august 2015
a fresh idea
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin
ready, set, launch Page 48
from fresh ideas Page 44
top lessons from the CBT 's Masters Series Page 37
P.Y.S.K.
lindsey boudinot Page 31
Loftin's
View from the top Page 52
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Communication is Critical in Estate Planning BY TREY CUNNINGHAM
M
oney used to be a taboo topic—one past generations would never consider discussing with their children or grandchildren. Today, however, many not only want to discuss this, but also are working with their wealth advisors to include a communication strategy within their estate plan. Why the big change? Factors such as new wealth, complicated investing vehicles and legacy desires are a few. Additionally, many have witnessed through others the challenges that come with unexplained inheritance parameters and instructions. Forming a communication plan to help relay the strategy to the beneficiaries before death can eliminate confusion, frustration and hurt feelings. And as people plan for a monumental wealth transfer over the next four decades, an estimated $30 trillion in financial and nonfinancial assets in North America alone, communication needs to be considered a critical component in the wealth transfer strategy. WITH MONEY COMES RESPONSIBILITY
Educating beneficiaries on the responsibilities that come with inheriting wealth is important, particularly to those who have created their wealth. As these
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individuals formulate strategies to bequeath assets they have personally earned, they often have a desire to structure a plan that provides financial security for not only their immediate heirs, but for future generations as well. START THE CONVERSATION EARLY
Children need to be old enough to understand the information, but initial talks for areas like philanthropy can begin as early as grade school. For example, families who have assets earmarked for charity every year can involve children in selecting recipients by discussing causes that are important to them. As children enter the high school years, financial advisors can help introduce fundamentals like budgeting and personal cash flow management. Then during the early to mid-twenties or later, depending on other factors, conversations about specific structure can occur. SHARE THE STRATEGY
It’s common for the inheriting generation to have questions when discussing the strategy. This is often seen when trusts come up, as inheritors may misunderstand the intent. In this situation, the wealth advisor can be a neutral party who explains that securing assets until a certain age is a strategic step. Whether it’s done to ensure measured wealth disbursement or to enable the inheritor to mature before accessing funds, these decisions are made from a comprehensive planning standpoint. Intergenerational wealth transfer is an extremely complicated process, from both an execution and emotional standpoint. Working with professionals who proactively advise and assist in both the strategy as well as the communication amongst generations can be the difference between leaving a gift and establishing a legacy. Trey Cunningham is community bank president for UMB Bank in Central Missouri. He can be reached at james.cunningham@umb.com.
Currently, wealth advisors generally initiate the conversation with the older generation about how to share their estate planning details. This is one of the most significant services wealth planners provide, because they assist in explaining the estate plan structure, and many times will also facilitate the conversation about the strategy.
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From the Editor
Editorial Erica Pefferman, Publisher Erica@BusinessTimesCompany.com Sarah Redohl, Editor SarahR@BusinessTimesCompany.com Katrina Tauchen, Copy Editor Katrina@BusinessTimesCompany.com
Power Struggles ›› Education is power. Knowledge is power. Information is power. To me, these three oftused statements mean the same thing: The more you know, the more power you have. In the case of Launch Code, featured on page 48, education is power. Based in St. Louis, the nonprofit that connects companies in need of employees with computer science skills with potential employees is considering expanding its operations to Columbia. Although 40 percent of Launch Code’s job candidates have a degree in CS, 40 percent have a degree in something else, and the other 20 percent don’t have a degree at all. For those who lack the training for these indemand careers, Launch Code provides that education. And the results of the program are outstanding. Ninety percent of Launch Code placements result in a full-time job offer, and the average starting salary is $50,000. In this case, education is the difference between caPhoto by Anthony Jinson reer stagnation and career success. For the review of our CBT Masters Series, featured on page 37, knowledge is power. For this series, we invited 18 local business owners to attend a series of six classes on topics that could help their businesses grow: social media, sales and customer relationship management, legal, financial, organizational health and human resources. After the course, our participants left with many new ideas and advice from local experts to help their businesses continue to grow and flourish. As a member of the press, we of course believe in the power of information as well. And we’re happy to be the first to announce a very exciting new partnership between two well-known local companies. I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so please head to page 44 to learn more. Of course, no education issue in Columbia would be complete without including the University of Missouri. For an update on exciting new projects, including MU’s leadership team, a focus on entrepreneurship, MU’s response to diversity issues on campus and more from the perspective of Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, head to page 52. As always, we would love to hear your feedback, good and bad, so please email me at sarahr@ businesstimescompany.com. I hope you enjoy the issue!
Best,
Sarah Redohl, Editor
The University of Missouri is a hub for education in Columbia, and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin is doing his best to keep tabs on the campus feel and encourage diversity and innovative thinking while staying at the forefront of university culture. Head to page 52 for the in-depth Q&A. Photo by Anthony Jinson.
AUGUST 2015
A FRESH IDEA
Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin
READY, SET, LAUNCH PAGE 48
FROM FRESH IDEAS PAGE 44
TOP LESSONS FROM THE CBT 'S MASTERS SERIES PAGE 37
P.Y.S.K.
LINDSEY BOUDINOT PAGE 31
LOFTIN'S
VIEW FROM THE TOP PAGE 52
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columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 15
16 \\\ AUGUST 2015
about the last times What's happening online
TOP TOP
Tron Jordheim @tron jordheim OF THE TOWN @StorageMart Marketing guy (me) - What makes top salesOF people tick? In the @ColumbiaBiz Marie Newell @marie_newell So excited my quotes made it into this month's @ColumbiaBiz article! Sarah Hill @SarahMidMO "OMG this is crazy." #VRVirgins @ColumbiaBiz experiencing @jauntvr cliff experience.
Around the office
Thank you to everyone who made it out to our big
Top of the Town soiree July 22. Although it rained THE TOWN on our parade (literally) July 1, we were still able to celebrate our 70 top B2B products and services winners in style!
TOP OF THE
TOWN
Behind the scenes For our very special cover shoot with Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, featured on page 52, we pulled out all the stops (and backdrops) and just painted tiger stripes on the wall. #MizzouPride
On set with Loftin
Coyote Hill @coyotehillkids Congrats to @JoeMachens for being named @ColumbiaBiz Top Business with a Commitment to Philanthropy. You do BIG things for kids in need! Purple and Gold News @PandGNews The P&G was mentioned on page 17 of the July issue of @ColumbiaBiz! Commerce Bank @CommerceBank Congrats to: Robby Miller, Jennifer Bradley, & David Whelan. @ColumbiaBiz Movers and Shakers. Write to CBT editor Sarah Redohl at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com
Corrections Little Dixie Construction, featured in our July Top of the Town article, has one office located in Columbia at 3316 Lemone Industrial Blvd. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 17
Discover the BLUE in YOU
A
s a student at Lincoln University, I was deeply inspired by the sacrifices of the soldiers who founded this extraordinary institution. Through the years, the commitment remains the same—to provide quality education to help individuals prepare for a successful future. I realized then, I too, wanted to ‘give back’ for all I had received. I became a committed educator!
Rhonda Allen
4th Grade Teacher, Thorpe Gordon Elementary B.S. Elementary Education M.A. Guidance and Counseling
18 \\\ AUGUST 2015
www.LincolnU.edu
August 2015
Vol. 22, Issue 2 columbiabusinesstimes.com
44
Fresher than Fresh
Fresh Ideas Food Management forms an innovative partnership with Bleu Restaurant, bringing Columbians a full-service, fresh take on catering.
37 Masters Series
In 2015, the CBT held its first Masters Series class, sponsored by Columbia College, for small-business owners and leaders to sharpen key business skills.
48 Ready, Set, Launch
Launch Code helps aspiring developers, many from nontraditional backgrounds, break into the opportunity-rich field of technology.
Departments 15 From the Editor 17 Letters to the Editor 21 Movers and Shakers 22 Briefly in the News 25 A Closer Look 26 Business Update 31 P.Y.S.K. 35 Opinion 60 Nonprofit Spotlight 62 Celebrations 65 Did You Know? 69 Marketing 71 Technology 73 Organizational Health 75 Sales 76 Economic Index 77 Deeds of Trust 78 Business Licenses 79 By the Numbers 80 5 Questions 82 Flashback
52 More than Tigers, Bowties and Twitter University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin talks college culture, diversity and the story behind the infamous bowties.
56 Frozen
CPS has performed budget backflips since the recession — at the expense of teacher salaries — and the teachers’ union and school board aren’t warming up to each other yet.
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Movers and Shakers
›› Professionals grow, serve and achieve
cowgill
hill
neate
sanders
adamovicz
staveleyo'carroll
Begley
dial
Dodson
›› Jason Nickerson
›› Sidney Neate
›› Kevin Staveley-O’Carroll
MidwayUSA promoted Nickerson to product line manager of hunting, archery and camping. In 2004 Nickerson started his business career. He earned his Bachelor of Science in business management and marketing from Northwest Missouri State University and has been working as a technical specialist at MidwayUSA since 2006. As the new product line manager, Nickerson will overlook sales, management and products in relation to the categories of hunting, archery and camping.
Cornerstone National Insurance Co. has hired Neate as its national sales director. She will be responsible for expanding sales and branding efforts throughout the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States. Neate is a graduate of the University of Missouri and recently worked as relationship manager for Central Bank of Boone County.
Dr. Staveley-O’Carroll will be the new chair of the MU School of Medicine Dr. Hugh E. Stephenson Jr. Department of Surgery and director of MU’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center come Sept. 1. At Penn State University, he served 13 years as the chief of surgical oncology as well as the director of the program for liver, pancreas and foregut tumors. StaveleyO’Carroll attended the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine to earn his medical degree and later trained at Johns Hopkins University in surgery and surgical oncology.
›› Beth Cowgill Missouri Employers Mutual named Cowgill Employee of the Month for June in recognition of her professionalism and teamwork. Cowgill, who has been working at MEM since 2013, was nominated by a peer for her performance as a marketing communication specialist and was approved for the award by a team of senior leaders.
›› Sarah Hill Hill, chief storyteller of Veterans United Home Loans, will be leaving her position with the company in August to launch her own virtual reality storytelling company. Hill will be travelling the world to share people’s stories through her startup, called StoryUp, which uses 360-degree images and sounds.
›› Cindy Carpenter Alternate Community Training announced Carpenter as the new director of financial operations. After graduating from the University of MissouriSt. Louis with a degree in business administration, Carpenter served in a variety of positions, including vice president of operations at The Brightman Co. As part of her new role at ACT, Carpenter will be in charge of accounting systems, budget preparation and financial reports for the nonprofit.
›› Kenneth Sanders II Advertising and marketing agency Visionworks Marketing Group announced the addition of Sanders to its staff. Sanders is currently a senior at MU studying marketing. In his new position, he will work with McDonald’s restaurants in mid-Missouri by assisting with community outreach efforts.
›› Jeffrey Adamovicz The MU College of Veterinary Medicine announced that retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Adamovicz will be director of the Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research. He earned his doctorate in microbiology from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and previously worked as a scientific director and chief scientist in vaccine and therapeutics programs focused on diseases such as anthrax, plague and glanders.
›› Welcome Home Inc. The temporary shelter company for veterans in Columbia announced five promotions in June. Lt. Gen. Richard C. Harding, Dale K. Fitch and Mary Paulsell were named as new board members for the transitional living facility. John Osborn, LCSW, who has been a staff member at the shelter since 2012, was promoted to director of operations, and Maggie Giliberto, LMSW, a staff social worker, was promoted to the position of shelter coordinator.
›› Central Bank of Boone County Central Bank of Boone County announced 21 promotions for the month of May. Codi Trabue of the Columbia Mall Bank and Doug Schaefer of the West Broadway Bank were promoted to assistant manager positions. Dani Bothe, Melissa Jansen and Hope Scott were promoted to representative II positions in the bank’s Customer Service Center, and Tim Hyatt and Shea Spence received recognition as senior customer service representatives. Bill Bobbett of Boonville Bank West and Michael Logan of the Columbia Mall Bank were both promoted to financial associate positions. Jared Woods and Hannah Vore of the Smiley Lane Bank and Kayla Martin, Jimmy Nickles, Tahliya Richardson and Brooke Morse received promotions to customer service representatives. Hannah Grimsley, who serves as a floater; Kayla Wilkerson and Karsen Trentham, both of the Hallsville Bank; and Brooke Canzoneri, of the West Broadway Bank, were promoted to teller II positions. Three new bank managers were also announced. Josh Begley, Justina Dial and Tanner Dodson will now take on the responsibilities of branch mangers, overseeing day-to-day operations of staff management and sales leadership. CBT
➜ Are you or your employees making waves in the Columbia business community? Send us your news to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 21
briefly in the news
›› A rundown of this month’s top headlines
increased efficiency Missouri REALTORS implemented service of a new online program, Inman Select, to help its real estate agents stay up to speed on market developments. Inman Select offers members breaking news, business intelligence and market reports prepared by Inman’s research team.
site for new school After nine months of searching and deliberating over potential properties in east Columbia, Columbia Public Schools chose a site for its newest elementary school. The board authorized the district to seek a purchase agreement for a 26-acre site off Columbia Gorge Parkway, next to the Vineyards subdivision. The site was one of three finalists and was chosen after considering criteria such as cost of development and accessibility. The district estimates it will cost $832,000 to acquire the land; development, including necessary infrastructure, will cost $1.7 million. Voterapproved bonds will fund the purchase and development of the property, and the school is expected to open in 2018.
Mid-MO Mobility Project The Missouri Department of Transportation approved funding for the Mid-MO Regional Planning Commission’s mobility project. The $200,000 grant will go toward funding the hire of a mobility manager and supporting the efforts of the Mid-Missouri Transportation Coordination Council. The project and position are designed to increase access to transportation in midMissouri and encourage the region to coordinate transportation efforts. That coordination includes partnering to bolster the services of other agencies, such as United Way’s 2-1-1 program. The mobility manager will work in coordination with Central Missouri Community Action, which will supervise the position.
name change Boone County National Bank has changed its name to Central Bank of Boone County, reflecting the growth of its parent company, Central Bancompany. The $1.4 billion bank has 16 locations in the region. To celebrate its name change, the bank hosted a series of light shows projected against the side of its building in downtown Columbia, with each show telling a story about the bank’s history. The bank also placed 15 “dream orbs” throughout the community and in bank locations. The orbs, resembling giant snow globes, each contained a prize, such as a laptop or grill. The prizes were awarded in a summer festival at the beginning of June, a week before the name change went into effect. 22 \\\ AUGUST 2015
orthopedic center expansion
new name, new exhibit
The art gallery formerly known as PS Gallery started the summer with a new look and name. Sager Braudis Gallery debuted at its summer exhibit reception, which showcased the gallery’s new art on display for the season. Over the past few years, the gallery has transitioned ownership from Jennifer Perlow and Chris Stevens to Joel Sager and Scott Braudis. A press release from the gallery said: “Although much of the character of the gallery remains the same, we felt the change in direction necessitated formal acknowledgement. The renaming of the gallery is a reflection of our continued evolution.” PS Gallery opened in 2006, in Columbia’s North Village Arts District. Co-owner Joel Sager is one of the artists on display in the summer exhibit.
University of Missouri Health Care began construction on a four-story, $40 million expansion to the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute. Already the largest orthopedic care center in the region, the expansion will take the building’s square footage from 114,000 to nearly 200,000. The first three floors will be dedicated to patient care, and the fourth floor will be dedicated to research. The project also includes accessibility improvements: the building’s main entrance will switch from the north side to the east side of the building, and a sidewalk will be installed from the building to the Virginia Avenue parking garage. Other renovations include dozens of patient rooms, five more operating rooms, an expanded restaurant and added coffee kiosk. Currently, the institute employs 400 staff, including 34 physicians. MU Health expects the expansion to be complete in 2017.
thhinc merges
Nearly $2.5 Million The MU Retirees Association raised $2.49 million for the university and presented a check to MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin at a retiree’s luncheon on campus. The MURA has more than 800 former staff and faculty as members, and 350 attended the luncheon. Loftin thanked the group for its contributions to the university through donations, R. Bowen Loftin volunteerism and attendance at school functions, calling the group “the most engaged group of retirees I’ve ever seen.” Two retirees were honored as faculty and staff retirees of the year: George Kennedy, who retired as managing editor of the Columbia Missourian in 2001, and Susan Turner, who retired from the School of Medicine Department of Child Health in 2001.
Columbia engineering consulting firm Trabue, Hansen and Hinshaw merged with McClure Engineering. The resulting company, THHinc McClure Engineering Co., now offers expanded water and wastewater engineering services in the Columbia area.
bonsai soft skills program Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders for Science, a program developed by BONSAI, Monsanto Co. and the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, graduated its first class of MU students. PTLS trains doctoral and postdoctoral CAFNR students to develop soft skills, interpersonal and leadership qualities that complement hard technical proficiency and make students more appealing to employers. The three groups are finalizing next year’s PTLS student class. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 23
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a closer look
›› A quick look at emerging companies
1. Ancestry Guns LLC
3. Oscar Jay’s Gourmet Pies
5. Pho Quan Viet Cuisine
Partners Scott Schilb and Daniel McCune offer high-quality antique firearms at Ancestry Guns, operating through AncestryGuns.com and within Schilb Antiquarian (100 N. Providence Road). The business offers authentic, battleused Civil War classics and 18th-century Revolutionary War-era guns, pistols with spring-loaded bayonets and famous brands such as Colt and Smith & Wesson. Having been successful in the rare book business at Schilb Antiquarian, Schilb saw a great opportunity when McCune approached him about the possibility of selling antique guns. “People travel the country to see such firearms in person,” Schilb says. “We now have them in downtown Columbia.” Contact: 573-397-6073
Oscar Wilcox grew up loving Southernstyle cooking; he has family with barbecue and catering businesses, and he baked alongside his mother and grandmother for years. So when he couldn’t find a place in Columbia that sold sweet potato pie, he was shocked. That shock sparked the creation of Oscar Jay’s Gourmet Pies, a business that offers pies, cobblers and dumplings made fresh. Wilcox sells his pies at the farmers market and takes orders through phone calls and the business’s Facebook page. “A lot of people in this area aren’t familiar with sweet potato pie,” Wilcox says. “But once they taste sweet potato pie, they love it.” Contact: Oscar Wilcox, 573-303-6014
Pho Quan Viet Cuisine (1301 Vandiver Drive, Suite J) offers a taste of another world. Serving traditional Vietnamese sandwiches (called banh mi), rice noodle soup (pho), beef broth, vermicelli noodles, fried rice, crab rangoons, spring and egg rolls and fried bananas, Hiep Quan operates the restaurant as his personal passion. He hopes the unique flavors will entice Columbia natives to try Vietnamese classics. “Columbia is a well-diversified town that’s open to many cultural tastes,” Quan says. “Customers should stop by because they could get a taste of Vietnam without having to travel abroad.” Contact: Hiep Quan, 573-356-8855
4. Yin Yang Night Club
2. Body Refinery Gym Operating a full-size gym with top-of-theline machine weights, dumbbells, cardio machines and two studios for classes, Cindy Zhao admits the days can get long. But the challenges of opening a new gym didn’t stop her and her husband from making sure all of the equipment is safe and updated. The gym also offers a kids’ play center, an organic smoothie bar and a tanning bed. Zhao and her husband pride themselves on a clean facility and excellent customer service at Body Refinery Gym (3400 Broadway Business Park Court, Suite 110). “Our members just need to be themselves,” Zhao says. Contact: Cindy Zhao, 573-228-9424
With bright lights, live performances, signature cocktails, dancing and drag shows, Yin Yang Night Club (128 E. Nifong Blvd.) is ready to entertain. When owner Jesse Graham decided to fill the hole created when SoCo Club closed in February 2015, he teamed up with Justin Bailey, Heather Davis and Jeff Davis, tweaking the club with their own personal brand. The biggest challenge was preparing the building, but he says since then everything has gone smoothly. “It’s a place everyone needs to check out,” Graham says. “There’s no demographic. It’s a really positive environment.” Contact: Jesse Graham, 573-303-5663
3 1
6. Dunkin’ Donuts Partners Anup Thakkar, Ramesh Patel and Prashant Patel have been Columbia natives for more than 15 years, so when it was announced a Dunkin’ Donuts would be built in Columbia, they jumped at the opportunity to run the business. Now open at 3100 Provident Road, Dunkin’ Donuts serves donuts, muffins, bagels, breakfast and bakery sandwiches, as well as hot and cold drinks such as coffee and iced tea. “We are excited to expand the brand's presence in Missouri and play an important role in the daily lives of people who live, work and visit here,” Thakkar says. Contact: Anup Thakkar, 573-514-7020 CBT
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6
2 ➜ Are you an entrepreneur? Are you sprouting a new business? Tell us about it at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 25
From left: Bridgid Kinney, Adam DubĂŠ and Sara Potterfield 26 \\\ AUGUST 2015
business update
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➜ 1801 N. Stadium Blvd., Columbia, MO 65202 • 573-777-9250
Forward Mission
Columbia Independent School plans for new athletic and arts building. By Alex Jacobi | Photos by anthony jinson With 321 students who are prekindergarten through 12th grade, Columbia Independent School is small but has big plans underway for a new athletics and arts facility. Adam Dubé, head of school for CIS, says the new building will help meet the needs of the existing students and show others that CIS has the resources to support athletics and the arts. “We have a number of students who are looking for athletic and arts opportunities, and as a school, we just haven’t had the facilities, the resources, to support that quite as much,” Dubé says. As of now, physical education classes are conducted in two small fitness rooms, and art performances are conducted in either one small classroom or the cafeteria. “We have some really creative and dedicated faculty who have done their best with those spaces,” Dubé says. “But it’s pretty challenging.” This new facility has been something CIS has wanted since it moved to its current location on North Stadium Boulevard in 2009. Later, two members on the board of trustees, Sara Potterfield and Lisa Morrissey, came up with a plan one night at Morrissey’s kitchen table. “[We] got mad and sat down at her kitchen table, and we sketched it out on a piece of paper, and we were like, ‘We can build this,’” Potterfield says. “Those original sketches are pretty darn close to what we ended up with.” Now the plan is set, but the funds must be in place before the building begins. Dubé says how much is needed hasn’t been calculated yet, but it’s more than $2 million. So far, the board of trustees has raised $1.3 million toward this goal in the past year. To raise the rest of the funds, Bridgid Kinney, director of advancement and business, will talk with foundations, parents, former families and others about the goal of the facility and how it will help the school.
Columbia Independent School serves 321 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.
“We’re continuing to look within our community as well as the wider community of Columbia and even further,” Dubé says. “What other organizations, foundations, individuals have a mission like we do? Would they be willing to get behind us and support us?”
The mission of CIS CIS began about 23 years ago, when a group of families in Columbia decided there should be a college preparatory school in the area that was independent and not necessarily religiously affiliated. The school opened several years later, in 1997, on the Stephens College campus and at that time only had sixth-graders. In time, more grades were added, and now CIS has prekindergartners, which they call junior kindergartners, through 12th-graders. The fact that CIS is independent means it is governed by a self-sustaining board, and those at CIS have more freedom to implement programs and changes to the school that a regular public school might not have. “No one can come to us and say, ‘You can’t do that,’” Dubé says. “If we wanted to, we could adopt it.”
Overall, CIS aims to guide students to pursue excellence through academic, physical and creative achievement while committing to integrity, trust and responsibility. “Everything that we do at our school is really focused with this idea of preparing students for success in college and success in life,” Dubé says.
What the CIS mission looks like First, the school has an academically rigorous program to prepare students for college. The results of this program can be seen in the students’ academic achievements. The average ACT score is around 28, the students’ test scores are in the 80th to 90th percentiles and AP test scores are well above state averages. To be a student at CIS, an application must be submitted with teacher recommendations, and depending on the age, different types of testing will occur. Dubé says high test scores aren’t the only sign that CIS is meeting its goal of achievement. Having a diversely aged student body also contributes to this. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 27
“We’ve got 4-year-old students and 18-yearold students, and they’re all in the same building,” Dubé says. “They interact during the course of the day, and sometimes those interactions are just serendipitous.” Dubé says he’s seen older students helping younger students tie their shoes, carry their tray in the lunchroom or getting a drink of water. He’s also seen older students tutoring and being mentors for younger students. “[This] gives them a greater sense of leadership,” Dubé says. “It develops empathy.” The environment is not only diverse, but it’s also small enough to be helpful to students, with a teacher-to-student ratio of about 1:6. “Kids don’t get slotted in a way that they might in a larger environment,” Dubé says. “When you’re in a really large environment, you have to try to find a way to pare it down to make it a little more manageable sometimes. … Because we have this environment that’s small enough to know and support individual kids’ interests, they have the opportunity to do more.” Even with the growth CIS could see in the years to come, there are still limits in place to keep the classroom size small. “We’re definitely not looking to grow limitlessly,” Dubé says. “That’s not part of our strategic vision as a school.”
The future of CIS Dubé, Kinney and Potterfield believe in the mission of CIS because they’ve seen it firsthand. 28 \\\ AUGUST 2015
Potterfield was introduced to CIS when she brought her daughter there for junior kindergarten to try out the school. “By the third day, I was absolutely sold on the size and the feel,” she says. “I get goose bumps on my legs just talking about it.
“Everything that we do at our school is really focused with this idea of preparing students for success in college and success in life.” — Adam Dubé, head of school, CIS “When they asked me to join the board the following year, I says yes,” she continues. “I mean, this place is amazing. I’m so passionate about the mission and the support that it gives the kids. My kids are so self-confident because of CIS.” Dubé says it’s people such as Potterfield who make his job better, those who are committed wholeheartedly to the school. “I think there’s an entrepreneurial spirit on the part of many of our trustees,” Dubé says.
“[Also], I’ve got the faculty who are passionate, dedicated, committed to the students and then the students, which is really why all of us get into education, because we believe in the possibility of kids.” Kinney, who is more of a businesswoman than a teacher, says her love for what the school was doing for her daughter compelled her to take a larger role. “I just loved the school so much and loved what it was doing for my daughter and loved the community that I really believed that this skillset that I have could push the mission forward,” Kinney says. “And so, I kind of just jumped right in. And it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.” As for what’s left to do in preparing for the new athletic and arts facility, Dubé, Kinney and Potterfield are hopeful about the future. “We feel really very fortunate to have the pledges that we already have in hand,” Dubé says. “That’s a lot of money in a pretty short period of time, and there have been some very, very generous donors who have stepped up to get us to this point.” “We’re in such a great place in this school,” Potterfield says. “This is Adam [Dubé]’s second year; he has brought this amazing family sense to the school,” Potterfield says. “We had it before, and now it’s even better. It’s such a great place, and raising the money is challenging, but it’s feasible.” CBT
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 29
Joe Choi, Owner Ben Choi, Owner
Jake Vehige, Owner
Meet Ben Choi, Joe Choi and Jake Vehige, owners of Seoul Taco. They recently obtained an SBA loan from The Bank of Missouri to open a second restaurant location in Columbia, where they serve their specialty Korean BBQ recipe. An SBA loan from The Bank of Missouri is one of the best financing options for small and growing businesses. An SBA loan can help you finance an entire business, equipment and fixtures, business real estate and much more.
30 \\\ AUGUST 2015
P.Y.S.K. Person You Should Know
Job description: I develop and maintain professional
Lindsey Boudinot
Director of graduate, online and certificate admissions at Stephens College Age:
30
working relationships with faculty, professional peers, department representatives and program directors; advance departmental enrollment goals through lead generation, marketing and strategy; partner with staff in other departments to develop recruitment plans for each program; supervise recruitment coordinators; serve as the primary point of contact and customer service representative to prospective students; and ensure prospective students enroll in the appropriate programs to meet their career objectives.
Years lived in Columbia/mid-Missouri: 26 Original hometown: Ashland, Missouri Education: Bachelor of Arts in psychology and sociology from Drury University and MBA from William Woods University
Community involvement: Columbia Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network, 2014-2015 co-chair of Business Leader Forum Committee; Chamber of Commerce EPIC, member of Education Committee; graduate of Leadership Columbia Class of 2014; Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals, member of Professional Development Committee; Jeff City Chamber YP Summit 2012 and 2014, volunteer and sponsor
Photo by Sarah Redohl
Professional background: I’ve spent seven years working
›› Accomplishment I'm most proud of: Presenting my own research at a national conference at the end of my undergraduate study. It was research I did to examine how women in advertisement aren’t portrayed much differently today than they were in the 1920s. I put a lot of hard work and many hours into completing the research, and to have it chosen to be presented at a national conference was a true honor.
in higher education admissions for nontraditional undergraduate and graduate students, including work at William Woods University and Columbia College before coming to Stephens College in January 2015.
What people should know about this profession: Stephens College’s graduate, online and certificate programs are growing. We have three strong, long-thriving programs: Master in Strategic Leadership, Master of Education in counseling and our Bachelor of Health Information Administration programs. We also recently launched the Master of Fine Arts in TV and screenwriting, set to begin this fall. In August of 2016, we will begin our Master of Physician Assistant Studies program. Our on-campus program will be combined with our association with University of Missouri Health Care, Boone Hospital Center and Capitol Regional Medical Center, which will allow us to deliver a well-rounded education with a breadth of choices for clinical rotations in a variety of settings to our new students. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 31
Why I'm passionate about my job: I have the opportunity to come in every day and know that what I do is helping to make a difference in someone’s life both professionally and personally. Education opens the door to many opportunities, and what we do at Stephens is provide these individuals with the catalyst to make their career aspirations become a reality. A Columbia businessperson I admire and why: The Columbia businessperson I most admire is Suzanne Rothwell, executive director of public relations at Columbia College. Suzanne embodies the type of leader and civic community member I hope to be. She leads with compassion and has the uncanny ability to help young leaders and newcomers to the Columbia business community know their true potential and help place them in the arenas where they need to be to launch their success.
A favorite recent project: I’m currently working on launching new marketing initiatives for the Stephens College graduate, online and certificate programs. This is a new challenge for me but has broadened my understanding of the marketing world and made me even more acutely aware of how all the intricacies of higher education from marketing to admissions to academics play a part in the overall success of our institution and students.
If I weren’t doing this for a living, I would: If I weren’t working in higher education, I would love to be working in fundraising for a nonprofit service organization such as the Food Bank, Central Missouri Humane Society or American Cancer Association.
What I do for fun: I travel, hang out with family and friends, hike/bike the Katy Trail with my family, attend movies and live productions and shop.
Family: Husband, Josh Boudinot; daughter, Layla Boudinot; dogs, Neptune and Kaydee; and cat, Milli Favorite place in Columbia: I love Stephens Lake Park (especially with my daughter), watching productions at Jesse Hall, eating at Murry’s, and I also really enjoying being on the Stephens campus so close to all of the excitement of downtown.
Most people don’t know that I: Have lived in two countries outside of the United States and have visited 14 countries, including Norway, Austria and the Czech Republic. CBT 32 \\\ AUGUST 2015
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 33
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Roundtable › Al Germond
Rewriting History There will apparently be little satisfaction for some of us about the fate of Boone County’s Confederate Rock because it’s almost certain the peripatetic multiton stone will roll off the Courthouse lawn one of these days if it has not already been moved by the time you are reading this. Beware, and husband your hisAl Germond is the tory and all that you treasure about host of the Columbia it because battalions of historical Business Times Sunday revisionists are slogging across the Morning Roundtable land, set on altering and in some at 8:15 a.m. Sundays cases obliterating whole realms of on KFRU. He can be our historical past. Viewed in extrereached at mis, it’s as if the 1861 to 1865 “War al@columbia business Between the States” or whatever times.com. it’s fashionably called these days simply didn’t occur. It’s somewhat like pretending there was no Holocaust during World War II or that our astronauts never landed on the moon.
Beware, and husband your history and all that you treasure about it because battalions of historical revisionists are slogging across the land, set on altering and in some cases obliterating whole realms of our historical past. What comes next after outlawing flags, songs or more tangible Civil War honoraria including monuments and “rebel” burial grounds? What about an untold number of battlefields, museums and other historical entities? What will be the fate of the state-maintained Confederate burial ground at Lexington or thousands of individually maintained gravesites across the land? Who would be surprised if certain books and documents relating to the conflict are outlawed, removed from library shelves, maybe
Robert E. Lee Elementary School at 1107 Locust St. has been known as the Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School since 1990.
even fired up in a funereal pyre doused with accelerants whooped up during well-publicized book-burning ceremonies? Maybe then they’ll be selectively excising images of Gen. Robert E. Lee and other Southern partisans or scenes of battle while banishing the paintings of their kin wherever they may have hung unmolested for almost a century and a half. Next up if this trend continues will be the outcry and demands to rename the Robert E. Lee Elementary School at 1107 Locust St. Known as the Lee Expressive Arts Elementary School since 1990, the acronym L-E-E stands for “learn, explore and express.” One wonders what portion of the school’s 41 percent minority student body is offended by the fact that their school was named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. His name is firmly chiseled in stone — inconveniently for the vandals of historical revisionism — above the main entrance, but don’t be surprised if a mason is engaged at taxpayer expense by the Columbia Board of Education to obliterate Lee’s name from the building one of these days. If Lee’s name is blown to dust so readily, shouldn’t the balanced reaction to his nemeses, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, call for renaming the elementary school that honors him at Garth and Broadway? Maybe the best policy when it comes to attaching the names of people to buildings is simply not to do it ever again. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 35
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THE
CBT
MASTERS
SERIES
business
sense Sometimes, small-business owners and leaders can get so busy working in their businesses that they forget to work on their businesses. In 2015, the CBT held its first Masters Series class, sponsored by Columbia College, for small-business owners and leaders to sharpen key business skills. by Sarah Redohl
Meet this year's class Brad Eiken, Inside the Lines Laura Kitzi, Jazzercise Lydia Melton, G端nter Hans Glen Gromer, Inside the Lines Florence Hicks, A World of Discoveries Ella Wilhoit, Wehoit LLC Stacey Martin, Elly Henry Tami Heaton, Undeniable Anthony Stanton, BSA Jerome Rackers, Lifestyles Furniture Anne Moore, D&M Sound Rachel Holman, Les Bourgeois Vineyards Johnny Eaker, Clapboard Pictures Laura Roeder, Pure Barre Denise Nelson, Accounting Plus Polly Reynolds, The Trust Company
We will be accepting applications for our next Masters Series class shortly. Email Erica Pefferman at erica@businesstimescompany.com for more info.
Steve Tuchschmidt, Mid America Harley-Davidson columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 37
class results
financial
What was your favorite class?
Instructor: Virginia Wilson, Small Business Development Center
Legal Financial Team-building Social media Sales and relationship management
Top Tips from wilson (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being high)
22%
34%
Average fiscal health before the class: 6
11%
Average fiscal health after the class: 8
22% 11% To what degree did the course improve your business? “The course improved my business.” “Definitely” “Somewhat”
How often did you review your financial statements before the class? Once a month Once a quarter Once a year
8% 22% 56%
25% 67%
22%
On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very happy, how happy are you that you participated in the Masters Series class? Class average: 9.1 On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very happy, how likely are you to recommend this class to a peer? Class average: 9.7 On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very knowledgeable, how much did you know about these topics prior to the course? Class average: 6.9 On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being very knowledgeable, how much did you know about these topics after the course? Class average: 8.7 38 \\\ AUGUST 2015
“
“This class gave me a better understanding of cash flow.” — Glen Gromer, Inside the Lines
How often did you review your financial statements after the class? Once a month
Once a quarter
17%
83%
1. Don’t leave everything to your accountant. “You need to understand what your profit and loss statements and balance sheet are telling you,” Wilson says. “Use this information to better manage your business. 2. Understand your financial management cycle. Profit and loss statements and balance sheets document past performance. Financial rations and statements of cash flow are used to analyze past performance. Cash budget and pro forma statements are used to predict future performance. 3. Compare your key financials to industry standards, and use benchmarks. To do this yourself, there are a few paid resources, including Profit Cents by Sageworks and Risk Management Association (formerly Robert Morris Associates). Because so many benchmarking tools have a fee, businesses can call the SBDC, and we’ll work with them to get that information without a fee. 4. Use your financial statements to review trends in your business. To trend, you need at least three years of financials, Wilson says. “Just a number doesn’t tell the whole story, but when you look at trends, you get a better picture of what’s happening in the business,” she says. “For example, sales might be OK this year, but trending over a period of three or more years will tell you if sales are rising or going down. Are cost of goods going up, but you have not adjusted your pricing accordingly?” 5. Remember that financials (net profit) are a lagging indicator. Ask yourself what drives the numbers. This is where you make changes and improvement for an even better bottom line.
“
human resources
“After the class, we revised our human resources practices.” — Rachel Holman, Les Bourgeois Vineyards
Instructor: Kat Cunningham, Moresource Inc.
Discrimination in employment: Having a BFOQ (bona fide occupational qualification) is the only permissible reason for discriminating against someone in employment decisions. For example, you can require that only women model women’s swimsuits for your business if that is all you sell. Otherwise, discrimination of any kind due to race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability or pregnancy is illegal. Additionally, in some areas it is illegal to discriminate against someone because of their sexual orientation or gender.
Wage disputes and assignments: Employees can file wage and hour claims against an employer in Missouri for violations of the minimum wage and/or overtime calculations and payment. Wage disputes that result in a formal claim made to the Missouri Department of Labor can result in substantial fines and penalties against an employer. If an employee questions how their pay was calculated, carefully determine whether the amount in dispute is worth an audit of all amounts paid to all employees for the past two years. In some cases, it is better to simply pay the disputed amount than it is to gather and submit all of your payroll information for the past two years to the Missouri Department of Labor.
Unclaimed paychecks: If an employee does not cash a paycheck for an amount exceeding $50 for a period of five years, and you cannot locate them, the funds must be turned in to the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office. Go to bizfilings.com/toolkit/sbg/finance/ basic-accounting/unclaimed-property/missouri-unclaimedproperty-rules.aspx for more information.
Doing testing and background checks on employees: Be consistent in doing background checks or pre-employment testing. If using the information obtained against the employee in a hiring decision, make certain it is recent and relevant to the specific position he or she is being considered for.
Top Tips from Class Participants 1. Have all employees sign off on the employee handbook. That way, all expectations should be the same. 2. Keep reviews on file. It will be easier to provide references if you keep former employees’ reviews. 3. Outline expectations through clear job descriptions that everyone has access to read at any time.
Top Tips from cunningham 1. Be sure employees are aware of your expectations. 2. Employees want honest feedback.
Had a handbook before the class: Yes
No
42% 58%
20 percent of attendees are creating either an organizational chart and/or job descriptions following the course.
Had an onboarding process before the class: Yes
3. When interviewing candidates for a job, ask the exact same questions of each candidate.
No
42%
4. Hire slow, fire fast.
58% Had an HR person before the class: Yes
No
66 percent now have an onboarding process.
25% 75%
83 percent have a designated person to handle HR issues.
Average turnover (on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being high): 3 Turnover for personal reasons: 70 percent Turnover based on company experience: 30 percent columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 39
Social Media Marketing Instructor: Collin Bunch, Counselor, Small Business Development Center
On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being high, how would you rate your company’s current social media efforts? Class average: 7
“
“This class gave us a much better grip on social media. After the class, we invested in Twitter and gained 300 new followers.” — Laura Kitzi, Jazzercise
Top Tips from Class Participants
55 percent
1. Make a calendar, and pre-post as much as possible.
say their social media has improved after attending the class.
2. Find ways to engage your audience and have conversations.
SMART Objectives for Social Media Specific: e.g. Generate 30 likes of our Facebook page.
11%
Measureable: Only benchmark metrics that can be measured (analytics).
22%
45% 22%
How does this compare to before the course? Same Much better
Slightly better Better
The Perfect Facebook Post • Keep your copy short and your tone personal. • Limit text to 90 characters, and include your link in those first 90 characters. • Increase engagement by asking questions. • Include a URL, and shorten it with bit.ly. • Include an image that’s at least 300 by 300 pixels large. • Square images work best for ads. • Target your posts to that particular post’s desired audience. • Stay engaged by following along in the comments. 40 \\\ AUGUST 2015
Achievable: Make sure objectives are realistic. Relevant: Objectives should have a direct impact on your goals. Time-bound: All objectives should be set within a specific time period.
Top social media platforms
75%
25%
58%
17%
25%
8%
25%
8%
social media posts per week
A. Zero (25%) B. 1-2 (17%) C. 3-5 (33%) D. 6-9 (17%) E. 10+ (8%)
Average social media engagement (on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being high) before the class: 4 Average social media engagement after the class: 6.6
75 percent
have a social media plan.
3. See what others are doing in and out of your field to encourage growth and different thinking. 4. Evaluate what types of posts do well, and try to expand your use of those.
Top Tips from Bunch 1. Just start trying things. “Remember how you learned to ride a bike?” Bunch asks. “You tried it and probably fell on your face a few times, but now you barely have to think about it.” He suggests jumping online and starting to try things. 2. Don’t overthink it. “Some of the best brands and local heroes I know aren’t perfect, but they’re authentic; think Peggy Jean’s Pies,” he says. “Otherwise, marketing can end up sounding like a bunch of buzzwords.” 3. Don’t just look for customers. Connect with the entire ecosystem for your business.
Of the 75 percent who have a business Facebook page, the average number of “likes” is 2,756.
40 percent say their company’s organiza-
organizational health
tional health improved after the course.
Instructor: Piet Van Waarde, Woodcrest Chapel
the levels of leadership Level 1: Position (Rights): In this stage people follow because they have to. • Know your job description thoroughly. • Do your job with consistent excellence. • Accept responsibility. • Do more than expected (and then some).
Have an organizational chart and/or job descriptions:
1. Have an organizational chart to minimize confusion of roles.
33% 67%
Yes No
Level 3: Production (Results): In this stage people follow because of what you have done for the organization. • Develop a personal statement of purpose. • Be accountable for results. • Do things that give a high return (understand the 80/20 rule). • Become a change agent.
2. Interact with all levels of your organization, not just the top or those who directly answer to you. 3. A bad apple can spoil the bunch. 4. Delegate, delegate, delegate.
Have company vision and values: Level 2: Permission (Relationships): In this stage people follow because they want to. • Be positive/enthusiastic. • Learn to communicate genuine concern for people. • See through the eyes of others. • Include others in decision-making.
Top Tips from Class Participants
27%
Yes No
73%
5. Share the final 10 percent. Often, we only say 90 percent of what we need to say to someone we have a problem with to spare his or her feelings. Sometimes this can lead to confusion that may eventually cause more harm than if you had just been 100 percent honest in the first place. 6. Sometimes a good leader has to lose.
Time spent investing in working on your company’s culture: 17% 66%
17%
More than most Average Less than most
7. Eighty percent of what you love about people is fueled by the 20 percent you hate.
Top Tips from van waarde 1. Leadership can be learned. … It is not just a gift; it is a practice. 2. Every leader must be a follower first.
Level 4: Personal Development (Reproduction): In this stage people follow because of what you have done for them. • Prioritize developing people. • Become a model for others to follow. • Help those around you be successful (share the credit). • Expose your team to growth opportunities.
Have a company mission statement: 18% Yes No
82%
3. Know your contribution, recruit complementary teammates and create something synergistic. 4. Leading is often about giving people permission to do what they already want to do. 5. People buy into a leader before they buy into their vision (character counts). columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 41
Sales and relationship management Instructor: Myles Hinkel, Columbia College
“
“My favorite class was Sales and Client Relationship Management. This class caused me to reconsider a crucial decision I needed to make and helped me to understand the consequences my action could have had.” — Ella Wilhoite
Top Tips from Class Participants 1. Cold calls and cultivation are always important. The relationships you develop today may take some time to turn into customers. 2. Use the 80/20 rule.
How many networking events do you attend in a year?
half
of this year’s Masters Series class has a CRM system.
10% 10%
50%
slightly More than
half
10+
6-10 1-2
3-5 None
know what their average customer is worth over the course of one year.
Are you a small-business owner wanting to participate in the CBT 's next Masters Series class? You're in luck. We will be accepting applications for our next Masters Series class shortly. Email Erica Pefferman at erica@businesstimescompany.com for more info. 42 \\\ AUGUST 2015
1. Listen to your clients and prospects more than just to respond, but really listen. Clients and prospects can quickly tell if you are passionate about your business. 2. Communicate and interact with your clients and prospects when you aren’t asking for anything.
10%
20%
Top Tips from hinkel
3. When identifying prospects, don’t forget about those who are already clients. Their situation may have changed, so circle back. 4. Make the ask directly, and then be quiet and listen. Choose the location, participants, format and time based on what would make the client feel comfortable. 5. Always follow up on unanswered questions after your solicitation. 6. Provide quantitative follow-up with your clients. Show you are thankful for your clients’ business in a meaningful way.
legal Instructor: Matt Kitzi, Armstrong Teasdale
“
“The legal class was my favorite because the information was highly important and useful to all business owners with employees.” — Denise Nelson, Accounting Plus
What is considered proprietary information? Proprietary information can include anything from business plans, ideas, methods or strategies to logos, trademarks and customer lists. Art, photos, files, social media accounts, pricing lists and more can also be considered proprietary information.
Are your employees properly classified?
More than
half
immediately began to apply what they learned during the legal class.
Employers can classify workers as independent contractors or as employees, but the distinction according to law may be much more formal than business owners think. Although it might be beneficial to classify workers as independent contractors to avoid legal obligations, the IRS and other government agencies are scrutinizing misclassification more closely.
Exempt vs. nonexempt Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime pay (time and one-half) for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek. But the FLSA also provides exemptions from both minimum wage and overtime pay requirements for certain exempt employees. Very generally, the exemption applies to employees with certain job duties who also meet a minimum per-week salary (generally $455). The key test, other than the minimum salary, is whether the employee’s duties fit within the categories identified by the Department of Labor. For example, the “executive exemption” requires that the employee’s primary duty is managing the business and supervising, hiring, firing and promoting at least two others. There are also “professional,” “administrative” and other exempt classes with defined duties.
88 percent contact an attorney only sometimes.
HALF
use noncompetes and/or nondisclosure agreements. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 43
FRESHer than fresh
From left: John Orscheln, Matt Clervi, Dennis Owens and Travis Tucker 44 \\\ AUGUST 2015
After 15 years in business, Fresh Ideas Food Management is forming an innovative partnership with Bleu Restaurant, and with their new venture, Bleu Events, launching this month, Columbians will have access to a full-service, fresh take on catering. By Christi Kelly Kemper | Photo by Anthony Jinson
It’s a big year for Fresh Ideas Food Management. The company, which provides food service management for clients in education and commercial settings, is celebrating 15 years in business, steady growth and an innovative new venture with an acclaimed Columbia restaurant. Fresh Ideas is joining with Bleu Restaurant in Columbia to form Bleu Events, a Fresh Ideas company. Fresh Ideas owner and President Matt Clervi and Bleu owner and founder Travis Tucker say the new company will offer a totally unique approach to catering. The joint venture launches this month and will offer clients a fullservice caterer with a commissary approach, which means the food is prepared in a central kitchen and delivered out to event locations. Bleu Events will do everything from rentals to linens, floral, a food truck, event catering and a test kitchen designed to not only test concepts but also host parties. “This is a whole new world to bring to our clients, and it’s really exciting,” says Kris Lensmeyer, Fresh Ideas director of business development. Full-service catering includes everything from event coordination and conception to total event execution, basically “everything that needs to happen to make the event a success,” Tucker says. “There are no limitations on what we can do.” The company will do events ranging from a few boxed lunches to four-course plated meals for 1,000-plus: corporate events, weddings, retreats, family events. True to the Fresh Ideas name, Clervi says they’re also planning to incorporate locally grown and seasonal produce. Lee Farms in Truxton, Missouri, is in the process of planning and producing for the new venture and will provide tomatoes, potatoes, garlic blooms and zucchini squash, for example. “We want a tomato right off the vine, ready to eat immediately,” he says. “If they want a half-ripened, salsa-grade tomato, Bleu isn’t using that kind of produce and won’t be selling a lot of tomato dishes in December.”
The authentic cooking experience Since its inception in 2000, Fresh Ideas has provided food service management within the K-12, higher education and commercial markets. Based in Columbia, the company now operates across Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas with about 850 employees. Major accounts include Central Methodist University, Stephens College, Westminster College and William Woods University. The company also currently offers onsite catering for existing clients. But when it partners with Bleu, Fresh Ideas will be able to take its catering service to the next level. Clervi says they plan to start with Bleu staff and some existing Bleu clients while bringing in new ones in Columbia and eventually Kansas City and St. Louis. The central kitchen will not only serve as a production center but also a platform for innovation. And some of the food ideas on Clervi’s radar are truly creative — think edible balloons with edible sour apple skin or “dragon fire” from liquid nitrogen — many of which come from employees. A Columbia-based food truck will provide another innovation center, test marketing food concepts for up to six months before taking the ideas to clients. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 45
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“We want to create restaurant concepts,” Clervi says. “Our chefs are coming from restaurants, and this is what gets them excited: authentic cooking. We want to give them a playground to play in.” Food displays will be another playground for the new venture. The company plans to experiment with creative ideas, such as gallery displays where food is showcased in Velcro-secured wall containers rather than a traditional buffet. “It gets people excited,” Clervi says. “The sounds, the smells, we want people to go into an event and know Fresh Ideas did it.” Tucker, who has a background in the restaurant industry and worked at the University Club before opening Bleu, says events are an experience because you’re helping someone celebrate something: a milestone in life, a grand corporate event. “It’s all about creating experiences, and interaction is key,” he says, through the use of stations, creative food ideas and guest interaction. “It goes far beyond just eating; we all do that every day.” Clervi and Tucker have been talking about possibilities for a couple of years and finally decided the time was right to come together and pool their expertise. Although Bleu Events represents a big leap, company leadership expects Fresh Ideas’ core business to continue to grow at a steady, patient pace. Today the company serves just less than 30 clients, Clervi says. About 90 percent of those are in the higher education segment, 8 percent in K-12 education and the remaining 2 percent in business/ industry. They’ve seen 10 to 20 percent growth over the past 10 years. “That’s by design,” he says. “You can’t be everything to everyone. We like to stay in our lane.”
“We want to create restaurant concepts. Our chefs are coming from restaurants, and this is what gets them excited: authentic cooking. We want to give them a playground to play in.” — Matt Clervi, owner and president, Fresh Ideas
Solutions and service When Clervi met up with his friend and colleague John Orscheln over lunch back in 1996, Clervi had big ideas for a restaurant venture. Orscheln, then an admissions officer at Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri, with family ties to Orscheln Industries, heard him out but suggested a twist: a fresh take on food service management rather than a standalone restaurant. “We wanted to turn it upside down, not make it all about the money,” Clervi says. “We wanted to focus on building a great company.” The two started brainstorming names on a napkin, starting with Fresh Ideas. “We had another 40 ideas after that but kept coming back to it,” Clervi says. The name resonated because it represented what the pair wanted to be and do: They wanted to embody freshness in a number of ways, from 46 \\\ AUGUST 2015
At Maryville, Fresh Ideas serves as the campuswide food service provider, managing a large dining facility with multiple stations — including pizza, a grill, salad bar, Mongolian grill and deli station — as well as a Kaldi’s coffeehouse and a small weekend café. Fresh Ideas also provides all catering and special events on campus. The company also helped Maryville plan and implement a new meal plan program, and they rolled with the punches when circumstances changed midstream. “They didn’t complain or say, ‘We can’t do that,’ but rather said, ‘What’s best for the student is our main focus, and we’ll figure the details out later,’” he says. “They are always willing to find a solution and provide the best service possible.”
Employees first food preparation to menu planning to the company’s overall philosophy toward food service. That philosophy continues today. “Fresh Ideas is a quality level we have to live up to and maintain,” says Dennis Owens, co-owner and chief operating officer. “It can be thrown in our face as soon as we serve something frozen.” Customers say Fresh Ideas lives up to that standard. Steven Mandeville, vice president for finance and facilities at Maryville University in St. Louis, says Fresh Ideas goes above and beyond and treats Maryville like it's the company’s only client. “They have that small company feel but with the abilities of a large food service provider,” he says. “They continue to amaze me with their creativity, quality of food and ability to cater some of the nicer events on campus.”
The Fresh Ideas business model centers on four key factors: employee satisfaction, resource management, customer satisfaction and financial results. Although all four are critical for success, employees are first on the list for a reason. In an industry known for sky-high turnover, employee satisfaction is a complex undertaking. The turnover rate for employees in the restaurants-and-accommodations sector was more than 66 percent in 2014, which constituted a rise over the previous three years and a 10-point increase from 2010, according to the National Restaurant Association. Although restaurants have higher turnover than other segments of the food service industry due to higher numbers of student and part-time employees, the rates industrywide are considerably higher than the average 44 percent for all private sector industries.
Member SIPC
After the company picked up its first account in 2000 — Central Methodist University, which is still a client today — Clervi and Orscheln started talking in depth about employee satisfaction and the processes they wanted to put in place. “It’s about listening to them, paying competitively, offering bonus programs and giving them the tools to be successful,” Clervi says. “We study employee satisfaction as much as we study our financial statement.” When trying to attract, engage and retain good employees, it also helps to be a “hip and cool company” on top of the latest trends, he says. The company attracts food service veterans tired of the status quo and, on the business side, draws in professionals who value creativity and flexibility. Sometimes new clients “look at us a little odd” when Fresh Ideas leaders describe their employees-first philosophy, Owens says. “They think customer satisfaction ought to be first, but we depend on our employees to provide customer satisfaction,” he says. “We can’t be everywhere at one time, so we have to have a happy employee to be able to provide customer satisfaction.” Sarah Carnes, who handles social media and graphic design, says the company really does live up to its name. “At other places you’re constantly told no, but at Fresh Ideas we’re always being told, ‘Let’s try and see how it goes,’” she says. “The possibilities are endless.” Clervi says the emphasis on employee satisfaction is trendy now, but Fresh Ideas has been focused on it for 15 years. “It took a long time to build the culture,” he says, citing Enterprise Leasing’s employee-centered model as inspiration. So what does an employee focus look like? Lensmeyer, who joined the company about three years ago and comes from a food service background, says she noticed right away that every decision the leadership team makes goes through the “how will it impact employees” filter. Whether it’s a decision on payroll, bonuses, performance goals or safety guidelines, employee needs are “at the forefront at all times,” she says. Giving management the resources they need is another priority at Fresh Ideas, which Clervi says contributes to employees’ sense of well-being. With accounts and staff spread out over a multistate chunk of the Midwest, technology is one resource company leadership has come to rely on. “We build relationships through technology,” says Owens, who has 40 years of experience in the food service industry and clearly remembers when today’s technology wasn’t available. Today the company uses a Web-based system for sharing ideas, posting announcements and facilitating meetings. And when it comes down to it, company leaders are right there working alongside employees. “Our leadership teams work the events, work side by side with unit directors,” Clervi says. “Our competitors don’t do that.” But don’t think customer satisfaction is an afterthought; it’s the reason for the employee focus, and the company prides itself on working closely and strategically with every client. “We try to understand, listen, learn their goals for the students and the strategic plan for their institution and then be a part of the solution,” Lensmeyer says. CBT
Mark Richardson, CFP® Financial Advisor
Change doesn’t
always have to be hard.
Sometimes it’s smart. Your life is always changing and consequently, so are your needs and preferences. As your trusted partner and advisor, it’s my role to ensure that your portfolio is reflective of your current financial goals. Your personal needs and preferences are always at the center of our relationship.
Mark Richardson ,CFP® 2415 Carter Ln Suite #104 Columbia, MO 65201 573.442.1276 mark.richardson@edwardjones.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 47
Launch Code works with more than 300 employers nationwide
18% 40%
1 MILLION
42%
tech jobs will go unfilled nationwide by 2020 Source: U.S. Department of Labor
have a bachelor's degree in computer science have a bachelor's degree in something other than computer science have no bachelor's degree
90% of Launch Code placements result in full-time employment
The average starting salary of a Launch Code candidate who has been placed is $50,000
Missouri currently has
10,000 to 20,000 unfilled IT jobs Launch Code works with more than 100 employers in St. Louis
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Average 2012
80,000 74,280
50,000 40,000 39,940 20,000
By 2018, Missouri will have between 30,000 and 40,000 unfilled IT jobs
By 2018, Missouri will have between 70,000 and 80,000 unfilled stem jobs
72,560
60,000
0
28,580 21,410
Retail Sales Carpenter Worker Manufacturer
Network and
Launch Code Administrator Candidate
Computer Computer Programmer Systems
National average salary: $44,888 Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, National Average 2013
of Launch Code candidates are women 48 \\\ AUGUST 2015
Launch Code candidates are hired as contract or temporary workers for
During the Launch Code apprenticeships, candidates are paid
30 to 90 days
minimum
$15 per hour,
READY, set, Launch
A
Launch Code helps aspiring developers, many from nontraditional backgrounds, break into the opportunity-rich field of technology.
As a single mother, Kathy Heffern never imagined she could succeed as a computer programmer. She just knew she needed to jump back into the workforce and find a career that offered her more promise than her master’s degree in social work. With free and easy access to a wealth of resources, Heffern decided to teach herself, saving on child care and avoiding more student loan debt. The hardest part was making enough time to study while caring for her two young daughters. She found it by reading during naptime and taking programming books to the playground. Heffern grew more confident as she designed websites for friends. It was thrilling and rewarding work that fit well with her thought process and problem-solving skills. Still, despite her progress, full-time employment felt out of reach. “I knew I was close to taking a next step, but I didn’t know how to bridge the gap from working at home to being employed in the field,” Heffern says. It took a creative suggestion from her father, a longtime programmer at Boeing, to give her hope. He suggested she check out a nonprofit startup called Launch Code, which had been gaining momentum in St. Louis. Launch Code
By Brandon Hoops was known for pairing motivated and hardworking potential programmers with top-level employers such as Monsanto, MasterCard and Anheuser-Busch through apprenticeships and job placements. Launch Code connected Heffern to a 10-week training course and then a three-month apprenticeship, exactly the guidance and support she needed to secure a full-time job with Giant Hat, where she currently develops software for mobile apps. “I am in a place where I can take care of myself and my kids,” says the 32-year-old. “I didn’t really anticipate that. Launch Code has been really empowering.” For many people like Heffern, the tech field looms large and mystical. They like the idea of trying something new or advancing out of a low-wage job, and they’re even willing to put in the effort to obtain the necessary skills. Unfortunately, they can’t break in by themselves. Most aren’t recognized because they lack experience or come from a nontraditional background. Fortunately, Launch Code helps them imagine a daring new future, where even people in a city such as Columbia can find pathways into the opportunity-rich world of technology.
Enter Launch Code Launch Code, conceived by Square co-founder Jim McKelvey, believes it’s no longer reasonable to overlook individuals from nontraditional backgrounds, especially when an estimated 1 million programming jobs are projected to go unfilled by 2020. To bridge the gap, Launch Code is pioneering a personalized job-placement system aimed at connecting underemployed and unemployed candidates, including women and minorities, with threemonth paid apprenticeships in programming and other tech-related work environments. In 2014, 90 percent of Launch Code’s apprentices were retained as full-time employees, and the number of new programming jobs generated in St. Louis totaled 140. But the goal is not to remain a St. Louis phenomenon. Even before getting a shout-out from President Barack Obama at the National League of Cities Conference in March, Launch Code had been imagining ways to spread across the country. Expansion efforts started last fall in Miami and now include Kansas City and Columbia, the latest destinations where Launch Code intends to refine its blueprint and be an engine of change in the tech field. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 49
Brendan Lind, Launch Code president, made the trip to Jefferson City in January to discuss possibilities with a few representatives, including State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia. Then to get some momentum behind the endeavor and gauge interest, Kendrick invited key business leaders to Columbia College for an informational session on May 4. More than 70 companies were represented. This outpouring of support didn’t surprise Kari Eckelkamp, Launch Code’s company engagement manager. Eckelkamp spent close to five years working in advisory roles at the University of Missouri and made a personal push for Columbia to be a part of Launch Code’s expansion across the Interstate 70 corridor to Kansas City. “Our first priority is to make sure Missouri and mid-Missouri are on the map as a model,”
Eckelkamp says. “We want the Show-Me State to show the way.”
Columbia’s excitement Kendrick didn’t need the president’s endorsement, the successful numbers or the impressive stories to know he wanted to be a champion for Launch Code in Columbia. What convinced him to participate was a bit more personal. For three years, Kendrick worked as an employment adviser with Job Point, where he encountered the real struggles people face finding jobs or breaking into more advanced positions. Later, while holding listening sessions with area businesses during his campaign, Kendrick heard a lot about the need for new lifeblood in the IT and programming community in Columbia.
LaunchCode @Launch_Code Many thanks to @Kipk45, @ColumbiaColg and @adventur_esfor making our Monday visit to #ColumbiaMo such a success! 50 \\\ AUGUST 2015
“Launch Code would be a game changer for the tech scene in Columbia,” Kendrick says. “Business will win, and job seekers will win.” Businesses in Columbia share Kendrick’s enthusiasm. John Rooney, vice president of information services at Shelter Insurance, committed to partnering with Launch Code after the presentation he heard at Columbia College. Currently, Shelter, which could staff anywhere from five to nine open tech positions, has to engage in far-reaching and drawn-out searches to fill open positions. Launch Code, Rooney says, “brings the pipeline to us.” “Launch Code won’t fill all our positions or needs,” Rooney says, “but there are positions that lend themselves to this kind of arrangement, where someone with minimal experience can learn and move themselves up through the
Jeff Branscom @jeffreyowen8 Great crowd on hand for the @Launch_Code event at @ColumbiaColg #CoMo
Left: For those who are interested in a computer science career but lack experience, Launch Code offers free practical training. Photo courtesy of Launch Code.
organization. I’m excited to see if this Launch Code experiment will work for us.” Steve Powell, president of Delta Systems Group, welcomes any initiative to nurture and keep tech talent in the area. He alone could use two or three more developers and mentioned Carfax and MidwayUSA as examples of other companies with similar needs. “We can’t hire enough people that have the qualifications we need in town,” Powell says. “Launch Code will be good at growing and building exactly what we need in people so that they can hit the ground running. That’s the boost everyone needs.”
to Launch Code is a candidate’s potential. If someone has a modest set of programming skills, along with an eagerness to learn more and think rigorously, Launch Code moves forward. Those who lack programming fundamentals are redirected to Launch Code’s educational partners, local and online, for free training, and they can reapply when improvements are made. Launch Code is equally as attentive to researching and understanding each employer. Gaining a clear picture of a company’s work culture, mission, vision and employee demographics helps provide good fits for both sides while also protecting the integrity of the program against shotgun placements.
A new approach Kirk Bowman has proven it isn’t just large employers that benefit from Launch Code. When he wanted to build a development team for Zipline, the startup he founded to reinvent the way people move money, he considered two paths. One approach, modeled by the New York Yankees, would require him to pay high dollar for the best available free agents. The other, known as “The Cardinal Way,” would focus on building a minor league system with teachable players who fit his company’s culture. He picked the second path and looked to Launch Code for help finding the right people. He hasn’t been disappointed. Since November, Zipline has hired four full-time developers out of Launch Code. “It’s the only place I would go back to if I wanted to expand our team,” says Bowman, who is required to pay a $5,000 placement fee to Launch Code for each candidate he hires at the end of an apprenticeship. Before meaningful matches like this happen, though, Launch Code does some heavy lifting, reviewing applications and interviewing both candidates and businesses. “We’re like Match.com,” Eckelkamp says. They understand people aren’t machines; everyone has unique experiences, personalities, aptitudes and goals. What matters most
“Our first priority is to make sure Missouri and midMissouri are on the map as a model. We want the Show-Me State to show the way.” — Kari Eckelkamp, company engagement manager, Launch Code Future plans For now, the mission in Columbia is about deepening the connection between a unique nonprofit and a hopeful city. Since the May event, Launch Code has been building a robust network of relationships with businesses and educators to ensure the model will thrive. Its success also depends on a strong financial base.
Columbia Biz Times @ColumbiaBiz @Launch_Code, a STL-based nonprofit, will be holding an info session TODAY @ColumbiaColg
Launch Code needs to secure funding to make its services a reality. Its goal is to have $350,000 in commitments by September. This money will support staff, program development as well as candidate and company recruitment efforts, and the expectation is that Launch Code’s efforts in Columbia will be self-sustaining within three years. Amber Withycombe, Launch Code’s development director, bears the responsibility for fundraising. “We want businesses and investors to see how Launch Code will benefit the entire community and build the technology ecosystem rather than just help one person,” Withycombe says. So far the response has Withycombe confident about Launch Code’s future in Columbia. “I’m really impressed by how readily people want to engage,” she says. “We perceive lot of excitement and enthusiasm, and that’s what motivates us.” On June 19, the Missouri Technology Corp. awarded Launch Code $250,000 for the Kansas City expansion efforts, and Withycombe expects Launch Code to be invited to apply for that same level of funding for Columbia in the fall. Once Launch Code achieves the financial goal, the education and community engagement teams kick into high gear. In particular, Launch Code will be looking for a partner to host and provide instructional and curriculum support for edX and Harvard’s free online CS50x course. As these pieces come together, Withycombe believes Launch Code could start remotely pairing candidates with employers in early 2016, and a modest goal of 10 to 15 placements within eight to 10 companies has been set for the first year. In all, Launch Code hopes to partner with between 30 and 50 employers in Columbia. It’s this kind of potential that reinforces Launch Code’s desire to be matched with Missouri for many years to come. “Why not Missouri?” Withycombe says. “Something like Launch Code could happen easily in Silicon Valley, but why not make a meaningful impact here?” CBT
Sarah Redohl @SarahRedohl Happy to have @Launch_Code @ColumbiaColg today to talk about #CoMo expansion. Thanks, @Kipk45 and @jeffreyowen8 columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 51
University of Missouri Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin talks college culture, entrepreneurship, diversity issues and the story behind those infamous bowties.
Loftin's view from the top
To view the full Q&A, visit columbiabusinesstimes.com.
Photo courtesy of University of Missouri
52 \\\ AUGUST 2015
By Sarah Redohl
CBT: What would you say has been the most significant change you’ve made since becoming chancellor? Loftin: I think it’s the leadership team that has assembled here over the past year or so. Typically, universities don’t change very rapidly, but I came here at a time when almost all of the senior leadership had elected to retire or go someplace else, so it was a rather unusual circumstance. It was actually one of the factors of why I came because I really had the opportunity to make things happen quickly. At the end of August, there’ll be exactly three people left of the 12 who were here when I got here. I don’t want to criticize the past at all. The issue is that a lot of these people had been here a very long time, and in my mind it’s very difficult for you to be fresh about how you view an institution when you’ve been part of it in a leadership role for 20, 25 or 30 years. This is my third institution to lead in 11 years now, and this is the best team I’ve ever had. CBT: What are some of the most important new ideas this team has brought forward? Loftin: There are a couple of things we did last year that were very impactful. One is that we decided to make a real effort to renew our faculty. We have three kinds of faculty: core faculty, which are the tenure-earning faculty; full-time non-tenure track faculty; and some who teach some part time. We normally have about 1,200 faculty who are tenured or are earning tenure right now. Usually among those who are tenured, about 11 or 12 retire each year. Recently, we put together a voluntary separation program. We said, “We want to offer you an opportunity to leave now and not three, four, five years from now.” This year 111 are retiring, and that’s about 10 percent of our tenure-earning faculty. We can make some big, big advancements quickly by having new faculty join us who bring the latest ideas and experiences from around the world to us. CBT: How many times a day do you check Twitter?
Loftin: Normally, it’s several dozen times a day for a very short period of time. And then I spend usually about 45 minutes a night looking over the day’s timeline. To understand how I use Twitter, it’s two purposes for me. One is that it’s a direct connector to the students. During my momentary checks, I always check notifications, and if someone directs a tweet at me with a question or comment, then I will try to reply to that while I’m walking between meetings or in the elevator. I forward many to my staff when there’s an issue I can’t resolve personally, which is very common. It’s a matter of my trying to be responsive to a student, and I may get 50 of those a day. But I also follow hundreds of students here, and I try to pick them from every class and every major. At night before I go to sleep, I’ll sit there and look at the timeline. It gives me a pulse of the university and a sense of where people are happy and sad. That’s what I act on in terms of leadership. I can actually get a sense of the campus feel on a given day. Not many leaders have that. You don’t get that opportunity typically to ask that question and get really unvarnished answers. It’s pretty raw. That’s what I saw during Ferguson. What really struck me was the grand jury results. I was on Twitter when the decision was released. I could feel the anguish that hundreds of our students were feeling. It was palpable. And that’s when I did that first forum.
Now, there’s a glimmer of hope here. There’s a man named Khan whom you might want to check out online. This man has been very clever, especially with high school mathematics. He’s had great success because he’s taken machine learning, like my son’s class, to actually collect data from student questions. So he’s built an automated system that provides a fairly high degree of personalized response automatically to each student. That might be the secret.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 53
R. Bowen Loftin. Photo by Anthony Jinson.
CBT: Since the incident in Ferguson last year, you’ve held three public forums. What has come from those forums? Loftin: The decision came out during Thanksgiving weekend, so when the students got back, we had our first forum. What surprised me was that Ferguson was not the issue. It started off about Ferguson, but it really got out dozens of voices of anxiety and anguish about their own treatment here on campus. That really was quite startling to me. It was pretty impactful. So we started a process of listening and trying to work through a series of actions that we think will help over time to make these things better. The challenge is that the expectations of a 19-year-old and the reality of making something happen are not quite the same. I think it continues to be a sore spot for many students; they don’t see actions that are immediate. But you don’t change hearts that way. This will take a sustained effort over generations of students here. We made a website for it, transparency.missouri.edu, to direct students to see what’s hap54 \\\ AUGUST 2015
pening right now. The deputy chancellor has announced his retirement, and one of his duties was to oversee the Office of Diversity. I’m taking advantage of that to rethink how we structure ourselves in terms of inclusion, equity and diversity. We’re asking our faculty to look at themselves and see if they might subconsciously do things that might be hurtful. We are also stepping up some of the education and training efforts for the current incoming freshmen. During Summer Welcome, we have a cadre of students and parents coming through every day, and we’re using that as opportunity to help those students look differently at their responsibility to make this an inclusive campus. CBT: You have a Ph.D. in physics. How do you see your background in science benefitting your role now? Loftin: I don’t do much physics anymore in a direct way, but physics is very analytical, and I approach my decision-making that way. That discipline I learned long ago gives me a mechanism
to really evaluate lots of data and make better informed decisions. Secondly, I was a very active researcher for a long time. I was very successful in terms of achieving grants and publications, so I know what it takes. That’s something Mizzou has had a declining track record in for a while. One of the reasons I was asked to consider this job was the fact that I did bring a fairly active research history with me and also had worked at another AAU school. It’s important for Mizzou to have a renewal of its emphasis on discovery and creativity. CBT: What are your goals for the expansion of the MU Life Sciences Incubator? Loftin: The incubator is maxed out right now in the wet labs, but we also added a new piece to the incubator to focus on digital ventures as a way to support some of the software that’s going on here in terms of commercialization. Bill [Turpin] is doing his best to expand the reach of the incubator beyond the traditional life sciences to some of the software environments that can be highly successful
In Texas, where I came from, we didn’t recruit out of state. We didn’t have to. We have 27 million people in that state. There are 6 million in Missouri. There are 39 four-year universities in Texas, and they can’t keep up with that population. Texas is our second largest out-of-state source, after Illinois. Years ago, Texas passed a law called the Top 10 Percent law. It mandates that every public university in the state must accept anyone who graduates in the top 10 percent of their high school class. That means that freshman classes are literally filled up by these top 10 percent kids. So if you’re a top 12 percent kid at the best high school in Texas, you might not be able to go to the school of your choice in Texas. There aren’t any AAU schools in Oklahoma or Arkansas, so they come to Missouri. We get some extraordinary students because of that.
very quickly with low overhead capital investments, compared to a big life science project involving the reactor or something like that. And Hank [Foley] is trying to raise the money to really expand the incubator and add a whole other wing to support more traditional life science programming. CBT: There has been a lot more attention paid to entrepreneurship in general across the country and also here at Mizzou. Why the change? Loftin: We have a lot of extraordinarily talented people here who want to be entrepreneurs. We have more than one college and school now with an entrepreneurship program. We have many different parts of the university embracing this and trying to equip their students to be entrepreneurially successful while they’re still in school. You have so much creative energy when you’re 18, 19, 20 years old. Why wait until you’re 30? The second thing is that [students and faculty] look around and see this as an opportunity to do something that’s very American. Small businesses are what we do here in this country. Large companies get all of the headlines, but they don’t employ the most people. The future of your financial success can be predicated on your ability to have an idea and to form a small business and take it forward. If we equip you to do that, not just with your technical skills but with
your business skills as well, and partner you with people who may complement you, think about the opportunity. Where else will you find the natural juxtaposition of an engineer, a life scientist and a business student? Their coming together to form a business may be the perfect combination of skillsets. That just happens at a university. I believe this is our future. Another component of that is we are a state university. Traditionally, we had two major sources of funding: the State of Missouri and student tuition. About 20 years ago, the university got fairly busy trying to raise private money through gifts. Meanwhile, every state began to slash higher education budgets, and tuition shot up. No matter how much the state might want to help us, it will never restore its original support for this university. But even private funding isn’t going to be the answer long term for us. This university also collects between $7 million and $9 million per year in licensing fees. We are usually among the top 20 or 25 in the country among all public and privates in our licensing revenue. A license is $7,500 per year for a seed that we developed here. It takes lots of $7,500-per-year licenses to get to $7 million. That’s a very limiting factor. Where we really want to go is not protecting the intellectual property but taking this IP to externals who have capital and saying, “Let’s form a joint venture.” The investor will retain a chunk of equity, as will the university and the inventor. If that particular business is successful, it’s going to become public and could be sold. That transaction alone could be tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. We formed a company years ago in our vet school. It’s not a product company; it’s a service company doing laboratory testing. That was sold about three years ago, and the transaction meant $40 million for the university alone. That one transaction overwhelmed three or four years of license revenue. That’s our future. We’ve also liberalized our IP policies under [Foley’s] leadership. Now we’re trying to sell this idea as a new way of doing business with Mizzou. CBT: Obviously, the research that’s happening here has a much wider effect on the world. What are some big success stories that Columbians should know that they might not know already? Loftin: Our reactor here produces the majority of the world’s radioisotopes for cancer treatment. We’re still thinking about putting some type of treatment facility right next to the reactor so we could begin experimenting with the sorts of isotopes that only a reactor can cre-
ate. We need to find the researchers who want to actually experiment medically with these things. We need to relocate patients very close to the reactor so you spend no more than a few minutes moving the radioisotopes from the reactor to the treatment area itself. We’re looking at ways to make that happen. We need to find some investments from NIH, for example, or from DOE. We don’t have the funding internally to be able to put together a hospital-like facility. So we’re looking for a partner, quite frankly. CBT: One of your goals is to a create a 25-year vision for the university. What does that vision look like? Loftin: We’re almost done with it right now. We went through the process late last year and early this year of establishing a steering committee that represents each of the stakeholder groups of our institution. We’re going to craft a very succinct vision from the feedback we’ve received from our stakeholders. It’s simply a vision looking forward asking, “What will Mizzou look like when it turns 200?” Once we get this in place, it becomes one of those things you’re going to head toward, and your plans become deliberate steps from here to there. Our planning cycle is just a few years in length. If you don’t look ahead further, your plans won’t necessarily take you where you want to go because you don’t know where you’re going. CBT: Tell us about your first bowtie. Loftin: I used to dress with slacks and a buttoned shirt, no tie. That was kind of the culture of my department in physics. One day, there was a written memo in everybody’s mailbox, and it said the president directed the male faculty henceforth to wear a tie. I was furious about it. I thought: “I’m going to show him. I’m going to wear a bowtie.” I didn’t even own one. I happened to have a colleague in chemistry named Jean whose husband wore bowties. So I said, “Jean, can I borrow a bowtie from Carl?” The next morning she gave me my first bowtie. It was the ugliest bowtie I’ve ever had. And I still wear it. I have more than 400 bowties right now, and many of them are gifts. I have about 40 or 50 gold-and-black bowties, and there are about 30 or 40 I like to wear occasionally. But the ones I wear the most tend to be gifts from people who are memorable to me, and when I wear the bowtie, I remember them. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 55
By Matthew Patston
Columbia Public Schools has had to perform budget backflips since the recession — at the expense of teacher salaries. After bitter union negotiations this spring, the teachers' union and the school board aren’t warming up to each other just yet.
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When she was interviewed for this article, Susie Adams was teaching a summer school driver education class at Battle High. The students, about 20 of them, had just come back from lunch, and it had been raining since before sunrise. “Somebody made a joke to me this morning,” Adams says. “They said it would be easier to get a boating license today than your driver’s license. It was actually my superintendent that said it, so I laughed a little harder. You know you always have to laugh at your boss’s jokes.” The relationship between CPS teachers and their district over the past seven years has been, at times, less friendly than such an off-the-cuff wisecrack from superintendent to teacher would have you believe. Teachers have been fighting to unfreeze their salaries since 2009, when the district, in the face of dwindling state funding and a nationwide recession, stopped giving annual raises. This past spring, in collective bargaining negotiations that resembled a tug-of-war fought in the mud, CPS rejected union proposals outright. The teachers’ union, the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, accused the district of being manipulated by its lawyer and disloyal to employees; the district, just now exiting a grinding recession, decided its funds needed to be allocated elsewhere. The debate has been fueled by a statewide scramble to fund schools, growing deficit spending by CPS with shrinking reserve funds, hundreds of new students, a handful of new schools, a schism in union representation and, with another school year ready to start, swelling frustration from everyone involved. Adams has been a CPS teacher for 22 years, and she characterizes the past seven as some of the most difficult. “I wouldn’t say that working conditions are bad,” she says, “but salaries are always going to be a struggle. Teachers aren’t valued and paid the same way other professions are.”
The trickle that turned to a drip To understand the extent of the district’s funding crisis, you first need to look to a state-level crisis 15 years ago. School districts draw money from three funding sources: federal, state and local taxes. From the late ’70s to 2000, the biggest burden fell on state government; according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average state paid for about 49.5 percent of public education in 1999-2000, with the federal government funding 7.3 percent and the local communities funding the remaining 43 percent. To determine how may dollars those percentages translate to, Missouri uses a formula: a district’s variables are put in, and a dollar amount comes out. The ’90s were good to the Missouri economy, which meant the state government had no problem collecting revenue while keeping taxes low for Missouri businesses and citizens, as long as the state stayed econom-
ically active and successful. Otto Fajen, now the legislative director and a lobbyist for the Missouri National Education Association, worked in the Capitol at the time. “There was a binge on tax cutting and tax credits and all that stuff,” Fajen says. “And they ultimately overdid it. And then there was an economic downturn, and the formula got dangerously out of whack.” That meant school districts no longer got the amount of funding the state formula said they should get. After some legal trouble and advice from an outside consultant, the state devised a more efficient formula that could get state funding back on track. That formula was put in place in 2005; then the recession happened, and the formula was off track once again. Thus, the funding was passed to local communities, such as Columbia, that found they had no one else to pass it to. was the first sizable infusion we’ve had into the formula, and it was about $100 million,” says Ron Lankford, deputy commissioner for the State Department of Education. Lankford’s primary duty is school finances; he came to his job in 2010, right in the heart of the crisis. “And even with that, we’re still $442 million short.” When asked if that meant local taxpayers had to make up the difference, Lankford says, “That’s the only option they have.” Fajen estimates the school funding in Missouri leans more local than almost any other state. The state averages a split of 9 percent federal, 34 percent state and 56 percent local; Columbia leans even further, at 8 percent, 24 percent and 64 percent. The evaporated state dollars in the CPS budget had to be replaced from somewhere, and in 2009, the district froze salaries.
The past seven years have seen upheaval in the organization and compensation of Columbia’s teachers. CBT takes you step by step to how they got where they are.
2007 A Missouri Supreme Court decision allows teachers to collectively bargain with their school board. Columbia’s NEA chapter asks for a teachers’ vote to become the sole representative of Columbia teachers but is denied.
2008 In the face of decreasing state funding, CPS begins cost-saving measures, resulting in teacher salaries being frozen.
2010 After two years of trying to work together, Columbia’s largest teacher groups split due to philosophical differences. The CMNEA continues lobbying for collective bargaining; the CMSTA, then known as CPSEO, begins to advocate independently.
The deep freeze “I think that the first time it was frozen,” Adams says, “I was like, ‘OK, I’m taking this for the team.’ I felt very strongly that I was willing to be frozen so that other teachers, younger teachers, didn’t have to be cut.” At first, this view prevailed for many of her fellow teachers: Times are tough but temporary. “But the second time,” Adams says. “Well, it’s kind of depressing to know that you’re getting frozen and not know when you’re going to come out.” CPS teacher salaries are raised on a step program; the longer you teach, the more steps you attain, and the more steps, the higher the salary. The steps — about $800 each — add up over a 20-year career, especially with regular increases in base salaries. They also add up in the district’s budget, which is why they froze. The district cut back other areas before going after salaries. In April of 2008, they asked the public to vote for an increase in the district’s tax levy, and for the first time in the city’s history, the public said no. The district then slashed spending and cut dozens of positions; they consulted with their teachers and investigated every district program.
2011 The NEA finally gets its vote and becomes the sole representative of Columbia’s teachers at the bargaining table. Its first negotiation follows in 2012.
2014 Through collective bargaining, the NEA secures a three-year contract for teachers. The contract includes the restoration of one year’s frozen salary step and nonsalary demands.
2015 After the district receives an increase in state funding, the NEA asks for more compensation. Negotiations stall, and no demands are met. The 2014 contract remains intact. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 57
CPS’s Budget Scramble by the Numbers When the recession hit, the school district had to do budget backflips to keep things operational and accommodate for growth. CFO Linda Quinley gave us some numbers to break down how things have changed.
81%
The amount of 2015-2016 total operating revenue that comes from local taxes, which comes out to almost $95 million. The shift from state to local funding has increased dramatically since 2008.
$29,439,770
The district has cut nearly $30 million in spending on salaries since the 2006-2007 school year, some via position cuts and some via salary freezes.
603
The CPS average daily attendance has added 603 kids since the inception of the state’s funding formula in 2005.
$6,131
The State Adequacy Target, or the amount the state says its districts should spend per student. The state formula assumes districts spend this much money, and the formula funds accordingly.
$10,448
The amount CPS actually spends per student
$624,000
Average yearly increase in state funding to CPS
$2 million
Would-be cost of yearly salary increases for 2,400 CPS employees
$1 million
Average yearly increase in costs for employee benefits
$1 million
Average yearly increase in other fixed costs for the district 58 \\\ AUGUST 2015
“A short day for me was 15 hours, and that was seven days a week,” says Linda Quinley, the district’s CFO. “We tried to stay as far away from the classroom as we could for as long as we could.” But eventually, the district froze salaries. Not coincidentally, the blow to morale precipitated a growing schism among teachers. In 2007, a Missouri Supreme Court decision gave public school teachers the right to collectively bargain with their school boards. The same year, the Columbia chapter of the National Education Association asked for a seat at the bargaining table as the sole representative of Columbia’s teachers. Another teacher’s group, the Columbia Missouri State Teachers Association, resisted. As their priorities shifted to unfreezing their salaries, the groups argued over strategy. The CMSTA, of which Adams is the current president, favors the district’s traditional meetand-confer style of negotiating. The system’s meetings are informal: essentially brainstorming sessions about where the district’s money should go. The CMNEA, conversely, pushed for formalized collective bargaining. They wanted one united front of teachers to negotiate formally, fearlessly and unapologetically. “I’ve never seen it as very democratic when you have people representing an entire group,” Adams says. “About one-third of our teachers don’t belong to either group, so they just get sort of fluffed out of everything. With meetand-confer, at least you make sure that the other two-thirds are getting their voices heard.” The unrepresented third, however, disagreed. In 2012, the teachers voted the NEA in as their sole representative and only bargaining union.
The rise of the NEA In the 15 years before winning the vote, CMNEA membership had grown more than twentyfold. When current President Kathy Steinhoff attended her first NEA meeting in 2000, membership had gone from 30 to 200 in the three previous years; it now hovers around 650. “I went to one meeting, and I thought it was fabulous,” Steinhoff says. “I go to this meeting, and it’s not just about my classroom but about protecting teachers and protecting the profession and looking out for kids on a higher level. I felt kind of naïve to think that I’d never thought about it before, but I knew I wanted to be part of it.” In July, Steinhoff succeeded former President Susan McClintic, who retired from teaching after tripling NEA membership during her term.
McClintic plans to run for the 47th District seat in the Missouri House of Representatives. When asked about the challenges of teaching in Columbia, the two women don’t immediately go to salaries, instead starting with poverty in Boone County, which they say has forced the district to address new needs. When asked where the money to meet these needs was coming from, Steinhoff quietly laughs. “I think that’s where you see the teachers’ union advocating for higher salaries,” she says. “And I think that if you were to look at a large majority of school districts across the nation, it would be unusual to see teachers’ salaries remain stagnant, not to mention a step frozen, over the last 10 years.” “We don’t see that in Jefferson City or Springfield,” McClintic says. Regional comparisons are a cornerstone of the CMNEA argument. A little later, Steinhoff pulls out a thick research document prepared by the state NEA. The last page ranks teacher salaries for the 20 largest districts. Columbia ranks 19th, and Steinhoff expects to be 20th next year. In their first years as the official union, the CMNEA made progress. In 2014, they negotiated a three-year contract that included, at last, the restoration of one of the frozen salary steps. Then, last spring, their progress abruptly ended.
Difference in opinion Months after negotiations ended with zero changes to teachers’ contracts, the two sides are still far apart on why talks derailed. The union had asked for another restored step, in addition to other nonsalary demands about planning time and schedules. They received nothing. “I think that the frozen step would have been fiscally sound,” McClintic says. “I think it would have earned them great faith from their employees, and it would have been done away with, and now it’s hanging over our heads for another year.” “I’m not sure there’s much that we could have done differently,” Steinhoff adds. The NEA felt that a $1.8 million infusion from the state should go to the teachers. Adams felt the NEA was too confrontational, which she found “a little frustrating and embarrassing.” School board members felt confused. “I’m not sure if the NEA didn’t believe our funding projections or what,” says Darin Pries, board member and former chair of their finance committee. “But restoring the step didn’t seem like the best choice.”
All parties agree the school board has been, at a big-picture level, fiscally remarkable. Despite the swing in funding balances, they’ve added students and built schools, convinced the public to pay increased taxes and carefully spent down budget reserves they accumulated before the crisis. “The storm has lasted a little bit longer than we expected,” Quinley says. “And now we have tough years ahead. We want to continue to be a district that’s good with the public’s money.” The NEA argues that a recovering economy should make up for past sacrifices. But once again, the water flows from the top of the stream — in this case, Jefferson City. Senate Bill 509, a tax cut that bulldozed the governor’s veto last year, will decrease state tax revenues over the next five years, as will another bill currently passing through the Missouri Legislature. Even with a fully funded formula, the state is still using numbers from 2008 to fund CPS. Quinley says this translates to about a $5,000 shortage per student. A tax cut at the state level, of course, causes tax increase at the local level, and Quinley says the district might ask for another levy increase, the first since 2012, this year. Columbia’s school tax rate is already 486th highest of the state’s 520 districts. “We have had a public that’s been willing to pick up the ball and run with it,” Pries says. “But that’s not always guaranteed.” As the district prepares for another hit, teachers are still hoping they’ll be unfrozen. But the conversation is ongoing and bitter. “Negotiations are the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my professional life; I can tell you that,” Quinley says. “We know that we can’t stay stuck in 2007 forever, and the school board is going to be very busy this fall.” “These conversations need to be about students first and adults last,” she adds Adams, in some ways, agrees. “Our No. 1 priority is giving the best education to kids,” she says. “But our second priority is that we want to get compensated for that as well. I’m not sure there’s a plan to come together and fight for that, but there it is.” CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 59
nonprofit spotlight
›› Nora Stewart Early Learning Center
Early Childhood Education
Providing equal opportunities for childhood success for more than 80 years By Nicole Flood Since 1933, the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center has focused on providing children equal opportunities for early childhood education to prepare for success in kindergarten. Amanda Estes founded the Negro Nursery School on Dec. 1, 1933, on Park Avenue to address an education gap for African-American children. This was the first nursery school in Columbia that allowed African-American children admittance at this time. When Estes opened the school, it was in a four-room house and served 16 children. Just one year later, the school had an enrollment of 35. In the 1940s, Estes inherited a house on Ash Street from her foster mother, Nora Stewart. At the time, the Negro Nursery School had closed briefly due to lack of federal funding. Estes was working at the Douglass School and resigned to reopen the nursery school under the new name, the Nora Stewart Memorial Nursery School. “She revived the school in 1948 with the help of Esther Loomis Griffin, who was an executive
secretary of the social service society of Columbia,” says Cheryl Howard, executive director of the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center. The school has resided at 505 E. Ash St. ever since. The Community Chest, now known as the United Way, was a big supporter of the project and a major contributor to the success of the school. “The building we are housed in now was a total community effort with the community working together,” Howard says. Estes served as director of the nursery school from 1948 to 1965. When she retired, Mary Jane Davis assumed the role of director and served in that capacity until 2006. Cheryl Howard became director at this time. Howard holds a Master of Education in counseling from Stephens College. “In the long history that it’s had, we’ve only had three directors,” Howard says. “Ms. Estes and Ms. Davis were also my teachers because I attended here as a little girl.”
Since 2008, the school has been known as the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center. Under Howard’s leadership, the school opened the infant care center in 2010. This allows the school to serve 50 students, ages 6 weeks to 8 years. “At this time, it’s a very diverse community, and it will continue to be very diverse,” Howard says. The main mission of the school is to provide education that is safe and nurturing to allow all children the opportunity to succeed when they enter kindergarten. The licensed facility also includes before and after care and promotes improvement in education and family life. “One thing I always emphasize on is that Nora Stewart is open to all children,” Howard says. “And our main goal is to have all children who attend Nora Stewart prepared to succeed and enter Columbia Public Schools successfully.”
Dr. Mable Grimes “I wish people all knew how devoted the teachers are. The children are well loved and cared for.”
Pamela Nunnelly “NSELC has a vast history, which has been the cornerstone for child care in the Columbia community. Having grown up in Columbia, I was a student when it was Nora Stewart Nursery School.”
William Crum “[I decided to join] to keep the history alive and the community involved with children and families.”
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Open to all
➜ 505 E. Ash St., Columbia, MO 65201 • 573-449-5981
Tuition is determined by a sliding-fee scale based on household income, and students are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Lead teachers must hold a CDA or a four-year college degree. To prepare students for success when entering the public school system, a large emphasis is placed on continued education and training for the teachers. The curriculum, known as HighScope, focuses on proper nutrition, reading, math and other critical skills. Emphasis is placed on child-centered learning and utilizes a process known as active participatory learning. The school also works closely with Jump Start, which is a national organization with a local chapter at the University of Missouri. Jump Start works with early language and literacy to help children in America be prepared to succeed in school.
Building partnerships Several community organizations partner with the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center through volunteerism, donations and funding: United Way, one of the biggest contributors, both financially and educationally; Minority Men Network reads and interacts with the children and provides a diverse, positive group of male role models; Kiwanis, which has supported the school for more than 20 years through volunteerism; Sherry Waddill “NSELC serves all of our community and is teaching a diverse group of children.”
“We’re located centrally in the community. We’re one of Columbia’s finest little secrets.” — Cheryl Howard, executive director, Nora Stewart Early Learning Center Kilgore Pharmacy, which donated property for a community garden where the school gets most of its vegetables and fruit; Foster Grandparents, who work in the center five days a week providing support and comfort to the children; YMCA college students who interact with the children through a group organized by MU; Project Launch, a group organized through MU that works with social and emotional readiness for students and helps with teacher training required for licensing; and Strive, which works to provide equal opportunities for all children when entering the public school system, with a focus on equity and community systems change. Nora Stewart Early Learning Center is a nonprofit that is funded by United Way contribuCheryl Washington-Howard “[I wish people knew] we are the best-kept secret to early childhood education.”
tions, fundraising efforts and grant opportunities. The USDA provides meals to those students who qualify. The school is governed by a board that oversees the director and the operation of the school. The general expectations of a board member are to be knowledgeable about the organization, serve in a leadership position, collaborate with the director, recruit possible board members and participate in board meetings. The board is always looking for community members with diverse experiences to serve. Current board members include: Dr. Mable Grimes, Dr. NaTashua Davis, Pamela Nunnelly, Amanda Atkins and Sherry Waddill. “I suppose the connection to the longtime history in the community, how it started, who it serves, and it just seems to me to be an important element of Columbia,” Grimes says on the value she places in the organization. “I hope people get to see the jewel they have in the community and that they support it.” Grimes is a current board member and past board president who has served on the board for more than 10 years. She’s volunteered with Nora Stewart since her undergraduate years at MU with her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, in the early 1960s. CBT Photos by Sarah Redohl. Dr. NaTashua Davis “I joined the board because of the kids and my belief in the overall goals and mission of the center.”
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celebrations
➜ 1104 N. Providence Road, Columbia, MO 65203 • 573-214-3000
›› 20 Under 20
Young Ambition
Hickman High School finds 20 reasons to celebrate. The staff at Hickman High School’s newspaper, Purple and Gold News, knew they wanted to honor the 2015 graduating seniors in a special way, but they never imagined a simple idea would evolve into a newfound tradition. On the evening of May 27, 20 of Hickman’s brightest and most exemplary graduating seniors were honored as part of the high school’s 20 Under 20 event, inspired by Columbia Business Times’ 20 Under 40. The event came a long way, from what started as an idea for a senior send-off feature in the high school’s paper to a fullfledged event. It started mid-spring, mere months before graduation, but just enough time for the P&G staff to roll up their sleeves and get to work. “We were having our monthly budget meeting and talking about the senior issue, and one of my assistant student editors mentioned how our principal, Eric Johnson, was featured in ‘20 Under 40,’” Dolores Caamano, a language arts teacher and supervisor of P&G, says. “The staff really loved the 20 Under 20 idea, and from then we just kind of went full force with it.” To find the 20 best seniors, the P&G staff formulated a four-part criteria that possible nominees had to meet: involvement in and outside of school, academic excellence, well-roundedness and a positive role model to peers. “We realized that as a staff, we didn’t know all the seniors in the school, so we sent out an email to teachers and asked them if they could nominate seniors who they thought were a great example of leadership and involvement,” Sarah Everett, graduating senior editor of P&G, says. The feedback was tremendous, with each teacher, guidance counselor and administrator nominating at least one outstanding
senior. Some seniors were even nominated four to five times by different staff members at the school. “The students that were nominated multiple times by different teachers made our list,” Caamano says. “These were the same students we had discussed about previously in our staff meetings, so it was kind of proof that we set the best criteria, and we knew what kind of student we were going for.”
The best of the best Similar to CBT’s 20 Under 40 event held earlier this year, the recipients of Hickman’s 20 Under 20 recognition received framed awards featuring the seniors’ portraits and a write-up of their accomplishments. The event, held at the Country Club of Missouri, wasn’t even on any of the P&G staff members’ minds when the 20 Under 20 issue went to press. “When we were informed that CBT wanted to partner with us for the event, we were in complete shock because we didn’t think something of this stature could happen to our staff,” Caamano says. Along with the awards ceremony, the students worked together to create programs and a special video featuring interviews with the honored seniors. Hickman Principal Eric Johnson and Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Stiepleman gave keynote speeches at the ceremony. After this year’s success, the Hickman P&G staff is excited to continue and make the 20 Under 20 newspaper feature a tradition to recognize the new senior class each spring. “You know, in April of my senior year, I didn’t know if we were going to be able to pull off that whole event and section in the newspaper,” Everett says of what seemed like an overambitious feat. “I’m just really proud of the way it all came together.” CBT
By Kaitlynn Martin
20 under 20 Recipients 1. Myriah Araiza, Central Methodist University, theater education 2. Junyi Wu, University of Southern California 3. Allison Frappier, University of Missouri, animal science 4. Mackenzie Murray, University of Missouri, chemical engineering 5. Cory Rackers, Missouri State University, graphic design 6. Wenzer Qin, Johns Hopkins University 7. Sam Lange, Marine Corps 8. Rachel Nielsen, Truman State University 9. Mikayla Logan, Southeast Missouri State University, construction management (She will be a member of the track team as well.) 10. Gabe Gassmann, University of Missouri, journalism 11. Colleen Cutts, University of Missouri, strategic communications with a minor in women’s and gender studies 12. Mickey Hua, University of Michigan, statistics and sports management 13. Nathan Min, Penn State University, biobehavioral health 14. Elizabeth Lannin, University of Iowa, biology and psychology with a minor in dance 15. Alex Keneipp, University of Missouri 16. Britt Grindstaff, Saint Louis University, biostatistics and public health 17. Claire Majerus, University of North Texas, music education 18. Jonathan Jalali, University of Missouri-Kansas City, six-year medical program 19. Carleeka (Charlee) Kimmins, Lindenwood University 20. Emily Miller, Drury University (She will be playing basketball as well.) columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 63
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did you know?
›› Fun facts CBT staff discovered while reporting this issue
Nine out of 10
Launch Code placements result in full-time employment, with an average starting salary of $50,000. To learn more about the personalized job placement system for computer science jobs, head to page 48.
Columbia school funding
9
8 34
56
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64
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24
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Missouri school funding is 9 percent federal, 34 percent state and 56 percent local. Columbia school funding relies more heavily on local funds, at 8 percent federal, 24 percent state and 64 percent local. Learn more on page 58.
Columbia Public Schools career, technical and adult education offerings serve around 5,600 students each year. Approximately 400 are 10- to 15-year-olds, 2,200 are high school students, and 3,000 students take the adult course offerings (featured on page 80).
Two well-known Columbia culinary companies will be pairing up for a new venture. Fresh Ideas is joining with Bleu Restaurant to form Bleu Events. The joint venture launches this month and will offer clients a full-service caterer with a commissary approach, which means the food is prepared in a central kitchen and delivered out to event locations. Read more about Fresh Ideas on page 44.
Amanda Estes founded the Negro Nursery School, now known as the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center, on Dec. 1, 1933, on Park Avenue to address an education gap for AfricanAmerican children. This was the first nursery school in Columbia that allowed African-American children admittance at this time. To learn more about NSELC, go to page 60.
CBT
THE
Missouri school funding
Although Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin is well known on Twitter by his fun pseudonym, @bowtieger, the social media site offers more than a quick connection with students. “[Twitter] gives me a pulse of the university. … That’s what I act on in terms of leadership,” he says. It was MU students’ response to the grand jury results in Ferguson that prompted Loftin to set up a series of forums to discuss diversity on campus. Read more about Loftin’s latest initiatives on page 52.
MASTERS
SERIES
Participants in the first CBT Masters Series, sponsored by Columbia College, reported a
25 percent increase in their knowledge of the course topics, including social media, legal issues and organizational health, among others. Learn some Masters Series tips and tricks you can apply today on page 37. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 65
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MARKETING
›› Monica Pitts talks marketing trends and tips
Marketing Trend: Education As consumers change their buying cycle, companies are forced to shift their marketing style. Consumers are engaging in the buying cycle later than ever. In 2013 Forbes reported “customers being nearly 60 percent through the sales process before engaging a sales rep.” And a resounding number of journalists in 2014 reported that 81 percent of shoppers conduct online research before making a purchase. Forward-thinking marketers are using the same tools to share a different message. They are turning a cold shoulder to over-bloated sales pitches and instead turning to classrooms; webinars; and content marketing including e-books, blogs and white papers. What do all of these tactics have in common? You guessed it: good old educational content.
Why is this happening?
Buyers who experienced a loss in the 2008 economic downturn are more conservative with their money. They don’t want to and ultimately can’t afford to be taken advantage of at this point in the game. Additionally, buying power is shifting to younger generations. My generation, Gen X, has been marketed to our entire lives. We’ve been conditioned to ignore messaging that doesn’t apply, and we were raised to distrust the sales process. We don’t like to be sold to and instead rely on our own investigative skills to get the job done. So how do you do this educational marketing thing? Illustration by Tifani Carter
First, give your clients what they really want to know, the thing they ask for the most. Make it easy, make it free, and if you can, make it fun. When I tell clients this, they often say: “I’m not going to give that information away. Then they’ll never call, and I won’t get to sell them anything.” Nobody wants to play with someone who doesn’t share. It’s the ultimate kibosh on playtime fun. Change isn’t always comfortable. “It’s a shift in your mindset as a marketer,” says Don Brockleman of Influence and Co., a local company providing contentmarketing services. “Traditional marketing is product driven, and educational marketing is customer centric. It’s less about the product or service and more about how your company can help your prospects be successful in relation to your product or service.” Those opposed to change and sharing need to do a gut check. The greatest opportunity for business success lies in the whitespace: doing what your competition can’t or won’t do. Apply that principle to marketing, and you have a way to bring in business. “Marketing is displaying your targeted expertise so people with specific problems find you and think of you as their long-term solution,” says Jennifer Schenck, CoMo Connection Exchange co-owner and educational marketing enthusiast. “They may not be ready for your solution now, but if you continue to educate them as they grow, they know where to find you when they are ready.” An educational approach to marketing doesn’t mean you’re giving away the cow for free. Instead you highlight milk’s consumer health benefits, share reci-
m o n i ca p i t ts
pes containing milk, give away educational coloring books about milk and sponsor “infomercials” on how to eat a healthy diet including milk. Second, make people feel like they’re important. A watered-down campaign targeted at everyone won’t connect with anyone. Dale Carnegie said, “When dealing with people, you’re not dealing with creatures of logic but creatures of emotion.” People are not good at following directions, but they are good at connecting. Put yourself in the shoes of your buyers. Give them a reason to remember what you had to say, identify with your message and make a connection with your company. “When prospects or clients overcome challenges with your help, they develop a relationship with your company or brand that is based on trust and expertise,” Brockleman says. “For me, marketing should never be about hitting a wide audience over the head with a 2-by-4,” Schenck says. “It has to be relationship driven.” There’s no going back. Your buyers are going to find their information somewhere. Do you want them to hear it from you or your competition? We can’t change the behaviors of today’s buyers, but we can adapt our strategies to cope with the shift. The educational marketing approach is really just a refresher on preschool manners. Share with people, and they’ll like you, be more comfortable and, in this instance, feel empowered to make an educated buying decision. CBT
➜ C hief creati v e director at M ayecreate desi g n columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 69
70 \\\ AUGUST 2015
technology
›› Clint Miller reviews the latest trends in tech
Technology in Our Schools Even though our minds may still be stuck in summer vacation mode, the school year is getting ready to start, and school systems are facing more technology challenges and have more opportunities than ever before. Aside from ensuring curriculum, transportation and lunch programs are up to par, school districts must also have exceptional technologies in place to support students and staff. No longer are Smart Boards and a couple of computer labs enough. Today many schools face the challenges of 1:1 (one device per student) and BYOD (bring your own device) initiatives. They also have to decide what type of devices to use and determine if their wireless infrastructure will support those goals. When it comes to choosing a device, schools have many options: Chromebooks; Apple iPads; and Microsoft’s vast array of laptops, tablets and desktops. Price, warranty and functionality are the factors in making this decision. After choosing a device, the school needs to decide on software and management solutions. Unlike home use, additional emphasis must be put on security and management of content. One of the biggest challenges most school districts face today is their dated infrastructure, which includes the cabling, wireless and all the products necessary to make devices work correctly within the network. Without a proper infrastructure to support the devices in use within the district, users will experience slow connection speeds and delays in learning.
Increased pressure for timely implementations and rollouts can cause staff to overlook critical support needs, but planning ahead helps identify the necessary steps to achieve success. This year Universal Service Administration Co., a federal organization that is in charge of school funding for technology, has allocated more than $2 billion in funding for wireless technologies. Fred Norman of SupportSource K12, a local funding consultant, helps schools obtain the resources to prepare their infrastructure for updated technologies, install up-to-date cabling, better network switching and wireless access and support faster Internet connections and increase reliability. School districts have discovered that technology plans are imperative to longterm success. Much like building a home, it’s critical to have a working tech plan.
clint miller
Illustration by Tifani Carter
You would never start to frame the walls of a new home or remodel your kitchen without a blueprint. Likewise, detailed technology plans forecasting future capital purchases and tech implementations are a must for today’s school districts. Increased pressure for timely implementations and rollouts can cause staff to overlook critical support needs, but planning ahead helps identify the necessary steps to achieve success. Identifying support needs and utilizing outside consultants continues to be a challenge for some educators. One of the biggest issues is training. With an increasing number of devices and systems, how do administrators and technical staff find the time to train on multiple systems? Several years ago most tech directors were skilled on desktops and might have only needed to support a handful of systems. Today, support staff must be skilled in infrastructure, servers, mobile devices, content filters, firewalls and much more. Because of this, outsourcing technology to companies that provide consulting and funding assistance has become an attractive solution to many districts. Overall, the goal of technology usage in our schools should be to enhance the learning experience of the students and prepare them for their role in the workforce. To do this, the technology must work. Districts that develop longrange technology plans will keep students and staff on track with a constant learning experience. CBT
➜ v ice president of education operations at midwest computech columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 71
organizational health
›› Pieter Van Waarde helps guide organizations into good health
Summer School for Big People Every summer my wife creates a reading list. She’s ambitious; she typically tries to read a book a week. I try to read a book a month. Perhaps you find yourself somewhere in between. Whatever your reading pace might be, I’ve solicited suggestions from respected leaders in our community. What are they reading? What are they finding most helpful about it? Why? Cindy Sheltmire, a longtime (and highly successful) real estate agent in Columbia, was quick to recommend the classics. Sometimes people are looking for the next big thing in sales and marketing, but Sheltmire emphasized the idea that the classics remind us of what establishes a strong and credible foundation. “I still refer back to books like How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie and The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Stephen Covey because the basics are the things we typically overlook or underestimate,” Sheltmire says. “These books reinforce their importance in my mind.” Greg Steinhoff, CEO of Veteran’s United, shared a couple books that have been instrumental in shaping his thinking, including The E Myth by Michael Gerber. “This book helped me understand the difference between working in a business and running a business,” Steinhoff says. The other is Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey. “This book looks at trust as the foundation of leadership, and although this may sound simplistic, we have discovered that without trust teamwork is unsustainable, but with it teams invariably exceed expectations.” Andrew Grabau, the newly appointed executive director for Heart of Missouri United Way, shared two of his favorite leadership selections: The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner and Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. The Leadership Challenge provides a practical, research-based framework for personal and professional discovery that helps everyone learn how to courageously lead themselves and their organizations toward success. Never Eat Alone outlines the power of relationships based on generosity, authenticity, never keeping score and always seeking to help others in reaching their goals. This type of relationship-building is beyond networking and seeks to build real value in every connection. My daughter Mallory Van Waarde, who recently started her own Internet company, Magnifyre, reads anything and everything that Malcolm Gladwell writes. She’s also heard him speak and finds him deeply inspirational. “I love that Gladwell digs deep into various subjects — psychology, crime, sports, art, politics, religion — and uncovers truths in ways most of us don’t think of,” she says. “His books have challenged me to re-examine my worldviews, live outside of the norm and embrace intellectual curiosity.”
p i e t e r va n wa a r d e
Illustration by Tifani Carter
The three books I’ve found most helpful lately are: • John Maxwell’s The 5 Levels of Leadership: This book gave me such practical insight into the leadership journey and what it looks like (in its various stages of development). What I found most helpful was that his recommendations for improving and growing in leadership have broad application, and they’re relevant in both the social service and business sectors. • Patrick Lencioni has also written a whole series of helpful and practical books, and his style, using story or what he calls “leadership fables,” makes his books entertaining to read. The one I’ve found most helpful is his book Naked. In it he talks about the value of openness and honesty and how they connect to profitably and employee engagement. • The final book I recommend is Start with Why by Simon Sinek. The book focuses on motivation, and Sinek builds a profoundly compelling case for understanding the importance of our “why” over and above our “how” or “what.” He challenges people and organizations to lead from the inside out. I found he gave me language for what I already intuitively believed but didn’t have the words to describe. So wake up 20 minutes earlier, grab your cup of coffee, pick up one of the aforementioned books, find your favorite chair and go back to school. Your brain will thank you. CBT
➜ senior paster at woodcrest chapel , president of sidewalk llc columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 73
TOP B2B PRODUCT DELIVERY SERVICE
First Place: Culligan Water 1801 Commerce Court, Columbia, 573-874-6147, culliganmidmissouri.com Second Place: Major Brands
TOP HAPPY HOUR
First Place: 44 Stone Public House Second Place: The Roof
TOP ARCHITECT
First Place: Jennifer Hedrick Second Place: Nick Peckham
TOP COMMERCIAL BUILDER/CONTRACTOR First Place: Coil Construction Second Place: Little Dixie Construction
TOP REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER
First Place: Starr Properties Second Place: John Ott, Alley A Realty
TOP PLACE TO WORK
First Place: Veterans United Home Loans Second Place: Hawthorn Bank
TOP ENGINEER
First Place: Timberlake Engineering Second Place: Trabue, Hansen & Hinshaw Inc.
TOP ACCOUNTING SERVICE
First Place: Williams-Keepers Second Place: Accounting Plus Inc.
TOP CATERER
First Place: Hoss’s Market & Rotisserie Second Place: Bleu Restaurant & Catering
TOP STAFFING COMPANY
Second Place: The Insurance Group
TOP COMMERCIAL LENDER
First Place: Matt Williams, Landmark Bank Second Place: Drew Smith, Commerce Bank
First Place: Influence and Co. Second Place: Global First Responders
TOP WEB DEVELOPER
First Place: MayeCreate Design 700 Cherry St., Suite C, Columbia, 573-447-1836, mayecreate.com
First Place: JobFinders Second Place: Caroline and Co. Inc.
TOP CULTURE
First Place: Veterans United Home Loans Second Place: Murry’s Restaurant
TOP OFFICE DIGS
First Place: True Media Second Place: Woodruff Sweitzer
TOP BUSINESS WITH A COMMITMENT TO PHILANTHROPY First Place: Veterans United Home Loans Second Place: Joe Machens Dealerships
TOP JANITORIAL SERVICES
First Place: Atkins Building Services Inc. Second Place: Tiger Maids
TOP COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER Second Place: Delta Systems
TOP ADVERTISING AGENCY
First Place: Woodruff Sweitzer Second Place: MayeCreate Design 700 Cherry St., Suite C, Columbia, 573-447-1836, mayecreate.com
First Place: LG Patterson Second Place: Casey Buckman Photography
TOP EVENT LOCATION
First Place: The Tiger Hotel 23 S. Eighth St., Columbia, 573-875-8888, thetigerhotel.com
TOP PLACE TO HAVE A BUSINESS LUNCH
First Place: Murry’s Restaurant Second Place: D. Rowe’s Restaurant & Bar
TOP OFFSITE TEAM MEETING LOCATION
First Place: Logboat Brewing Co. 504 Fay St., Columbia, 573-397-6786, logboatbrewing.com
TOP COFFEE MEETING LOCATION
First Place: Kaldi’s Coffee Second Place: Dunn Brothers Coffee
TOP AMBASSADOR OF BUSINESS IN COLUMBIA First Place: Dave Griggs Second Place: Mary Ropp
TOP NEWBIE TO BUSINESS
TOP BUSINESS INSURANCE
First Place: Mike Messer Agency – Shelter Insurance 908 Rain Forest Parkway, Columbia, 573-442-5291, shelterinsurance.com/ CA/agent/mikemesser
TOP BUSINESS WITH INTERNATIONAL IMPACT
Second Place: Les Bourgeois Vineyards, 14020 W. Highway BB, Rocheport, 800-690-1830, missouriwine.com
TOP PLACE TO CLOSE A DEAL
First Place: Nick Hardy Second Place: Max Prokell
TOP CHAMBER VOLUNTEER
First Place: Wally Pfeffer Second Place: Michele Spry
TOP LOCAL TEAM-BUILDING EXPERIENCE First Place: Logboat Brewing Co. 504 Fay St., Columbia, 573-397-6786, logboatbrewing.com
TOP OLD-TIMER IN BUSINESS
First Place: Kat Cunningham Second Place: David Keller
TOP COMMERCIAL VIDEOGRAPHER
First Place: 44 Stone Public House Second Place: Boone County Title Co.
First Place: Spectrum Studios Second Place: Baker HD
TOP BANK
TOP HR FIRM
First Place: Boone County National Bank Second Place: Landmark Bank
Second Place: Stoney Creek Hotel & Conference Center
First Place: MoreSource Inc. Second Place: Accounting Plus Inc.
Second Place: The Canvas on Broadway
TOP IT COMPANY
First Place: Midwest Computech 311 Bernadette Drive , Columbia, 800346-8934, midwestcomputech.com
Second Place: Easy PC
sales strategy
›› Tron Jordheim talks business trends and the art of selling
Say the Right Things What if you could say the right things to the right people at the right time? I started my first business in the sixth grade with a roll of paper towels and a can of window cleaner, and I’ve been starting and running businesses ever since. My day job is leading the sales and marketing efforts for the largest privately held self-storage company in North America, StorageMart, but I’ve also managed a five-gallon bottled water service and created a dog training school. I have a long story to tell about me, but your stories might be just beginning. It’s our stories that people want to hear. It’s our stories that people buy when they do business with us. Now is the time to think about how your business would change if people found your story compelling. You’re selling something, whether it’s a concept, product or community. Whatever your story is, you have to sell that, too. But how? Learn to sell. Start by respecting the hard and fast first rule of selling: “You can’t sell anybody anything, but you can help people talk themselves into buying just about anything.” Think VAST. To help people talk themselves into buying, use well-crafted VAST language. • Visual: Your story paints a picture people can see in their mind’s eye. • Assumptive: Your story assumes other people’s participation and a successful outcome. • Suggestive: You suggest ways people can become more involved as customers or supporters. • Transformative: Your story tells how you’ll help change the world for the better. Think like a big brand. In many ways, you’re building a brand or movement. Look at sales, marketing, advertising, political rhetoric and social movements. How do they build brands around products or ideas? Right things. Right people. Right time. Saying the right things to the right people will help those people talk themselves into buying. Determining who those right people are can take hours, but first you have to know the right things to say. Often, big brands know the right things to say, and they’re often VAST and compelling. Kentucky Fried Chicken is “finger lickin’ good.” Maxwell House coffee is “good to the last drop.” “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Slogans and labels can also help you define your story in a VAST and compelling way and top it off with a “phrase that pays.” A phrase that pays is your closing statement or the ask. Think about how the profits of fast-food chains were impacted when they learned to ask, “Do you want fries with that?” Think how our buying habits changed when a random Web developer added a button that said, “Click here.”
t ro n j o r d h e i m
Illustration by Tifani Carter
You don’t have to look far to find good examples of great stories. The Mizzou Football team talks about “Missouri made,” which has become the slogan for the style of player development and coaching that have made the team successful. When Missouri fans hear this slogan, they know what it means, and they want to go see it in action. Shakespeare’s Pizza came up with a tagline a long time ago that would make everyone smirk and hungry for pizza. “Have you had a piece today?” It helps frame the story of the quirky, tongue-in-cheek way the company portrays itself. Just look at how full they are on a Friday night to see how well this sells. Metro Business College’s slogan is, “A small college can make a big difference,” and they sing it in their television ads. This VAST language sticks in your head and makes you curious. When businesses begin to tell their stories effectively, there isn’t much left to do but ask for the sale. How would your story be transformed if your language was VAST and compelling enough to be able to move right to a phrase that pays: “Let’s get you signed up right now.” “Let’s get your order processed today.” “I just need your signature on that line.” If you learn to use VAST and compelling language to tell your story, you have the right things to say. The next step is finding the right people and reaching out at the right time. CBT
➜ head of marketin g at stora g emart, director of phonesmart call center columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 75
Economic Index
›› It’s all about the numbers Art & framing for business interiors The art on your walls says a lot about your company. It also says alot about you. Let us help you create a look that leaves a lasting impression on your clients and staff.
Housing:
Labor:
Single-family home sales, May 2015: 268
May 2015-Boone County Labor force: 101,026 Employment: 96,878 Unemployment: 4,148 Rate: 4.1 percent
Single-family active listings on market, May 2015: 720 Single-family homes average sold price, May 2015: $207,484 Single-family homes median sold price, May 2015: $185,000 Single-family homes average days on market, May 2015: 56
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Single-family pending listings on market: May 2015: 237
Construction: Residential building permits, May 2015: 72 Value of residential building permits, May 2015: $11,871,217 Detached single-family homes, May 2015: 42 Value of detached singlefamily homes, May 2015: $11,409,156 Commercial building permits, May 2015: 30
* Image - Flowering Dogwood from Henry Domke Fine Art
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76 \\\ AUGUST 2015
Value of commercial building permits, May 2015: $20,084,518 Commercial additions/ alterations, May 2015: 29 Value of commercial additions/alterations, May 2015: $18,780,468
May 2015-Columbia City Labor force: 68,169 Employment: 65,428 Unemployment: 2,741 Rate: 4 percent May 2015- Columbia, Missouri (Metropolitan Statistical Area) Labor force: 101,026 Employment: 96,878 Unemployment: 4,148 Rate: 4.1 percent May 2015-Missouri Labor force: 3,105,329 Employment: 2,926,908 Unemployment: 178,421 Rate: 5.7 percent
Utilities: Water May 2015: 47,840 May 2014: 47,402 Change #: 438 Change %: 0.9 percent Number of customers receiving service on June 1, 2015: 47,719 Electric May 2015: 48,298 May 2014: 47,985 Change #: 313 Change %: 0.7 percent Number of customers receiving service on June 1, 2015: 47,872 CBT
Deeds of Trust
›› Worth more than $520,000
$23,258,000 Winterfell Boone MO Owner LLC Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC Lt 1 Keene Estates Plat 16 $20,061, 600 RR Family LLC Wells Fargo Bank Lt 1 Littlebear Industrial Park $16,300,000 McAlester Park LLC Landmark Bank Lt 27 Pt Columbia $4,750,000 505 Keene LLC US Bank Lt 101 Wingate South Condominium $3,020,000 South Canyon View LLC Landmark Bank Lt 2601 South Canyon View Condo Plat 1 $2,900,000 Mid-Missouri Veterans Housing Development Group LP Housing Authority of the City of Columbia Missouri Lt 1 Veterans Campus $1,646,477 McKee Street Apartments Missouri Housing Development Commission STR 4-48-12//SE SUR BK/PG: 279/49 FF Pt of Tract 1 $1,500,000 South 9th LLC Boone County National Bank Lt 1 Pt FF Anderson’s Add $1,446,347 American Plaza LLC Callaway Bank Lt 7A North Woods Plat 1
$1,384,762 Newton, James Camp and Jill Marie First Community Bank STR 17-47-13 $1,345,000 Mid-Missouri Veterans Housing Development Group LP Columbia Community Housing Trust Lt 1 Veterans Campus $1,315,000 EC Holdings Co. LLC Commerce Bank Lt 5-C Colonies Plat 5E
898 Deeds of trust
were issued between May 27 and June 29 $706,693 Zties Family LLC Callaway Bank LT 42 Parkade Estates Sub $685,000 RTM Properties LLC Boone County National Bank LT 4 Bethel Manor $684,000 Bonderson, William B. and Cupp, Linda B. Revocable Trust Landmark Bank Lt 406 West Lawn Plat 4
$1,100,000 Ryan, Julie and Terry Landmark Bank Lt 219 Gates at Old Hawthorne Plat 2
$670,500 Abrams, Regina and James Citizens Bank STR 9-49-13 /NE/SE SUR BK/ PG: 743/511 AC 5
$896,500 Jose, Sheena and Shibu Mid America Services Inc Lt 1 Firepond Subdivision
$610,000 Hegstorm, Patricia and Perry Boone County National Bank STR 19-49-11//NW
$840,000 Nettles, Corey A. and Julia L. Landmark Bank Lt 125 Sunrise Estates Sub
$561,600 Kiefer, Paul L. and Cathleen A. Commerce Bank Lt 199 Rocheport Lt199-222
$840,000 RSBR Investments LLC Bank of Missouri STR 5-51-12 /NE/NW FF Survey 14157
$553,025 Dampier, William J. and Kimberly A. Quicken Loans Inc. LT 5 Heritage Woods Plat 1
$840,000 Pardalos, John A. Bank of America STR 10-47-13 //SE SUR BK/PG: 1097/917 FF Tract 12
$550,000 Stauffer, Grant S. Trust Boone County National Bank Lt 50 Evergreen Acres Plat 2
$788,800 Shoppes at Red Oak LLC First State Community Bank Lt 4-A Red Oak South Plat 1A
$535,000 Thomas, Robert J. and Nancy J. Landmark Bank Lt 423A Copperstone Plat 7
$750,000 Gilpin, Jared and Tiffany Central Trust Bank STR 24-48-12 //SE SUR BK/PG: 1364/781 AC 10 FF Tract 1
Nationally recognized award-winning IT solutions right here in Columbia
$520,000 Cooney, Patrick M. and Yeong Bank of America Lt 32 Thornbrook Plat 1 CBT
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First Place Top IT Company
There IS a better way to manage your IT. Call today. 573.499.6928 MidwestComputech.com
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 77
New Business Licenses
›› Columbia residents and their upstarts
AM Designs 1705 Oakwood Court Interior design
K.O.C. Auto Embassy 2424 Paris Road Mobile auto detailing
Avacta Animal Health Inc. 1601 S. Providence Road Veterinary diagnostic testing
Midwest Mortgage Associates Co. 2909 Falling Leaf Lane, Suite J Mortgage loans
Black and Gold Tavern 2102 E. Business Loop 70 Bar Buffalo Wild Wings 505 E. Nifong Blvd., Suite 101 Restaurant and bar Conlukeli LLC 1008 Lake Point Lane Flooring installation Elements Salon 4200 Merchant St., Suite 104 Hairdresser Elite Orthopedics LLC 3516 I-70 Drive SE Physical therapy Gravity 810 E. Walnut St. Computer consultation Grill-A-Brothers LLC 124 E. Nifong Blvd., Suite B Mobile food vendor Happy Riders LLC 2300 Bernadette Drive Electric animals kids can ride at mall Just Us 806 E. Business Loop 70 Provide assistance to the disabled in their homes 78 \\\ AUGUST 2015
Mo’s Homes LLC 2409 Milicent Court Preparing homes for market/rental
Sumits Hot Yoga 505 E. Nifong Blvd., Suite 103 Yoga studio, retail apparel Summertime Entertainment LLC 200 Copper Mountain Drive Rentals of inflatable devices
Mountain Range Oil Change 3501 La Mesa Drive Mobile oil changing
The Pet Fair 1706 I-70 Drive SW Pet resort, grooming spa, retail for pets
M3 Muscle Motion Mastery 2718 Forum Blvd., Suite 3 Personal training
Therapy Unlimited 4603 John Garry Drive, Suite 10 Speech therapy, private practice
Payless-For-Mo-Hair 2318 Hollyhock Court Retail hair products to businesses/individuals Rejuvenate Mind-Body Wellness 3610 Buttonwood Drive Mental health clinic Ronnie Day Construction 207 Haywood Court General contractor
Tom Bass Homes 909 Westover St. General contractor Ultimate Security Window Armor 4213 Twin Oak Court Installing security film on glass for vehicles and commercial buildings
Seville Woodworks 1507 N. Seventh St. Woodworking
Yoga Sol 210 St. James St., Suite E Yoga
Student Transportation of America 1809 Vandiver Drive Student transportation for Columbia schools
44 Canteen 21 N. Ninth St. Restaurant, full-service bar CBT
By the Numbers
›› Boone County statistics
Assessed valuation of CPS property
Columbia’s link to education is stronger than most cities. With three colleges and a growing public school district, it’s difficult to get away from our schools. But what does our education scene really look like? The CBT went to the numbers to find out.
21.6
21.6
2012
2011
2013
2014
0
21.6
21.6
CPS percentage of grads above national average ACT score, compared to Missouri’s percentage
15
60
21.6
15
50 40
53.2 53.7 53.2 52.2 52.9 50.4 51.7 49.9 50.5 49.6 38.7 38
37.6
36 35.3 34.3 34.9 34.7 33.6 33.7
30
2013
2012
2011
COLUMBIA
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
year
59.1
58.9
COLUMBIA
year
2014 MISSOURI
MISSOURI
13
Source: MDESE 13.1 12.6 12.5 12.5 12.4
11.9 12.3
10
5
0
0 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
MISSOURI
2012 2013 2011 COLUMBIA year
CPS average years of experience for professional staff, compared to Missouri
Source: MDESE
23.5
20
0 2014
58.8
40
year
years experience
21.6
2,008,104,257
57.7
60
73.5
72.4
20
percentage
21.6
percentage
value act score
21.6
2,089,930,353
$1,500,000,000
Source: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 23.9 23.8 23.7 23.8 23.4 23.4 23.3 23.1 21.6
Source: MDESE 74.8
74.1
2,131,051,986
2,004,532,019 $2,000,000,000
Columbia Public Schools: Composite ACT score, compared to Missouri’s average
23.3 21.8
80
$2,500,000,000
Mizzou and CPS are two of the top three employers in Columbia, with 8,708 and 2,141 employees respectively.
25
CPS percentage of staff with advanced degrees, compared to Missouri
Source: MDESE
2012 2013 2011 COLUMBIA year
2014 MISSOURI
Which college professors make the most in Columbia? Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Business $116,500 Mathematical $85,170 science
Chemistry $89,100 Political $85,780 science
Psychology $105,880
Nursing $68,370
Education $73,080
Art, drama $59,760 and music
Enrollment by college
Mizzou 35,000 students 32% 67%
Columbia college 16,940 students (day, evening and extension) stephens college 673 students
Vocational $45,470 education
History $67,930 Philosophy and religion $68,520
mu libraries have:
Source: 2015 City of Columbia budget
1%
Communications $74,250
Source: University of Missouri
3.9 million volumes
53,400
journal subcriptions
7.5 million microforms
1 million e-books
The University Shuttle, which transports Mizzou students to and from campus with a $100 bus pass, will cost the city $1,201,307 in FY 2015. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 79
5 questions
➜ Columbia Area Career Center, 4203 S. Providence Road
›› Get to know your professionals
Education for Everyone
Randall Gooch, director of career, technical and adult education, Columbia Public Schools 1. What is your background? Why are you passionate about your job? As a high school student, I took as many career center classes as possible and participated in the career and technical student organization, VICA, which is now known as SkillsUSA. I attended Northeast Missouri State University, now Truman State University, where I majored in industrial technology. In college, I became involved in ROTC and went on to serve as an army officer for four years and pursue a master’s degree in counseling from Western Kentucky University. Upon leaving the military, I worked for Walmart Stores Inc. in logistics. My corporate and military experience and strong entrepreneurial vision led me to begin a custom millwork business. My career path had given me great experience, but I was feeling the call to teach. Eventually I made the move and began teaching industrial technology. My passion comes from that calling to teach and the value career and technical education has added to my life. 2. Do you have a variety of programs for all ages? We serve about 5,600 students each year. Approximately 400 are 10- to 15-year-olds each summer with our youth camp. We offer a plethora of courses and programs to approximately 2,200 high school students at three campus locations (Hickman High School, Battle High School and Columbia Area Career Center). Approximately 3,000 students take our adult offerings annually. Our community education group provides more than 400 enrichment class offerings annually. The range of FUN FACT: 80 \\\ AUGUST 2015
those offerings is wide, from beekeeping to accounting to flower arranging and many points in between.
and goals. Additionally, each program has an advisory committee of business and industry leaders who help us identify emerging trends and identify key areas needing to be taught to maintain an industry standard. Surveying students about their interest is also a useful tool in determining new programming.
3. How do the goals of these programs differ? The major goal of our camps is to develop interest and vision to assist young students in connecting with future career opportunities. For our high school students, the goal is to begin refining an interest, giving it focus, developing a technical skillset that is valued in a given field and preparing them for their next step. Professional and community education has three major goals for students: gaining essential basic skills such as learning English or obtaining a high school equivalency diploma, obtaining an industry credential that opens a new career opportunity or taking a shorter-term course that brings new enrichment and quality of life to them. 4. How do you determine course topic offerings? For secondary and some of our adult programs, state and federal funding is a strong consideration in program development and sustainability. Missouri Economic Research and Information Center data is used to determine high-demand occupations at state and regional levels, which in turn drives state and federal funding. We also work closely with district administration to ensure local financial support is in alignment with our district improvement plan
Photo by Sarah Redohl
5. There is a well-known shortage of talented workers to fill shovel-ready jobs. What is the career center doing to address this? The skilled labor shortage is real and serious. I’ve had numerous conversations with business and industry representatives and economic developers in the past few years, and most have turned to the subject of skilled labor shortage. They all express the need for pipelines of skilled workers. We continue to develop our programs to industry standards and provide opportunity for students to earn IRCs (Industry Recognized Credentials) that fall into some of these high-demand fields. Additionally, we continue to partner with business and industry internships and bring real work from their business and industries into our classrooms to engage students. We’re continuing to develop externships for teachers to be able to go into business and industry, for short durations of time, to gain valuable experience about the world of work that can make their instruction more engaging and compelling for students. CBT
➜ Gooch has been married to his wife, Sarah, for 26 years, and together they have three daughters: Abby, Elizabeth and Katie.
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flashback
➜ Dobbs Replacement Project northeast of the StadiumProvidence intersection
›› Columbia, then and now
By Alex Jacobi Photo by Emily Shepherd
Jones, Laws and Lathrop residence halls on the University of Missouri campus are seeing a makeover, beginning with the Jones Residence Hall and Dobbs Pavilion being torn down. This area, the Dobbs group, is part of a master plan of residential hall renovations that Mizzou Residential Life has been thinking about since 1997 and began planning for in 2001. Frankie Minor, director of residential life, says the first issue in making this renovation decision was weighing the cost of renovating the buildings against the cost of replacing them. The buildings received renovations in 2002, which included fixing water leakage issues and installing window air-conditioning units. That helped for a while but wasn’t a long-term solution. “It was like putting a Band-Aid on it,” Minor says.
In 2012, the decision was made to tear the buildings down and replace them. “We needed to increase the capacity on the site, and we couldn’t do that if we renovated,” Minor says. Minor says the buildings, built in 1957, are due for an upgrade. They’re not energy efficient, for example, so the upgrade will improve that aspect of the buildings. “We know more about energy efficiency now than we did in 1957,” Minor says. The buildings will also see an upgrade in space for studying and aesthetics. Jones Residence Hall has 340 beds. With Laws and Lathrop halls, the area offers 1,010 beds total. The renovations to this area will increase the total bed count to 1,269.
“The expanded footprint of the new buildings — planned to be five stories tall and styled similar to North, Center and South halls — will cover where Jones currently is and the basketball court on the south side of the building,” according to a press release from Mizzou News. The upgrade will come at a cost to students, $250 more a year. Currently, it costs $4,625 a year to live in Jones. “The buildings look out of place...” Minor says. “The upgrade allows us to have more architectural consistency.” The Residential Life Master Plan includes multiple stages. So far, 18 projects have been completed, according to the Residential Life Master Plan website. The Dobbs Replacement Project is predicted to be completed by August 2017. CBT
➜ We love Columbia business history. If you have any interesting photos and stories, please send them to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com 82 \\\ AUGUST 2015
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