates and lower academic performance. Race correlates as well, as minorities are less likely to have early childhood education opportunities.

Hollis offers kudos to Stiepleman for shepherding tri-annual testing of students in order to “flag” those who are struggling. “I have to give Peter huge credit,” says Hollis. “He is doing an incredible job internally assessing this.”

FIGHTING MOBILITY ISSUES Stiepleman points out a different kind of mobility issue that is unique to schools. Even within the district, lower income students and families often don’t stay put in one attendance area for extended lengths of time. “We have schools with high mobility — where children move from one school to another during the school year — and we

“Mobility is the single greatest disruption to a child’s learning, and mobility is caused by insecurities such as housing, health care,

child care, nutrition, and income, to name a few.” have schools with low mobility, where children, for the most part, remain all year,” Stiepleman said. For instance, Blue Ridge Elementary has a high mobility rate whereas John Ridgeway Elementary has a mobility rate of three percent, “meaning nobody leaves,” says Stiepleman. When considering the city manager’s “tale of two cities” description, “mobility is the single greatest disruption to a child’s learning, and mobility is caused by insecurities such as housing, health care, child care, nutrition, and income, to name a few,” says Stiepleman. Blue Ridge Elementary is an especially compelling example. Of the 90 children in

fifth grade, only 19 have attended Blue Ridge Elementary since kindergarten. Among those 19, all but one student was proficient or advanced on the MAP test, which the state uses to measure academic progress. “Ninety-five percent were proficient or advanced,” Stiepleman says. “That taught me that the system our school district has works, and consistency is essential for our students.”

REDISTRICTING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AREAS Community demographics are among the factors that strongly influence the school district’s decisions when it comes to redistricting attendance areas for new buildings. That process is on the horizon again as the district plans to build a $34 million middle school in southwest Columbia in response to community growth and overcrowding at Gentry Middle School. Gentry has a student load of around 900, but the building was designed for a capacity of up to 650 students. “You cannot send the entire population of south Columbia to that middle school,” Baumstark says. An upcoming redraw of attendance area boundaries is on the horizon. Foreshadowing community angst to come, Baumstark said the new middle school boundaries will also affect high school attendance boundaries. “No one is ever 100 percent happy when you do attendance area changes,” Baumstark says. “It’s a very emotional topic.” Among the goals and priorities of the redistricting committee is “to make sure the attendance area is reflective of our community and . . . to try to balance demographics,” says Baumstark. With a school district that encompasses 300 square miles, that can be a tall order. “You could gerrymander and create what a lot of people might consider the ideal demographic attendance area,” she added. But the process also avoids creating “additional disparities and lack of access by moving students from one side of town to another. . . . It’s a difficult process, and I think the committee really tries its best to take all those things into consideration.” COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 57

58 AUGUST 2018

CPS TITLE I SCHOOLS 1. West Boulevard Elementary

2. Parkade

Elementary

3. Douglass High School

4. Benton Elementary 5. Derby Ridge Elementary

6. Blue Ridge

Elementary

7. Alpha Hart Lewis Elementary

8. Cedar Ridge Elementary

9. Battle Elementary

Public health officials are keenly familiar with the concept of the social determinants of health, which refer to housing, food insecurity, income, neighborhood environments, recreation and exercise opportunities, and other factors that can have positive or negative effects on health. Studies increasingly lend credence to the notion that a person’s zip code is as important as his or her genetic code. “We can’t control where people live,” Stiepleman says in a 2016 video, “but we can make sure that all of our students are supported so that they can achieve at high levels academically, socially, and emotionally.”

ADOPTING A NEW MINDSET Under Stiepleman’s administration, CPS has adopted an approach they call “AEO” — achievement, enrichment, and opportunity. That has helped guide where the district allocates resources. For instance, the district has increased funding for early childhood education and instituted a two-day pre-kindergarten screening to help staff identify children who have the greatest academic needs. “It’s about equity and inclusion,” Stiepleman says. “That is an important piece of our work to keep them in class and catch them up.” Some schools do have private, parent-led organizations such as a PTA, but those organizations are not operated or funded by the school. Stiepleman’s AEO plan is designed to advocate for equitable opportunities for all students. “The district has worked hard to create equity and equality, which are achieved a number of ways outside of just parent fundraising,” Baumstark says. “It’s about making sure every student has what he or she needs to be successful.” For example, every third grader attends a performance of the Missouri Symphony, and all fourth graders visit the state capitol. CPS also takes advantage of federal Title I funds, which are available for school buildings that show a need — based largely on free and reduced-price lunch rates — for additional resources, such as tutoring or specialized instruction in reading, language arts, and math. CPS follows a strict formula for Title I fund allocation. A school cannot be considered for the funds unless it has at least 35 percent of students on free or reduced-price lunch. CPS generally bumps that percentage threshold up to 50 percent. The district currently receives Title I funds for nine schools. Baumstark said schools also receive support either in the form of volunteers, donations, or fundraising through a number of district programs including Partners in Education, Foster Grandparents, Junior Achievement, A Way with Words And Numbers, Assistance League, the CPS Foundation, and others. “There are quite a few organizations that partner with us to help ensure all students are successful,” Baumstark says. “Columbia’s a great place to live. One of the reasons is we have a great school district. We have great community support.” CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 59

Building

Community Partners in Education enriches the lives of CPS students, teachers, and the community as a whole. BY MEGAN WHITEHEAD P HOTOG R A P H Y S U B M I TTE D BY S H E LTE R I N S U R A N C E

60 AUGUST 62 AUGUST 2018 2018

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 63 61

Education is all about a community: teachers, students, parents, and the organizations that support them. Through local and corporate businesses, government, and more, Columbia students’ learning is being ampliﬁed. For 34 years, Partners in Education has worked with Columbia Public Schools to enhance student and faculty experiences inside and out of the classroom.

How It Works

Partners in Education is a nationwide government organization created to foster relationships between school districts and the community at large. The Columbia chapter’s mission statement: “The Columbia Public School District’s Partners in Education program provides a vehicle through which our schools and our community can come together and, through a mutual sharing of resources, strengthen our schools’ programs and enhance our community’s economic growth.” Each PIE (CPS has more than 100) is paired with an elementary, middle, or high school (or a combination of schools) or a specific department, such as athletics, fine arts, health services, etc. Throughout the year, PIEs work with their schools by either coming into classrooms to provide lessons relevant to their organization and the class curriculum; providing funding for materials and trips; or lending assistance in whatever form a teacher may need (which is especially fun on reading days and field day).

62 AUGUST 2018 64

What They Do

The services provided by PIEs vary depending on school, need, and organization or business. For example, Central Bank of Boone County partners with Grant Elementary. “We do several things for the program with the kids,” says Pamela Knowles, assistant vice president of human resources and chair of the bank’s PIE program. “One is called ‘Bank Buddies.’ What we do is each year when school starts, the school sends us a list of children, about two or three kids per class that may need a little extra help. Mary Wilkerson, head of our marketing department, was a Bank Buddy years ago [Central Bank is a PIE charter member] and talks about her buddy, who is a grown woman now and still comes into the bank and visits with Mary.” In addition to their Bank Buddy program, volunteers from Central Bank visit Grant Elementary every other week to assist teachers in whatever capacity they’re needed, whether that’s helping with math or simply playing a game. Plus, Central Bank hosts an annual art

competition for the school, with winning pieces framed and displayed in the bank’s gallery. Landmark Bank, a charter PIE member and partner with Blue Ridge Elementary, also works closely with their school through many activities. “Over the past 25 years of my involvement, there’s been a lot of different activities, from mentoring to a Dollars and Cents program where we talked about savings,” says Facilities and Security Manager Keith Whitney. “Right now we’re heavily involved with junior achievement, so we had over a dozen bankers this past year go in and teach junior achievement. We also do small things like ice cream parties for graduation, their fishing day, and their Bradford Farms pumpkin decorating contest.” The City of Columbia is another major member of CPS’s PIE program. “All different departments partner with different schools,” says Barbara Buffaloe, sustainability manager with the City of Columbia. “The fire department partners with Derby Ridge Elementary,

The Columbia chapter’s mission statement:

The Columbia Public School District’s Partners in Education program provides the sustainability office partners with the science department in all the schools, and so on. So it’s a variety of interactions between the different departments.” The city creates various learning opportunities, such as fire safety demonstrations and invasive species presentations, to their schools. A rather large and exciting endeavor was their work with Derby Ridge and New Haven elementary schools on the COMO Energy Challenge. “We were competing against 49 other cities to reduce energy uses in homes and schools,” says Buffaloe. “We partnered with the schools on parent–teacher conference night and had an ‘energy e-fair’ [energy efficiency fair] where we gave out energy efficiency kits.” Trina Teacutter, nursing supervisor with the City of Columbia’s public health and human services department, is very passionate about their role with the schools. “We are partnered with CPS’s health services, so nursing staff and health secretaries. Our biggest project each year is coordinating with the school-based flu vaccination

a vehicle through which our schools and our community can come together and, through a mutual sharing of resources, strengthen our schools’ programs and enhance our community’s economic growth.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 65 63

“The schools are the foundation of the City of Columbia. By

program. We go into all the schools and work with the nursing staff and Lori Osborne, the health services coordinator, to set up and run those clinics. We’ve done that every year since 2009.” The other major part of the partnership is to serve as a resource for school nurses in case of emergency, outbreaks, or out-of-the-norm situations. West Middle School is partnered with charter PIE member Shelter Insurance, which is conveniently located right across the street. Shelter uses this proximity to their advantage, walking over a couple times a month to see what they can do for their partnered teachers and students. In addition, “We have a huge resource — people,” says Jay MacLellan, director of public relations at Shelter. “We have volunteers judge tournaments for them. We provide scholarships to two eighth graders every year. And we help with their courtyard gardens. Our super groundsperson takes some of our flowers from our gardens and plants them at West.”

Sherry Wyss, BSA specialist at Landmark Bank, echoes this sentiment. “It’s really been a rewarding experience. It’s been great working with the kids and getting involved with the school and seeing what an impact we can have on these kids’ lives and helping them to grow into roles and build relationships with the kids and teachers.” “It enriches their education, opens their possibilities about what they can do when they grow up, and it helps build a community,” adds Whitney. He goes on to say one of the most exciting things for him is when former Blue Ridge students come to him, remembering him from their “Dollars and Cents” classes, and say they now teach those lessons to their kids. “We are in our 34th year with PIE, and we’ve had a lot of people go through this program,” says MacLellan. “Why do we do it? We’ re one of the larger employers in Columbia, and we feel it’s something we should do. We have the funding and the people. We have the ability to get involved, and that is such an exciting thing for all of us here, especially the many of us who live in this area and have kids who go to school at West.” “It’s a completely mutually beneficial relationship,” says Teacutter. “We serve as a resource, but they’re also a resource for us. We all really enjoy working with the school nurses. We learn a lot from them, and hopefully they learn from us. It’s fun to work as a broader team for the community health.” Bottom line: the businesses and organizations involved with Partners in Education have the resources and abilities to really make an impact in the children of Columbia’s lives. They are building relationships that last and creating a stronger community connection. CBT

giving back through partnering, we get to invest in the

foundation that makes up our organization.” – Barbara Buffaloe

Why They Do It

“The schools are the foundation of the City of Columbia,” says Buffaloe. “By giving back through partnering, we get to invest in the foundation that makes up our organization.” “We say, as a bank, we are rooted in the community, and this is putting that into practice,” says Brenda Martin, marketing assistant at Central Bank of Boone County. “We are assisting in helping these kids build their future and teaching them about banking in the hopes that they might consider this as a future career.” 64 AUGUST 2018 66

Photo submitted by Columbia/Boone County Health and Human Services

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MizzouMade A year into its contract with branding firm 160over90, MU has embraced new ways of attracting students. BY KAC E N J. B AY L E SS P HOTO G R A P H Y BY A N TH O N Y J I N S O N

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 67

sprawling 250-foot banner drapes over the side of a downtown Dallas high-rise office building. It’s white, narrow, and fairly nondescript, but it drives home the point: “MIZZOU WORKS HERE.” The banner serves as an advertisement intended to entice out-of-state students to attend MU. It’s just one of many campaigns the university has implemented over the past year after hiring Philadelphia-based branding agency 160over90. The goal was to define MU’s brand and, in doing so, increase enrollment for the 2018 fall semester. Over the past few years, MU administration watched as its freshmen enrollment plummeted. The student population at MU peaked in 2015 with 35,488 total students and 6,211 freshmen. In one year, the freshmen enrollment number dropped to 4,799 and then to about 4,100 in 2017 — a total enrollment drop of about 12 percent.

68 AUGUST 2018

Facing the decrease in enrollment compounded by the bad press received during campus protests, MU decided it needed to improve its image. University officials finalized a $1.27 million, three-year contract with 160over90 last summer. “In a challenging marketplace where the potential student pool is in a decline, we want to work with an agency that has a strong expertise in higher education marketing strategy and tactics,” says Lisa Thurber, director of operations at MU’s department of strategic communications and marketing. “It’s the first time Mizzou has had a coordinated and strategic presence in the marketing place through a branding, marketing, and advertising approach.”

The Good News Turning to a branding agency like 160over90 may seem like an obvious move given the

negative publicity MU has received since 2015. However, with the ever-changing nature of higher education recruiting nationwide, the tactic of hiring outside marketing is not uncommon among universities. Over a year after signing on the dotted line, administrators say they’re now seeing results. According to news releases and announcements from MU officials, enrollment at the university is expected to increase by more than 14 percent this year from last. In May, MU announced that 4,547 incoming students have placed deposits to enroll at the university, a number higher than 2017’s final freshmen enrollment figure but still significantly lower than the 6,191 students who stepped foot on MU’s campus in 2015. The good news for MU began to roll in last winter when it was announced at a meeting of the UM System Board of Curators that freshmen applications to attend MU were up by

“160over90 is helping us define Mizzou’s brand and has done a lot of listening to internal and external university stakeholders over the last year.”

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 69

about 17 percent over that time last year. During that meeting, UM System President Mun Choi said MU had a lofty goal of enrolling 5,000 new students for the upcoming fall semester. Several factors have contributed to this projected increase, but with the hiring of 160over90 coupled with MU’s ongoing relationship with the public relations firm Edelman PR, MU has significantly increased its efforts to become a nationwide brand. Over the past year, MU staff visited more than 600 Missouri high schools and more than 450 college fairs across the nation and held events such as “Scholars Night” in St. Louis and Kansas City. MU’s inclusion on the Common Application, a service that allows college applicants to apply to multiple colleges using one application form, has also helped contribute to MU’s increased attraction to students. Eric Anctil, a professor of media and technology at the University of Portland and author of the book “Selling Higher Education: Marketing and Advertising America’s Colleges and Universities,” says that the introduction of the Common App has increased competition among schools by giving students more choices when they apply to college. He says this increase in competition could put pressure on university administrators to figure out ways to better market their product. On top of competing against other universities, Anctil says new advances in technology have created job opportunities for students who decide not to attend college. “I think colleges and universities are having to compete against the potential of students opting out of going to school and just immediately going into the workforce, which is a better workforce for some of them,” he says.

New Methods of Engagement “Universities across the country are beginning to experience difficulty in attracting new students,” MU spokesman Christian Basi says. Basi attributes these challenges faced by higher education institutions to three factors: fewer high school graduates, increased competition between universities, and the always evolving world of technology. According to the Washington Post, the number of high school graduates nationwide reached its peak in 2013 at almost 3.5 million and is projected to stagnate for most of the next 70 AUGUST 2018

decade. Due to these barriers, Basi said that universities like MU are investing significant resources into their recruiting efforts to identify and attract students to their campuses. “The way we communicate with prospective students and parents has changed drastically in the past five years because of technology,” he says. With the help of marketing and PR firms like 160over90 and Edelman, MU is doing more outreach on social media and internet channels than through traditional methods such as through the mail and over the phone. “President Choi, Chancellor Cartwright, our enrollment management team, and our strategic communications team have done an immense amount of work to correct the perception of Mizzou this past year,” he says. Anctil says the introduction of technology and social media can sometimes take the marketing control out of a university’s hands and give students more marketing power. “You’re kind of beholden somewhat to what your students are doing and saying about you online,” he says. According to the Columbia Missourian, 160over90 has implemented three marketing campaigns thus far, each specifically targeting certain areas and demographics. These campaigns, which have included billboards across the state, social media advertisements, and paid search results, have certainly helped MU get its brand out to potential students. However, marketing isn’t the only thing MU is doing to increase its student population. Approximately $8 million in additional funding is being allocated for grants, scholarships, and graduate student support. Last year, Chancellor Alexander Cartwright announced several new scholarships, including the Land Grant Compact, an ROTC scholarship, and the Black and Gold Scholarship. Last February, curators approved a 3.5 percent decrease in the costs of room and board for fiscal year 2019 compared to the 2017 school year. With these efforts to increase enrollment, MU officials expect the university to fill all residence halls left vacant this past year. “160over90 is helping us define Mizzou’s brand and has done a lot of listening to internal and external university stakeholders over the last year,” Basi says. “They’re working hard to find the right words and means to communicate that brand to the nation.” CBT

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 71

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OPTING OUT

OF TRADITION Students choose alternative paths for higher education. BY EL I M A R C HBA N KS | P H OTO G R A P H Y BY A N TH O N Y J I N S O N

UNTIL RECENTLY, it was assumed that high school seniors would attend college after they graduated. Now, more students are opting out of that traditional route. A study from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showed a decline in college enrollment every fall from 2011 to 2016. As of fall 2016, there were 1.5 million fewer students enrolling in colleges and universities then in 2010. The answer to why this is happening is just as obvious as you think: cost. According to the Department of Education, the annual cost of college tuition from 1980 to 2014 grew by nearly 260 percent. Tuition and housing for a four-year college or university would have cost $9,438 in 1980, but it cost almost $24,000 in 2015. As the cost of higher education increases and becomes more burdensome, students are choosing to take advantage of more affordable ways of attaining education and training beyond high school. 74 AUGUST 2018

We have to do our best to anticipate what is needed because we’re actually preparing students for jobs which may not even exist yet. Jeﬀ Lashley

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 75

AFFORDABLE OPTIONS

Photo submitted by Jessica Saylor

One of the missions of the institute is to help people who can’t aﬀord college, even community college, and get them aﬀordable training that will land them immediately into high-paying jobs where they can lift themselves above the poverty line. Jessica Saylor 76 AUGUST 2018

Students interested in pursuing medical training can look into the Bell-Brown Medical Institute, a newer addition to the education hub at the Parkade Center. Originally based in St. Louis because of the many medical facilities there, Bell-Brown decided to open a satellite campus in Columbia. “Research showed us an opportunity in Columbia where there are many more jobs in the medical field than there are qualified people to fill them,” explains Jessica Saylor, chief academic advisor at Bell-Brown. The institute offers certifications for many types of medical technicians and medical administration staff for a price that is noticeably lower than any college or university. “One of the missions of the institute is to help people who can’t afford college, even community college, and get them affordable training that will land them immediately into high-paying jobs where they can lift themselves above the poverty line,” says Saylor. Bell-Brown goes beyond lower tuition prices, however. “We furnish scrubs, shoes, and a stethoscope. If possible, we even try to help them figure out their transportation to and from here, if that’s a concern for them,” says Saylor. The Parkade Center also recently added the Theological Education Initiative, or TEI. Led by Dr. Rod Casey, who serves as the director, TEI aims to help local pastors and church leaders access theological educational resources at little to no cost. TEI’s resources include Biblical commentaries, peer-reviewed periodicals, classes, workshops, and access to A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary in Redding, California. “We do offer a lot of the resources that seminaries also offer, just without the hefty cost that accreditation demands,” says Casey. “The nearest seminary is 100 miles away.” In an effort to keep local church leaders here in Mid-Missouri, TEI decided to make a seminary education available in Columbia. They have video conferencing equipment that lets students virtually sit in classes and speak directly with professors. They also help students with the financial costs by covering the cost for one out of every three credit hours. While enrollment in almost all colleges and universities is down, enrollment in trade schools has ticked up. The Department of Education reports that there were roughly 9.6 million students attending trade schools in 1999. An estimated 16 million were enrolled 2014.

A NEW HYBRID OPTION Earning a bachelor’s degree with a more affordable price tag is possible thanks to a new partnership program between MU and Moberly Area Community College called MizzouMACC. Dr. Jeﬀ Lashley, president of MACC, explains that the program allows students to attend both MU and MACC concurrently, eventually earning both an associate degree from MACC and a bachelor’s degree from MU. “Any community college in a town with a four-year college or university is probably doing something like this, whether or not it’s in a defined program like MizzouMACC,” says Lashley. Many of the courses from MACC’s associate degree program can double as general education requirements at MU, but students pay MACC’s class rates. MACC classes are also eligible to be covered with A+ Scholarship money from the Missouri Department of Education. In addition to MizzouMACC, Lashley explains that MACC keeps adding programs to their associate degree offerings in anticipation of the changing workforce. “We have to do our best to anticipate what’s needed because we’re actually preparing students for jobs that may not even exist yet,” says Lashley. One program added a few years ago, mechatronics, came from listening to local business owners explain the skills that they needed in today’s changing work force. Mechatronics combines elements from the fields of electronics, computer science, and mechanical engineering. It’s a relevant degree for a world that is becoming increasingly automated. Because of the increasing popularity of affordable, alternative higher education options, students are able to avoid high levels of student debt when they graduate, which sources calculate to be between $30,000 and $37,000 on average. It should no longer be assumed that high school seniors will head to college once they graduate. They could be heading to a community college, trade school, apprenticeship, or straight into the workforce. And because of Columbia’s dedication to making post-secondary education affordable, those students won’t have to leave Columbia to find what they’re looking for after high school — meaning our local talent stays local. CBT

We do oﬀer a lot of the resources that seminaries also oﬀer, just without the hefty cost that accreditation demands. Dr. Rod Casey

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 77

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IN FOCUS

SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE

A look into how out-of-school suspensions can lead to a criminal record. BY DAVID MORRISON

IN FOCUS

ducators are faced with tough choices when it comes to students who are acting out in school. On the one hand, they don’t want to come down too harshly on misbehaving students and throw a wrench into their educational experience. On the other hand, they want to keep the other students in mind, the ones whose days are being disrupted by the troublesome ones. Plus, if early intervention in these students’ actions proves inadequate, it could have the effect of leading to more severe behaviors down the line. “Therefore, we want a policy where we can remove kids from those spaces,” says S. David Mitchell, associate dean for academic affairs at MU. “The problem then becomes, if you remove those kids from those spaces, you are fundamentally creating a gap in their education, which could lead to future activities like dropping out and potential future criminality if they don’t have access to education. When do you intervene? At what point?”

ZERO-TOLERANCE POLICIES When Missouri passed the Safe Schools Act in 1996, it did so with the intention of laying a framework for the state’s schools to deal with issues of violence and drug use. Where the legislation falls short, Mitchell says, is in not giving school boards clear directions on what these punishment policies should look like. That’s where you get “zero-tolerance” policies for a wide range of offenses. Bring a weapon to school and you get suspended with possible referral to the juvenile justice system; talk to your teacher in a matter he or she deems threatening and you could get the same treatment. “If you take those kids and pull them out of school, they end up on the streets,” says Loretta Schouten, director of operations at the COMO YouthWorks. “That doesn’t do anything for them. It’s not teaching them how to stop reacting, how to cope. It doesn’t fix the problem at all.” And that sort of punishment carries with it the very real threat of adding to the school to prison pipeline. Students who get suspended are more likely to get suspended again. As the disciplinary proceedings pile up, the cumulative effect is more likely to lead to expulsion or enrollment in an alternative school. Children who drop out of school are far more likely to start building a criminal record if they don’t already have one stemming from the activities that got them suspended in the first place. It’s an issue that affects all corners of the country — and it affects students of color at a disproportionate level.

DIGGING INTO THE NUMBERS According to the latest data released by the Department of Education, reflecting 96,300 schools surveyed during the 2015-16 academic year, black students made up nearly 40 percent of students who were given at least one out-of-school suspension and 31 percent of those arrested or referred to police. They comprised only about 15 percent of the total student population. For Columbia Public Schools, nearly 20 percent of students are black, but they made up 51 percent of out-of-school suspensions.

80 AUGUST 2018

National vs. Local Student Numbers

40%

Percentage of black students who were given at least one out-of-school suspension in the 2015-16 school year nationally.

51%

Percentage of black students who were given at least one out-of-school suspension in the 2015-16 school year in Columbia.

5.6%

Percentage of CPS students who received at least one outof-school suspension during the 2013-14 school year.

5.8%

Percentage of Missouri students who received at least one outof-school suspension during the 2013-14 school year.

5.3%

Percentage of students in the nation who received at least one out-of-school suspension during the 2013-14 school year.

Ke e p i n g O u r St u d e n t s O u t o f P r i s o n In the frequency with which they handed out the most severe punishment, CPS has been comparable to the state and national numbers. During the 2013-14 school year — the most recent year state and national data is available from the Department of Education — 5.6 percent of CPS students received at least one out-of-school suspension, compared to 5.8 percent for the state of Missouri and 5.3 percent for the nation. “We can’t, unfortunately, disentangle larger societal contexts about race, class, and gender. Those are clearly prevalent,” Mitchell said. “At the front end, we need to get back to engaging in what folks have always talked about: teachable moments. How do you engage in dealing with students to teach them what appropriate behavior is without bringing down incredibly harsh and long-term consequential punishments that could have lifetime consequences?”

TAKING STEPS TO REDUCE THE TREND Columbia Public Schools is taking concrete steps to combat the school-to-prison pipeline. Carla London, the district’s chief equity officer, says all CPS teachers undergo equity training as well as lessons in “restorative practices” with nearly 20 certified trainers employed by the district. That method encourages working within the school community to address the roots and effects of problematic behavior and then come up with methods of restitution, rather than relying on suspensions and law enforcement referrals. For the past three years, CPS has teamed with the Boone County Juvenile Office to set up “teen courts” in two of its middle schools, with a third to come this school year. These courts allow students who have committed infractions to go in front of a jury of their peers, who then decide a punishment such as community service. London says 21 students have avoided referral to the juvenile office through this program. “We can look at other options and spend most of the time building the community with the belief that students don’t want to harm a community that they want to be a part of to begin with,” London says. “And, when harm does occur, we have a mechanism we can use to say ‘This is what happened, this is the impact, this is what we need to do to fix it.’ Not all of

“The labels we put on our kids, whatever label that is — those kids are going to live up to them.” – Loretta Schouten

the time will you see an automatic 180. A kid who was a little bit of a problem, they’re not just all of a sudden going to turn around and be an angel. However, that has happened. Sometimes it’s an intimidating enough process without being frightening.” Schouten says COMO YouthWorks also works with the juvenile court to provide alternative service for students just entering the system and counseling for ones who are already in it. COMO YouthWorks stresses expanding educational and employment opportunities for underserved students, Schouten says, as well as help mitigating emotional or substance abuse issues. “The labels we put on our kids, whatever label that is — those kids are going to live up to them,” Schouten says. “If we tell them they’re a bad kid, they’re going to think they’re a bad kid and live up to that brand all day long. If we tell them they’re a

great kid, they’re going to work hard to meet that expectation. They can’t pick the life they were born into. Our lower socioeconomic kids don’t have equal access. We’ve got to start opening up that world for them.” In her previous role as the CPS supervisor for student and family advocacy and director of student services, London regularly dealt with frustrated parents. From that feedback, and amid the occasional profanity-laced tirades directed at her, London picked up a valuable lesson: Lip service won’t get you anywhere. “Our families don’t want sympathy. They want empathy. They want to know that we’re there and listening and care,” London says. “How can we partner together because we both want the same thing for each child? Our teachers are really doing a good job of trying to show that they’re that partner. I feel like we’re moving in a good direction.” CBT

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 81

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BUSINESS • P EOPL E • VOIC ES • FY I

Economic Index LABOR

HOUSING

MAY 2018

UNITED STATES

Total single-family

Labor force: 161,765,000

home sales: 293

Employment: 156,009,000

Existing single-family home

Unemployment: 5,756,000 Rate: 3.6 percent MISSOURI Labor force: 3,076,794 Employment: 2,974,828 Unemployment: 101,966 Rate: 3.3 percent BOONE COUNTY

sales: 241 New construction singlefamily home sales: 52 Single-family homes average sold price: $214,640 Single-family homes median sold price: $189,900 Single-family homes active listings on market: 748

Labor force: 98,365

Single-family homes average

Employment: 96,107

days on market: 51

Unemployment: 2,258

Single-family homes pending

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listings on market: 261

COLUMBIA Labor force: 67,272

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1. Stop in & pick out your meals. 2. Dine in or take home. 3. Heat & enjoy fresh healthy meals!

UTILITIES

Employment: 65,673 Unemployment: 1,599 Rate: 2.4 percent

WATER June 2018: 49,345 June 2017: 48,903

CONSTRUCTION JUNE 2018 Residential building permits: 109 Value of residential building permits: $10,225,958 Commercial building permits: 6

Change #: 442 Change %: 0.904 Number of customers receiving service on June 1, 2018: 49,306

C HE F -DRIVE N ME AL S MADE FRE S H DA I LY NE VE R FROZE N LOW S ODIUM HIGH PROTE IN AL L E RGY-FRIE NDLY

ELECTRIC June 2018: 50,288

Value of commercial building

June 2017: 49,864

permits: $4,826,231

Change #: 424

Commercial additions/

Change %: 0.850

alterations: 23

Number of customers

Value of commercial additions/

receiving service on June 1,

alternations: $6,183,916

2018: 50,284 CBT

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1101 GRINDSTONE PKWY #106 MON-FRI: 7AM-8PM • SAT: 8AM-8PM SUN: 12-8PM COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 87

ADVERTISER INDEX 44 STONE........................................................................................................................ 20 ACCOUNTING PLUS..................................................................................................... 91 ANTHONY JINSON PHOTOGRAPHY......................................................................13 ATKINS, INC....................................................................................................................40 BMW OF COLUMBIA.................................................................................................... 18 CASEY BUCKMAN PHOTOGRAPHY..................................................................... 50 CENTRAL MISSOURI AUTO BODY.........................................................................78 CITY OF COLUMBIA WATER & LIGHT.....................................................................11 COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION.................................................. 44 COMMERCE BANK....................................................................................................... 39 COMPASS CHIROPRACTIC....................................................................................... 65 CONVERGE ONE........................................................................................................... 48 CRADLE TO CAREER ALLIANCE............................................................................52 DOWNTOWN APPLIANCE.........................................................................................78 EAT FIT GO.......................................................................................................................87 EDWARD JONES............................................................................................................78 ESI COMMUNICATIONS.............................................................................................. 36 EXPRESS EMPLOYMENT PROFESSIONALS...................................................... 66 FATHER TOLTON CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL.................................................... 26 FIRST MIDWEST BANK.............................................................................................. 42 FIRST STATE COMMUNITY BANK.......................................................................... 83 GFI DIGITAL....................................................................................................................... 3 GREAT CIRCLE...............................................................................................................52 HAWTHORN BANK...................................................................................................... 92 HEART OF MISSOURI UNITED WAY................................................................ 4 & 5 JENNING'S PREMIUM MEATS.................................................................................. 42 JOBFINDERS.................................................................................................................. 85 JOE MACHENS - VOLKSWAGEN..................................................................46 & 47

88 AUGUST 2018

LANDMARK BANK.......................................................................................................... 2 MEDIACOM....................................................................................................................... 14 MERCEDES OF COLUMBIA.......................................................................................... 7 MIDMOTIX........................................................................................................................ 83 MIDWAY GOLF & GAMES.......................................................................................... 26 MIDWEST COMPUTECH.............................................................................................. 16 NATHAN JONES LAW................................................................................................. 84 NAUGHT NAUGHT INSURANCE AGENCY.......................................................... 83 PERSONAL TOUCH CLEANING SERVICE........................................................... 85 PWARCHITECTS, INC.................................................................................................. 34 REALTY EXECUTIVES - HEATH HIGGINS..............................................................9 RESTORATION EYECARE......................................................................................... 34 SEPTAGON CONSTRUCTION.................................................................................... 16 SILVERBALL.......................................................................................................................8 SOCKET.............................................................................................................................22 SOLSTICE SENIOR LIVING........................................................................................ 86 STANGE LAW FIRM...................................................................................................... 88 STONEY CREEK INN.................................................................................................... 66 SUN SOLAR..................................................................................................................... 20 SUPERIOR GARDEN CENTER/ROST LANDSCAPE........................................ 44 THE BROADWAY HOTEL........................................................................................... 39 THE THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION INITIATIVE......................................................6 THE TRUST COMPANY................................................................................................ 10 TROPHY PROPERTIES & AUCTION.........................................................................12 TRUE PROPERTIES, LLC............................................................................................ 48 UNIVERSITY CLUB........................................................................................................72 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI HEALTH CARE.........................................................15

B U SINESS • P EOP L E • VOIC ES • FY I

BY T H E N U M BER S

$11,252

$21,190

$27,090

MU tuition for in-state students for the 2018-19 academic year.

Average tuition and fees in Missouri at a public four-year institution for out-of-state students.

MU tuition for out-of-state students for the 2018-19 academic year.

Source: MU admissions

Source: College Board, 2017-18

153

17,746

1,493

Partners in Education for Columbia Public Schools

Number of K-12 public school students in Columbia during the 2017-18 school year.

The number of Columbia fourth graders in the 2017-18 school year. Fourth grade was the largest grade for CPS.

Source: cpsk12.org

Source: cpsk12.org COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 89

BU SI N ESS • P EOPL E • VOIC ES • FY I

T H I S OR T H AT

GWENDOLYN ROCHE Principal, Father Tolton Catholic High School

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7. So I can spend on my grandchildren! 8. Definitely dog. 9. Business casual. 10. Reading and then writing about it. 90 AUGUST 2018

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