Columbia Business Times January 2019

A BUSINESS TIMES COMPANY PUBLICATION JANUARY 2019 20 UNDER 40

Greg Brockmeier Brockmeier Financial Services

SPOTLIGHTING A 20 UNDER 40 ALUMNUS: Beau Aero PAGE 74

TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST INITIATIVES PAGE 71

CLASS OF 2019

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a Landmark.

I never planned to start my own business.

When my desire to help people reach their fitness goals through - Jeff Carr, owner, movement education led me to The Fitness Company open a fitness studio, Landmark Bank was there with all the business expertise I needed to get started. The team at Landmark shows genuine enthusiasm for helping me succeed. Isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t it time you became a Landmark?

LandmarkBank.com | Speak With A Banker 7 Days A Week: (800) 618-5503 | Member FDIC

2 JANUARY 2019

CONGRATULATIONS GFI DIGITAL WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THE 2019 CLASS OF 20 UNDER 40

BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SIMPLIFIED. OFFICE EQUIPMENT MANAGED PRINT SERVICES MANAGED NETWORK SERVICES ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

Andrea Paul,

Sales Manager for GFI Digital 20 Under 40 Class of 2016

573.874.5600 | GFIDigital.com 2415 Carter Lane, Suite 102 | Columbia MO 65201

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 3

SPONSORED CONTENT

EVEXIAS is a Greek word meaning “much wellness” or “exuberance about wellness.” When I was first approached by Evexias to learn more about them, I was immediately pretty interested. As a 40-year-old working mother of five, I dealt with what I felt was more than my fair share of fatigue, restless sleep, anxiety, stress and consistently being overweight. I had heard a lot about the need to be more watchful over the levels of hormones as I got older. When was older? I have always thought it was way past where I am now but after talking with the staff at Evexias, I realized that was a myth. Important levels of vitamins, minerals and hormones can change at any time in our life which can cause us to feel “off” or “not like ourselves.” The first step was to go in for paperwork and bloodwork. I really didn’t know exactly what tests they would run but found out they were looking at my hormone and vitamin levels, thyroid, and a lot of other levels which evidently tells a story about what’s going on inside my body. The bloodwork was fairly painless although I did feel like 142 vials of blood was excessive. Okay, okay! It was only 7. Maybe I’m a bit dramatic. They sent the bloodwork off for analysis and made an appointment with me for one week out to discuss the results. When I came in to review the results, it was super interesting! They went over each level with me one by one and explained where it needed to be and what it did for my body. I have never before been much of a vitamin taker but after realizing what the lack of vitamin D and all the others can do to you, that’s no longer the case! My particular results showed that I was low on testosterone, vitamins all the B’s, D, K and some other things that seemed really important. They went over the recommended solutions with me which included a combination of inserting bioidentical hormone pellets by the name of EvexiPEL, and taking supplements. And now was the moment of truth! It was time for the pellets. The process was thoroughly explained to me, and I was assured that it would not hurt. However, as a woman who’s given birth four times with no pain medication and has several tattoos, I didn’t believe them and immediately started to sweat and what might be best described as “panic.” I’m such an untrusting idiot! It was actually just as they said…nearly painless and no big deal at all. The sweaty palms immediately seemed like a giant over-reaction. They put a small bandage on the site and off I went. Here we go! The next steps…monitoring how well I sleep, my energy levels and follow up bloodwork in 6 weeks. Let’s see what happens!

In 2008, Terri SureshDeNeui, MSN, ACNP, DNPs, founded Hormonal Health, Wellness & Aesthetic, officially changing its name to EVEXIAS Medical Centers in October of 2016 after her husband, Dan DeNeui, joined the company to collaborate in the rebranding of the health and wellness business. Prior to founding EVEXIAS, Terri worked in emergency care and internal medicine throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Dan guided privately and publicly held organizations to achieve growth and development as a business executive. Combining Terri’s medical background and Dan’s business background, the two forces united to create EVEXIAS to aid patients in their total body wellness journey.

To set up Appointment, contact your local Evexias Clinic 2900 Trimble Road, Suite 107 | 573.818.3067 | www.evexiasmedical.com 6 JANUARY 2019

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 7

We are so proud to call Jaime Palmer one of our own. Her dedication to her customers and her community is truly legendary.

Strong roots. Endless possibilities. 874-8100 • Member FDIC • facebook.com/boonebank • centralbank.net 8 JANUARY 2019

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 9

Don’t wait for your home to sell.

MOVE UP with

“

Bud and Sharon lived in their multi-level home for 43 years. After developing heath issues, they needed to make a change to one level living. Making improvements to get their property market ready was a big concern. They were restricted on funds which made things even more challenging. We had sellers who were relocating internationally and hosted an open house at their property. Bud and Sharon arrived to tour the home. They fell in love with it, but were disappointed that they had to sell their home first, believing the process to be too cumbersome, and take too long. We informed them of our “MOVE UP” program. A full price offer was presented and accepted, for the purchase of their new home, because I paid cash for their old home. “MOVE UP” made it possible for Bud and Sharon to make the necessary move with ease - taking the stress out of the process. Both contracts successfully closed only 3 weeks later! All parties involved were thrilled.” – Heath Higgins

HEATH HIGGINS ABR, GRI, E-PRO, RDCPRO BEST SELLING AUTHOR | BROKER | OWNER 573-619-6308 | heath@heathhiggins.com

PriceForMyHome.com

Congratulations, Liz Tucker! CBT 20Under40 Winner

We are so very proud of you. Love, Travis, Wade, Georgia, and your Poppy & Bleu Families

congratulates.. JosĂŠ S. Caldera

Assistant City Counselor

Randy Cole

Housing Programs Manager

Megan McConachie

Strategic Communications Manager

Columbia Business Times 2019 20 Under 40 winners!

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t’s the most wonderful time of the year! There are sweet treats around every corner, parties galore, and new 20 Under 40 class members. Greg Brockmeier In August, we asked you to nominate the business professionals you admired and felt were making positive contributions in and for Columbia. We then had the difficult task of narrowing down those nominations to 20 people. Let me tell you — it can be an intimidating process for a new editor like myself to help select which brilliantly talented, self-starting business professionals should become the next 20 Under 40 class members. You’ll notice that we actually have 21 class members this year instead of 20 because, as Erica Pefferman, ON THE COVER CBT’s publisher, said, “How do you choose between Greg Brockmeier holds many titles: two brothers?!” husband, father, uncle, financial advisor, outdoorsman, volunteer, Take the opportunity to read through their profiles board member, and, now, cover on page 47 and learn more about these amazing people. model. Brockmeier is one of 21 And don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to them when business professionals named to this year’s 20 Under 40 class. you see them around town. They are all quite nice! Congratulations! Photography by We also used this 20 Under 40 Issue to highlight a Anthony Jinson. couple of businesses run by previous 20 Under 40 class members: Columbia Safety & Supply, run by 2014 class member Beau Aero, and Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, run by 2017’s Billy Polansky. Catch up with Aero on how he’s growing Columbia Safety & Supply from a locally-owned company to one with a national presence (page 74). (Let’s just say that the numbers he’s putting up are astounding!) Then read the story of how one local mother is learning to grow her own garden thanks to CCUA. The center has a few changes coming up, including moving their office when the agriculture park next to the ARC opens. Our very own graphic designer Cassidy Shearrer wrote this piece; the cause is near and dear to her heart (page 28). We also looked into one of our favorite Columbia events coming up, the True/False Film Fest. Each year, they aim to be a zero-waste event. We asked True/False Sustainability Coordinator Patricia Weisenfelder what that means, what their goals are, and how they’re working towards reaching their goals. Find out more about how they’re going zero-waste beyond simply looking at food and garbage on page 71. A BUSINESS TIMES COMPANY PUBLICATION

JANUARY 2019 20 UNDER 40

Brockmeier Financial Services

SPOTLIGHTING 20 UNDER 40 ALUMNI

Beau Aero PAGE 74

TRUE/FALSE FILM FEST

INITIATIVES PAGE 71

FAVORITE LOCAL LIBATIONS When I’m looking to indulge in a little alcohol, I skip right past the beer and wine and head straight to the liquor shelf. Have you tried one of my favorite lemonade cocktails around town?

C L ASS O F 2019

Congratulations to the new 20 Under 40 class of 2019!

Sweet Teaner This Arnold Palmer with a twist at 44 Canteen is simple but oh so satisfying. Sweet tea moonshine mixed with lemonade served in a mason jar. Bringing the south to Columbia one sip at a time!

Bleu Rosemary Lemonade One taste of this and I was hooked! The blue-tinged drink at Pressed is made with blueberry vodka, madefrom-scratch lemonade, and riesling. Enjoy it at sunset while overlooking downtown.

Basil Honey Lemonade Only around for a short time, you have to catch this drink at Dogmaster Distillery when it’s in season. On the sweet side, this goes down way too easily, but it makes you want to stay awhile.

Emma Bentley, Editor Emma@businesstimescompany.com

CONNECT WITH US:

ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com

/ColumbiaBusinessTimes

@ColumbiaBiz

16 JANUARY 2019

EDITORIAL Emma Bentley, Editor Emma@BusinessTimesCompany.com Megan Whitehead, Managing Editor MWhitehead@BusinessTimesCompany.com Tiffany Schmidt, Editorial Assistant Tiffany@BusinessTimesCompany.com DESIGN/CREATIVE SERVICES Jordan Watts, Senior Designer Jordan@BusinessTimesCompany.com Kate Morrow, Graphic Designer Kate@BusinessTimesCompany.com Cassidy Shearrer, Graphic Designer Cassidy@BusinessTimesCompany.com Sadie Thibodeaux, Graphic Designer Sadie@BusinessTimesCompany.com MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES Deb Valvo, Marketing Consultant Deb@BusinessTimesCompany.com Bonnie Hudson, Marketing Consultant Bonnie@BusinessTimesCompany.com MANAGEMENT Erica Pefferman, President Erica@BusinessTimesCompany.com Renea Sapp, Vice President ReneaS@BusinessTimesCompany.com Amy Ferrari, Operations Manager Amy@BusinessTimesCompany.com Beth Bramstedt, Editorial Director Beth@BusinessTimesCompany.com

Inside the Issue Local Recognition Women of Excellence For the inaugural Women of Excellence awards, we will be recognizing eight women in our community who are serious about continuing their education in their professional field and bringing up other women alongside them. These exceptional women will be recognized in our March issue and at a cocktail reception at the end of February. Watch our social media channels for details.

20 Under 40 Thank you to everyone who nominated their Columbia business professional role models! We are delighted and honored to showcase 21 amazing individuals this year who are making a name for themselves and their businesses in the community.

Behind the Scenes

Pictured from left to right: Sadie Thibodeaux, Sara Riegel, and Jordan Watts.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Anthony Jinson, Tiffany Schmidt, Sadie Thibodeaux CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kacen J. Bayless, Nickie Davis, Al Germond, Brenna McDermott, Kermit Miller, David Morrison, Tiffany Schmidt, Cassidy Shearrer, Jennifer Truesdale INTERNS Jordyn Miller SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription rate is $19.95 for 12 issues for 1 year or $34.95 for 24 issues for 2 years. Subscribe at columbiabusinesstimes.com or by phone. The Columbia Business Times is published every month by The Business Times Co., Copyright The Business Times Co., 2008. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. OUR MISSION STATEMENT The Columbia Business Times and columbiabusinesstimes.com strive to be Columbia’s leading source for timely and comprehensive news coverage of the local business community. This publication is dedicated to being the most relevant and useful vehicle for the exchange of information and ideas among Columbia’s business professionals. CONTACT The Business Times Co., 2001 Corporate Place, Suite 100 Columbia, MO, 65202 (573-499-1830) • columbiabusinesstimes.com

Holiday Cheer! Our company gathered together at Pressed in December to celebrate the holidays and our 2018 accomplishments. We had a lovely time!

Contributors

Kermit Miller, KRCG 13

David Morrison

Brenna McDermott

Kacen J. Bayless

@DavidCMorrison

@_BrennaMcD

@KAC3N

Jennifer Truesdale

Write to CBT editor Emma Bentley at Emma@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 17

C h a n g e y o u r p o i n t o f v i e w a t C o l u m b i a â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s n e w e s t l o u n g e a n d e v e n t s p a c e . @p ressedco mo | p ressedc omo.c om | 803 E. Wa lnu t St. Su ite 601 | Colu m bia, MO 65201 TUESDAY-THURSDAY 4p-12a | FRIDAY & SATURDAY 4p-1a | CLOSED SUNDAY & MONDAY unless booked for events

18 JANUARY 2019

JANUARY 2019 VOL . 2 5 / I SSUE 7

TA B LE OF CON T EN TS

The 20 Under 40 Issue

15 FROM THE EDITOR 17 INSIDE THE ISSUE 21 CLOSER LOOK 22 BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS 25 BUSINESS UPDATE Roo Storage

28 NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, Billy Polansky, 20 Under 40 2017

30 CELEBRATIONS Studio Home

33 MOVERS & SHAKERS 35 P.Y.S.K.

Anna Hargis, Shelter Insurance 20 Under 40 2001

39 10 QUESTIONS

Michelle Baumstark, Columbia Public Schools 20 Under 40 2007

41 A CAPITOL CONVERSATION A House Investigator

43 LOCAL PERSPECTIVE

Nickie Davis, The District CID 20 Under 40 2018

45 OPINION: AL GERMOND

Liz Tucker, owner of Poppy

A Thankless Job

20 Under 40 They are classy, sophisticated, and business savvy. They are also the movers and shakers representing Columbia and the business community in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 20 Under 40 class. Check out their glamour shots and get to know these well-deserving 21 individuals.

85 NEW BUSINESS LICENSES 86 DEEDS OF TRUST 87 ECONOMIC INDEX 89 BY THE NUMBERS 90 THIS OR THAT

Tom Bradley, The Tom Bradley Show on 93.1, Jack-FM 20 Under 40 2003

Documenting Sustainability

A Growing National Presence

In Focus: Scooter City

The True/False Film Fest aims to become a zero-waste festival this year after several years of sustainability improvements.

A local company started by a 20 Under 40 alumnus is moving into other states and making a national name for themselves.

Checking in with the City of Columbia on their partnerships with the scooter companies invading the city.

20 JANUARY 2019

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

C LOSER LOOK

Closer Look

Castaway Yarns

Tidy Keepers Express

Evexias Medical Centers

Local arts are an important part of Columbia’s culture, and connection is how that culture reinforces itself. Castaway Yarns is a yarn shop that connects a large community of knitters, crocheters, and weavers. These artists use Castaway Yarns to find various types of fibers at different price points. Vickie Spain is a teacher, customer service provider, manager, and the owner of Castaway Yarns. She values the community aspect of her business. “Knitting, crocheting, and weaving are ways in which people can retreat, meditate, and relax as they create a tangible object using beautiful and soft yarn,” she says. Spain hopes to provide a stimulating yet relaxing yarn shopping experience. Spain provides natural lighting in the store so customers can see the true colors of the yarn. Castaway Yarns also offers different classes throughout the year and Spain is available to help customers anytime they need assistance on their projects.

Keeping your space clean is a daunting task. It can be stressful to be worried about the state of your home’s or office’s cleanliness. Tidy Keepers Express helps Columbia residents eliminate that worry. They have many cleaning options, including a deluxe house cleaning option and an eco-friendly office cleaning option. Michta Sutton, founder of Tidy Keepers Express, prides herself on helping her clients manage their stress, clutter, and time. “Our service is fully customizable,” says Sutton. “We’ll help with anything inside the home provided we can reach it with a stepladder. That means even dishes and laundry.” Sutton wants to ensure that Tidy Keepers Express is passionate about helping people. She says the business is enriching their customers’ lives by giving them back the hours they would be scrubbing toilets and mopping floors. Within the year, Tidy Keepers Express is hoping to add another cleaning crew to expand their reach.

When Evexias Medical Centers decided to expand their locations to include Columbia, they did so because Columbia has a diverse, health-conscious population. It’s also a busy town — many citizens are often burning the candle at both ends trying to be all they can be in their workplace and for their families, which often leads to feeling worn down and tired. “You don’t have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired all the time,” says clinic office manager Jentry Mills. Evexias offers a way to boost energy levels and treat other symptoms of hormone imbalance levels by working with the body’s hormones, which help regulate and control bodily functions, through their bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. The benefit of being treated with bioidentical hormones over other hormone therapy options, Mills says, is that there are fewer side effects because the body recognizes the hormones as their own product instead of as a foreign object. “Our mind and body feed off of hormones,” explains Mills.

Location: 3600 I-70 Dr. SE, Ste. E Website: castawayyarns.com Contact: 573-443-1299

Website: tidykeepersexpress.com Phone: 573-303-0336 Email: tidykeepersexpress@gmail.com

Address: 2900 Trimble Rd., Ste. 107 Website: evexiasmedical.com/columbia-mo/ Contact: 573-818-3067

Are you an entrepreneur? Are you sprouting a new business? Tell us about it at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 21

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

Briefly in the News JANUARY 2019

BUSINESS

SKYLIGHTS PARTNERS WITH STORYUP XR SkyLights, an immersive in-flight entertainment company, announced a partnership with Columbia-based StoryUP XR, the makers of meditation channel Healium, to enhance passenger wellness on long-haul flights. Healium is the world’s first immersive media channel designed to combat stress using virtual and augmented reality in conjunction with user biometrics. It offers interactive VR mindfulness content driven by the user’s brain and heart activity, which are monitored by a wireless headband or other wearables.

C OMMUNIT Y

CITY OF REFUGE RECEIVES DONATION FOR REFUGEES WITH PTSD City of Refuge will continue to offer PTSD and trauma counseling to refugees within the community thanks to a donation from the employees of Veterans United Home Loans through their charitable arm, the Veterans United Foundation. City of Refuge employs two counselors who specifically focus on treating refugees with PTSD and trauma. Mid-Missouri has more than 8,000 refugees and immigrants. Each year, an average of 200 new refugees come to Columbia.

"We continue to see a large number of refugees who have PTSD. Providing them with the care and treatment needed is essential to their successful transition into our community. We are so grateful to the Veterans United Foundation for their support." — Garrett Pearson, executive director of City of Refuge.

22 JANUARY 2019

BR I EFLY I N T H E N EWS

C OM M U N I T Y

SHAKESPEARE FOR KIDS TO PERFORM IN SCOTLAND The local children’s theater, Shakespeare For Kids, under the direction of Eric Briner, has been selected to perform at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious arts festivals, as part of the American High School Theatre Festival. Shakespeare For Kids, recognized for its entertaining and innovative productions, was selected by the AHSTF board of advisors to represent Columbia.

C OMMUNIT Y

17TH ANNUAL PARTNERSHIP AGAINST HUNGER

C OM M U N I T Y

C OMMUNIT Y

ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION IN COLUMBIA IS MOVING

MEM’S GIVING TUESDAY DONATES $55,000

In 2018, the Alzheimer’s Association in Columbia saw an uptick in the number of individuals and families utilizing its programs and services. To continue meeting the needs of current clients and reaching more area residents, they are moving to a more visible and accessible location. The new office, on East Broadway, will have space to host support groups and small classes and also contain private offices for one-on-one care planning meetings with families.

Missouri Employers Mutual recognized 20 organizations on Giving Tuesday by giving away approximately $55,000 to COMOGives participants and other Missouri nonprofits. Organizations within MEM’s charitable giving focus areas, including safety, health and wellness, education, and skills development, received the gifts. This is MEM’s second year participating in Giving Tuesday, which takes place the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving, and its first year participating in COMOGives. Ten of the 20 organizations receiving gifts are COMOGives participants.

Started in Columbia in 2001, Partnership Against Hunger, a one-day food and fund drive, has grown to include 11 drop-off locations across six counties in central and northeast Missouri. The Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri holds the event to help provide food for the 100,000 people they serve every month. The 2018 Partnership Against Hunger raised $42,418 and 11,809 pounds of food to help feed neighbors in need.

" The need is great. We would not be able to help those in need without the amazing generosity of this community. We are so grateful for all of those who participated in this year’s Partnership Against Hunger." — Lindsay Young Lopez, executive director of The Food Bank

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 23

Congratulations Jolyn Sattizahn

on a well-deserved 20 under 40 recognition! We appreciate all you have done for the Chamber and our community over the past 5 years!

Engaging Business

for Community Excellence

Congratulations 2019 20 Under 40 Winner

Jay R. Lindner! President of Lindner Properties

Columbia & Sedalia Properties Forum Shopping Center • Broadway Shops • Broadway Bluffs Nifong Shopping Center • Sedalia Square

1400 Forum Boulevard #10.5 | Columbia, Missouri | 573.446.5500 | lindnerproperty.com 24 JANUARY 2019

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

BU SI N ESS U PDAT E

It's a Team Effort Former Mizzou athletes create community-based storage solutions.

BY TIFFANY SCH M IDT | P HOTOG R A P HY P ROV I DE D BY R O O STO R AG E

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 25

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

ERIC LAURENT’S PARENTS practically raised him as a Mizzou Tiger. They both graduated from the school and held a fondness for their alma mater. It is no surprise, then, that upon arriving at MU as a freshman in 2012, he walked onto the football team. Laurent went on to earn an athletic scholarship and spent the rest of his undergraduate career playing as a wide receiver. Each school year, Laurent moved apartments and found himself with a storage problem for the two weeks in between when his old lease ended and the new one started. Caught in an awkward two-week gap, he would have to find temporary storage for his belongings. The most common solution, renting a storage unit, was also a costly one, as most storage centers operate on a monthly rate. But once Laurent found a temporary solution to his storage problem, he wouldn’t think about it again until the next school year. That was until the summer of 2016; he found himself returning to MU for his MBA program without a place to store his stuff. When he began searching for a storage unit, he soon discovered that there were no open units left in the Columbia area. He then began asking friends if they had any space they could spare. A friend of a friend had a garage that was unused for the summer, so for $30 and a cheap bottle of wine, Laurent housed his belongings in the garage until his lease began. Later that summer, Laurent texted a friend with an idea that would eventually become Roo Storage.

The founders of Roo Storage: Eric Laurent, Kristen Rivers, and Jake Hurrell

SOLVING THE STORAGE PROBLEM In talking to friends and other students, Laurent realized the storage problems he faced were not unique to his situation. While walking back from a lecture on entrepreneurship with his teammate and fellow walk-on Jake Hurrell, Laurent explained his concept for a storage solution: an online rental site similar to Airbnb where individuals could rent out their extra space as a storage area. Hurrell knew immediately that he wanted to be a part of Laurent’s undertaking. “It wasn’t enough to just have a neat idea. It’s a clever idea, there’s no denying that, but the impact it could have on the communities in which we operate was really attractive to me,” says Hurrell. Much like Hurrell, when friend and classmate Kristen Rivers heard about Laurent’s 26 JANUARY 2019

idea, she was immediately interested. “The most exciting part of the idea was the potential to create a venture from the ground up. With a dad that owns a small business, I'd always possessed a desire to control my own destiny in much the same way he has,” says Rivers. The more research the team did, the more viable the idea seemed. They found that there were more storage centers in the U.S. than Starbucks and McDon-

ald’s locations combined. Storage centers are a cash cow. With low operating costs and high occupancy rates year-round, they make up a $30 billion industry. Armed with their research and the confidence that their storage solution was sustainable, Laurent and his team presented their startup business plan in their senior seminar class. The name for the company, Roo Storage, came from a like-minded namesake that also

BU SI N ESS U PDAT E

developed a successful storage solution with their existing assets: Australia’s favorite marsupial, the kangaroo.

OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM In the fall of 2016, after their senior seminar ended, the three students, now business partners, decided to move forward with their idea. The trio recruited web developers, obtained $25,000 in funding, and officially launched their website in the spring of 2018. In April 2018, they received their first reservation. The reservation came as a surprise because it was from someone they had never met and with a host that they had no previous relationship with. The team was excited about this because they had created Roo with more than just storage in mind. They loved the idea of creating a sharing economy business. Not only does the sharing economy allow users to mutually benefit, but it also creates a sense of community. “It’s neighbor helping neighbor,” says Laurent.

“We’re creating a stronger community with more trust and connection.” With community in mind, the team built their business with a two-sided market by solving a problem for one customer and offering income for another. Whether their customer is a single mother stretched for time or a college student strapped for cash, the team envisioned Roo as a way to help with both problems. “From the sharing economy side of things, you can go out and Uber and drive drunk kids around, you can Airbnb and have strangers live in your house, you can go dog walk, but with this model, I think there’s something so special about it because of the passivity of it. It’s not as intrusive; you’re just storing boxes,” says Hurrell.

THE CURRENT OUTLOOK After the website’s launch, reservations slowly started to trickle in. By mid-summer, the team realized they were out of host spaces. They would list a space and it would get reserved just two hours later. At one point, they were so low

on spaces that Hurrell moved everything out of the living room in his one-bedroom apartment and lived out of his kitchen. Roo Storage currently offers customers storage solutions based on the amount of space they require. Customers can rent anywhere from a closet space to a whole house. Additionally, Roo now offers boat and vehicle storage. The team has big plans for the future. “There is no middle ground for a sharing economy business like ours. You go all or nothing,” says Laurent. Right now, their main focus is to continue to raise funding for an expansion into the St. Louis market. If this is successful, in three to four years the team hopes to be a national business. CBT

Roo Storage hello@roostorage.com Roostorage.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 27

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

The Magic Is Not New Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture’s Opportunity Gardens grow gardeners.

BY CASSIDY SHEA R R ER | P HOTOG R A P HY P R OV I D E D BY B R A N DY S C H R AG

THERE IS AN OLD PROVERB that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Change the proverb to talk about plants and it might as well be the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture’s mission statement: “To enhance our community’s health by connecting people to agriculture and the land through hands-on learning opportunities from seed to plate.” Brandy Schrag’s story is one of many that can be told about the impact CCUA is having on Columbia. 28 JANUARY 2019

READY TO LEARN Schrag is experimenting in her kitchen. For a busy, wheelchair-bound, single mom, this is a big deal. A few years ago, Schrag probably couldn’t have identified a basil plant. Now, thanks to CCUA, she has homemade pesto in her freezer. Schrag is learning about gardening through CCUA’s Opportunity Gardens program. Trish Woolbright, the Opportunity Gardens coordinator, came out to Schrag’s home with volunteers and helped her install a raised

garden bed, filled it with soil and compost, planted seedlings, and advised her on upkeep. Woolbright even checked to make sure Schrag had a gardening hose. Schrag is now in year two of the three-year program and continues to receive on-site mentorship for her garden. Any family that qualifies for the free- and reduced-lunch program at Columbia Public Schools qualifies for Opportunity Gardens. “I’m finding that I’m branching out a little more,” says Schrag. “Until I started this, I was

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture Vision CCUA envisions a community transformed by good food for all and the skills to grow it.

Motto Food is good.

Founded 2009

First Opportunity Garden planted 2011

2018 Opportunity Gardeners 96 households (including 44 new households)

Board of Directors • • • • • • • • • • •

Sarah Bantz, president Jenny Young, president-elect Lisa Guillory, secretary Caroline Kobe, treasurer Jim Carrel John Emery Robbie Price Jeff Chinn Molly Froidl Leslie Meyer Eleazar Gonzalez

N ON PR OFI T

completely ignorant, even about the herbs. I didn’t even know how those grew! I guess I thought they magically appeared.” Woolbright sees people like Schrag expanding their agricultural literacy every day. “I get to watch adults learn things all the time, and it is magical,” says Woolbright. “It goes from people who have never touched dirt and who eat mainly fast food to getting them into gardening and cooking at home all the way to selling produce and anywhere in between.” Last year, Woolbright had more than 350 mentoring experiences. Those experiences included teaching gardeners the difference between weeds and peppers, how to plant garlic, and how to cook greens. She taught Schrag how to can her tomatoes, and this year, Schrag canned 27 pints of tomato products from just two plants. Her particularly picky boys even liked the salsa she made.

PARTNERING WITH PEOPLE Partnerships like the one between Schrag and Woolbright are the norm at CCUA. Aside from the Opportunity Gardens program, CCUA partners with the Boys and Girls Club, Lucky’s Market, Kilgore’s Pharmacy, Patriot Place, Columbia Public Schools, and many others. No one partnership is like another; they are all tailored to the group or individual. “Through those partnerships, we can reach lots of different people,” says Billy Polansky, CCUA’s executive director. “With Opportunity Gardens, each one of our clients is different, and the service is personalized to help that person be successful as success is defined for them.” For Schrag, that success required a raised garden bed that she could access in her wheelchair. Kilgore’s, for example, succeeds when children from the Nora Stewart Early Learning Center learn that vegetables come from the ground, not the grocery aisle. Lucky’s succeeds when it’s able to strengthen community ties by donating produce grown in their CCUA-managed milk crate garden to the Food Bank. And all of this learning and community-building equals success for CCUA. “We really don’t do anything on our own,” says Polansky.

AGRICULTURE PARK Over the next year, CCUA will transition their headquarters over to the new agriculture park located at Clary-Shy Park on West Ash. The most welcome change will be space and infrastructure. CCUA has been growing produce at their urban farm on Smith Street for a decade, though you could say they outgrew their space a long time ago. The farm currently has five sheds and too many tarps. The nonprofit is less efficient without proper storage space. “Equipment needs to be protected,” Woolbright says. “Straw bales really suck when they get wet and moldy. They’re ridiculously heavy.” The city approved the first phase of the Agriculture Park in 2017, but it has been in the works for the last three years. CCUA, the city, Sustainable Farms and Communities, and the Columbia Farmers Market (which has been at that site since 1980) have come together to plan and promote the project. The park will house the farmers’ market (under a covered pavilion), CCUA offices, an outdoor classroom, a barn and greenhouse, a teaching kitchen, an urban farm, flexible event space, and soccer fields. “It’s not just a farmer’s market, it’s not just our urban farm, it’s not just a city park — it’s all of these things,” says Polansky. “And there is this sort of magic that comes from how they intersect.” Aside from the infrastructure and community, the outreach opportunities will grow too. “I’m very excited to have such a big presence in town to entice more people to want to garden and eat healthier food,” Woolbright says. “And I hope it can be a place they can learn and ask their questions and be inspired.” Nothing should change with the Opportunity Garden program. It will continue to do what it does best — empowering gardeners in their own homes. Schrag is excited for the next growing season. “I want to do my own pickles!” she says. She also hopes to add trellises for cucumbers, which, she has learned, have vines that like to climb. CBT

Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture 1207 Smith St. 573-514-4174 columbiaurbanag.org COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 29

Jon Trigg and Aaron Dolan

2008

2011

Aaron Dolan and Jon Trigg start Studio Home in their basement.

After four months, they moved to their first location, 109 E. Walnut.

Studio Home gets their first large-scale project, the Beta Theta Pi House at 520 S. College Ave.

30 JANUARY 2019

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

C ELEBRAT I ON S

Creating a Sense of Place Studio Home celebrates 10 years and a new location.

BY BETH BRA MSTEDT | P HOTOG R A P HY BY A N TH O N Y J I N S O N

AARON DOLAN’S ORIGINAL PLAN was to spend his career in hospitality and event planning. When he realized his relentless energy and intense desire to create was not conducive to a desk job, he refocused his studies on architecture and interior design and eventually opened Studio Home with partner, Jon Trigg, in 2008. After 10 years, Dolan and Trigg are breathing new energy into their lives and their business and looking forward to the future. This includes a brand-new store with fresh merchandise offerings and a more approachable and accessible location.

A FRESH SPACE The recently opened Studio Home space at 401 South Providence is more visible and more welcoming for clients. “It’s a crisper, cleaner look for our vision,” says Dolan. “And we’re introducing some lower price points to make what we do more accessible.” The new price points include brands like Alder and Tweed, Nuevo, and Selamat. “I’ve found product that I’m proud to bring in at a lower price point,” says Dolan. “It has style.” That new product is highlighted in a showroom featuring additional windows, taller ceilings, and a more spacious layout. Clients will still recognize the deep blue accent wall and wooden beams that frame the space. In addition, white shiplap walls add a fresh look. “In each location we’ve brought something with us from our former spaces,” Dolan shares. This move is no exception. “This environment will help us provide our clients with the more sophisticated, clean, edited look they want,” Dolan says. Studio Home not only offers a retail showroom, but full-scale custom art framing as well

as interior design services for both small and large projects. Dolan hopes the new location will help them have less overhead, more walk-in traffic, and additional diversification in income streams. “We want to build a sustainable, healthy business as we continue to grow,” he says.

PROVEN RELATIONSHIPS As Dolan reflects on the last 10 years, he remembers the company’s clients and the ongoing relationships he’s built with them. “That’s always been the driver,” he says. Dolan believes a space should showcase the most interesting things about a client and highlight their personality and life. “That’s what we’re here for — to assure the space reflects who and what our clients are,” he says. “Designing is very creative yet very organized and detailed. It’s fun, but we have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders. We want to provide our customers with a sense of place.” He admits the process takes time, energy, and thought. Still, Dolan likes the adrenaline rush of it all. “It’s high-energy and exciting,” he says. “Always changing.” As co-owner, Dolan acts as the advisor, creative agent, and organizer for his clients. “Jon and I promised ourselves that we would always be client-centric,” he says. “Our projects need to reflect our customers. They can’t ever be formulaic.”

their vision, implementation, follow-through, and general accountability to their clients and continue to set them apart. Megan Carter is one of the company’s staff members feeding that plan. She joined the team in 2015 and communicates with clients, keeps projects organized, and prepares for client presentations. “I’m excited to see what new relationships we will build now that we’re more accessible,” she says. Trigg has always loved houses and rooms. He enjoys taking existing spaces and making them more functional. He also worked for years as a studio artist. “I still create art, though not quite in the same way. I frame the work of others and hunt for cast-off interior objects to resuscitate,” he says. “I simply present things in a new way, out of their original place, problem solving for an angle to give a room, art, or object new life.” The team is excited about the future they can create together. “As the community grows, we want to grow along with it,” Dolan says. “Jon has a lot of ideas, and now we have the space to do them.” They do admit that the challenges of growing a small, local business are increasing, especially with the availability of online shopping. Many other local artisans are retiring. “I’m not willing to give in to our whole world becoming generic,” Dolan says. “People need somewhere to go to get a unique find and be inspired.” CBT

AN EXCITING FUTURE Dolan is also incredibly proud of his talented team. “They are approachable and down to earth. Everyone has something they’re good at, and we work to accentuate those strengths,” he says. Dolan believes those qualities will inform

Studio Home 401 S. Providence Rd., Ste. 101 573-445-4122 studiohomeinteriors.com

2012

2018

The company expands and moves to 1029 E. Walnut St., next to the Sager Braudis Gallery.

On October 23, Studio Home got their mascot, Hazel.

On December 1, Dolan and Trigg open Studio Home in their new location at 401 S. Providence. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 31

Congrats,

ARIC! As General Manager of The Broadway, A DoubleTree By Hilton, Aric is an accomplished professional and leader.

We are so pleased he’s receiving the recognition he deserves as one of this year’s 20 Under 40!

We look forward to celebrating your continued success!

offers congratulations to the Columbia Business Times 2019 Class of 20 Under 40! Aric Jarvis Arminta Phelps Ben Hamrah Chrystal Graves Danny Hammack Greg Brockmeier Jaime Palmer Jay Lindner Jose Caldera Josh Devine Jolyn Sattizahn Judson Ball Krista Kippenberger Lara Pieper Lee Sensintaffar & Gabe Garcia Liz Tucker Megan McConachie Mike Nolan Randy Cole Sara Cochran * The ranking may not be representative of any one client’s experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of advisors future performance. No fee is paid in exchange for this award/rating.

Greg Brockmeier Financial Advisor 302 Campusview Drive, Ste. 212 Columbia, MO

1111 E. Broadway | Columbia, MO 65201 573-875-7000 The BroadwayColumbia.com 32 JANUARY 2019

(573) 442-6146 Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/ SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services. Advisors, Inc. Brockmeier Financial Services, LLC is not a registered broker/ dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.

B U SINESS • PEOP LE • VOIC ES • F YI

M OVER S & SH AKER S

Movers & Shakers JANUARY 2019 BANKS

Ragtag Film Society

Tim Holtsman

Dr. Piyusha Singh

The board of directors of the Ragtag Film Society and Jeremy Brown, RFS executive director, announced the selection of new managers for both projects under the society’s umbrella: Barbie BANKS, as the managing director of Ragtag Cinema, and Camellia Cosgray, as the managing director of True/False Film Fest. “I can’t think of two better people to have at the helms of Ragtag Film Society’s flagship projects,” Brown commented. “Both Barbie and Camellia bring an incredible dedication to their work and a passion for the impact of independent cinema on our everyday lives.”

MidwayUSA announced the promotion of Tim Holtsman to engineering manager. Holtsman has been an industrial engineer with MidwayUSA for nearly five years, adding significant value to the organization through his work on process design, process improvement, and analysis projects. Holtsman holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial manufacturing systems engineering and an MBA, both from MU, and is an ASQ-certified Six Sigma Black Belt.

Following a thorough nationwide search, Columbia College president Dr. Scott Dalrymple announced the promotion of Dr. Piyusha Singh as the college’s new provost and vice president for academic affairs. Singh had served as the interim provost since June. In this role, Singh will be charged with ensuring curricula is consistent throughout the college’s day and evening higher education and online education programs.

Jason Morgan Central Bank of Boone County has named Jason Morgan assistant vice president of facilities management and assistant security officer. In this role, Morgan will continue leading the facilities management department and holding responsibility for ensuring employees, customers, buildings, and assets are protected. Morgan has worked for CBBC for three years as the facilities management officer and has worked in facilities management for 17 years.

The Missouri Public Transit Association recently announced the election of Leah Christian, parking manager for the City of Columbia, to its board of directors. Christian has more than a decade of public service experience. As parking manager, she oversees operations for Columbia’s parking utility and the city’s public transportation system, Go COMO. Prior to working in this capacity, Christian served as a transportation planner for the Columbia Area Transportation Study Organization.

David Crader

Austin Painter

The Bank of Missouri announced that David Crader will be retiring from the day-to-day operations of the bank after 44 years in the banking industry. A community banker since 1980, Crader started a legacy the day he agreed to lead what was then The Bank of Perryville, 22 years ago. Crader built a community bank that is responsive to the communities in which it is privileged to serve.

Columbia Safety & Supply is excited to promote Austin Painter from sales account manager to regional sales manager for the Great Lakes region of the U.S. and Canada. Painter has been with the group since July 2017. His new role includes managing a team of sales account managers and serving industries in his territory as a gear expert. CBT

Dr. Peter Hofherr St. James Winery is pleased to announce that its CEO, Dr. Peter Hofherr, was named the 2018 Agricultural Leader of the Year by the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow. Kristin Perry, executive director of ALOT, explains that this award is given annually to a non-ALOT alumnus who has contributed greatly to Missouri agriculture and the ALOT program.

Jake Taylor Jake Taylor, a first-generation farmer from Ashland, Missouri, has been elected to the MFA Oil Company Board of Directors. Taylor will represent the Central District on MFA’s eight-member board. Taylor raises row crops and cattle with his wife in Boone County and also manages farm ground for his family in Henry and Johnson counties.

HOLTSMAN

MORGAN

Leah Christian

CRADER

SINGH

CHRISTIAN

PAINTER

Are you or your employees making waves in the Columbia business community? Send us your news at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 33

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P E R S ON YOU SH OU LD KN OW

ANNA HARGIS

DIREC T OR OF ADV E RTISING | SHELTER INSURANCE | AGE : 53 Job description: Responsible for the co-op advertising program for 1,300-plus Shelter Insurance agents in 15 states as well as overall corporate advertising, social media, and brand protection for the companies. Years lived in Mid-Missouri: 35 years. Original hometown: Washington, D.C. Education: Bachelor’s in journalism and master’s in communication from MU. Favorite volunteer/community activity: Insurance Marketing and Communication Association, Chamber Ambassadors, singing in a music group at the St. Thomas More Newman Center, and volunteering with my son’s school and his Boy Scout troop. Professional background: I joined a startup ad agency right out of college for a few months before going to KOMU 8 as a promotion writer and producer. I spent 11 years at KOMU, and when I left, I was the marketing and promotion director. I then joined Shelter Insurance as director of advertising and will celebrate 20 years there in March 2019. A favorite recent project: I have a special love for the creative side of the business. We recently created two new commercials with local production company Chimaeric. We usually have six to eight weeks of pre-production work before we start shooting a commercial, but our latest project was pushed up. We did our pre-production work in two weeks, and while it was hectic and crazy, I was so proud of my team. A Columbia businessperson I admire and why: Nancy Allison. We worked together at Shelter’s corporate office when I

Photography by Sadie Thibodeaux

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 35

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

first joined the company and I was amazed at her extensive knowledge of insurance. When she was considering leaving the security of the corporate world to become an agent, we talked about it and I was so impressed with her for making the leap. She’s an amazing businesswoman and community supporter. Why I’m passionate about my job: I love helping Shelter’s agents succeed and watching our brand grow. The agents are the reason I get a paycheck, so it’s important to make our advertising program work well for them. I love working with them to find a marketing mix that works, and it’s so rewarding when they call and tell me how much my team or I helped them succeed as a business owner. If I weren’t doing this for a living, I would: I wish I could say that I’d be a professional singer or actor, but I don’t think I’m that good at either. I enjoy both, so it would be fun to try. What people should know about this profession: The insurance profession tends to attract people who want to help others, and that makes for a very rewarding career choice. As far as the advertising profession, it’s constantly changing and you have to work hard to stay relevant without constantly chasing after the latest fad that might not work out in the long run. The next challenge facing my industry: There are several, but one we’re watching closely is the projected number of retirements coming. I’ve heard a figure of 400,000 baby boomers retiring in the next five years. The loss of knowledge and experience is a big challenge, but it’s also a great opportunity for people who are willing to learn and work hard. While we need agents, we also need people in claims, underwriting, IT, accounting, and so much more. My next professional goal: I haven’t set one for 2019 yet. But I set a goal a few years ago to become a leader in the Insurance Marketing and Communication Association. It’s the oldest organization devoted to insurance marketing and communication, and it’s been a great resource for me. I hadn’t led a major industry organization like that, so it was an honor when I was asked to join the executive 36 JANUARY 2019

board. I just finished my time as chairwoman and I’m currently immediate past chairwoman. I’m finishing some key projects for the organization, but plan to stay involved as a member once my term is up.

Family: My husband, Dave, and our 13-yearold son, Scotty.

Biggest lesson learned in business: Do the right thing. No matter what. There are temptations to cut corners at times and I’ve seen people do it through the years. Hold on to your integrity and you’ll always be on the right track.

Accomplishment I’m most proud of: My son is adopted, and it was a difficult three-year process. My husband and I made it through the extensive paperwork and setbacks, and we’ve had the privilege of raising this terrific young man. Being the best parent I can possibly be is my greatest accomplishment, so I’m still a work in progress.

How I want to impact the Columbia community: I surprised myself by staying in Columbia after attending MU. I’d like to think I’ve made a small impact through my work and volunteer activities, I’m also proud to be part of one of the major employers in the community and I’m going to work hard to keep Shelter strong and growing so we continue to have amazing career opportunities. Greatest strength: My communication skills. Greatest weakness: Not saying no to things. What I do for fun: Spending time with my family and friends. Also traveling, reading, listening to music, and watching movies.

Favorite place in Columbia: Shelter Gardens. I love walking there in every season.

Most people don’t know that I: enjoy spending time in wilderness. I married an Eagle Scout who loves to canoe, hike, and generally wander around in the wilderness, and I’ve grown to love it too. We’ve had some crazy adventures (ask me about getting chased by a moose), but we’ve got some fun stories to tell. You were part of the inaugural 20 Under 40 class of 2001, what does that mean to you: It was such an exciting surprise. I was recognized with a great group of people, and I remember thinking how special it was to be part of that group. CBT

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1 0 QU EST I ON S

3. What does your typical day look like? No one day is like another. I may have a day packed with meetings, project deadlines, and media interviews only to have that change by a crisis or safety issue impacting a school or the district. My office is responsible for a number of things outside of what the public may see with regard to media relations, including implementation of all areas of the district’s communications plan, crisis management, the district volunteer program, Partners In Education, CPS-TV (our cable-access channel), special events, and representing the school district on community boards and commissions.

Q&A MICHELLE BAUMSTARK Community Relations Director, Columbia Public Schools

1. What’s your background? I’ve been the director of community relations for Columbia Public Schools since 2005. I manage the communications, public relations, and community engagement strategies for the school district. From 1999 to 2005, I worked at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Prior to that, I was a newspaper reporter. I’m a proud graduate of MU’s School of Journalism. 2. What’s it like keeping Dr. Peter Stiepleman going at full speed? Dr. Stiepleman and I joke about our working style quite often. We’ve worked together for a number of years, including some time prior to his role as superintendent. He knows I won’t shy away from difficult situations — he teases that he can hear my voice reacting to something he’s thinking, saying, or doing often before it happens. But I think we both agree that it’s important for there to be that level of understanding and respect for each other to keep things moving at the pace necessary to operate Missouri’s fifth largest school district.

4. What drew you to your position? It allows me to blend the only two things I ever wanted to be when I was little: a teacher and a reporter. It’s the best of both worlds to do public relations in the field of education. I still use all the skills I learned in journalism school, but I get to do it in an environment that embraces helping others work and learn how to be their best every day. 5. What don’t people know about working in education that they should? It’s one of the only fields where you can see the impact of your efforts blossom over time and you can take pride in the success of others. From the perspective of a school communications professional, working in education is about developing and investing in an effective public relations program that promotes planned, ongoing, two-way communication between the school and its community. This is key to building an honest relationship between the school district and its stakeholders, resulting in better educational programs and experiences for all of our learners. 6. What would people be surprised to know about your job? The spokesperson part is probably the smallest portion of my overall responsibilities. In this job, you have to have really thick skin and be able to take criticism well. I find that criticism often comes from a good, well-intentioned placed even when it’s angry, passionate, and emotional. You have to have the mindset that it’s not personal; it’s about doing what’s right for kids.

7. What are some challenges you face in your job? The biggest challenge is technology. This is an area that has changed quite a lot over the last decade. We live in a world of instant, 24/7 access to information. That creates expectations that can be difficult to live up to. As a district, we’ve worked to implement technology and strategies to help improve not only the frequency of communication, but also the speed with which it’s delivered. School communicators have to manage the flow of information on all fronts, including being able to handle the news media asking about incidents (true or rumored) texted from student cell phones or posted on social media, as well as the normal day-to-day of communications. 8. Describe a success you’re most proud of: I’m proud of the work our district has done to complete a 10-year longrange facility and bond plan to build and open multiple schools to address growth. I’m also proud of our continued focus on achievement, enrichment, and opportunities for our students. 9. What inspires you to get up each day and make a difference? I’m inspired by what I see on a daily basis in our schools. We have an amazing school district. You may not realize just how special our schools are until you experience education elsewhere. Columbia is a pretty great place. The support and belief our community has in our schools is something that the school district values. We continue to get up and go to work every day to maintain the trust that has been instilled in us and to make sure that we are providing the best possible learning experiences for all of our students and families. 10. Tell us something about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume. I left the Washington, D.C., area to become a Midwesterner when I enrolled at MU. I fell in love with Columbia, met my future husband at a Mizzou football game, and never left. Now I just try to convince the rest of my east coast family to move to Missouri. My count is up to six so far. CBT

Check out past questions and answers with your favorite Columbia business people online at ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 39

Judson, thanks for all you do to keep our dreams alive and for shooting most of them down. Love, Logboat Fam

40 JANUARY 2019

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

A CA P I TO L CON VER SAT I ON

The House Investigator BY KRCG 13’ S K ER M I T M IL L ER

IN EVERY ELECTION CYCLE, there are lawmakers who watch from the sidelines. They wait for their own terms of office to come to an end and feel relieved at having not spent the summer raising money, pressing the flesh, eating bad campaign food, and stressing over whether they have any real future in politics. Term limits dictate the end for some. But a conscious decision not to seek office again can also be involved. In any case, these so-called lame ducks generally return to the private lives from which they came with an inclination to assess the impact they have had on the process of government. Jefferson City Republican Jay Barnes is one such elected official. His political career ended (or at least entered hiatus) at the end of 2018, when his term as the state representative from Missouri’s 60th House District expired. And while he recoils from the use of the term “legacy,” he arguably changed the course of political history in Missouri. Whether it’s for an entire chapter or just a footnote, Barnes will get tagged as the man who brought down former governor Eric Greitens. Barnes chaired the Special House Investigative Committee on Oversight, the bipartisan panel that took testimony from the people involved in Greitens’ sex scandal and alleged abuse and intimidation that came to light in January, when St. Louis station KMOV broke the story, and lasted until the former governor resigned at the end of May. The committee also reviewed the allegations that Greitens improperly used a list of donors from the veteran’s charity that he ran before running for office to raise money for his gubernatorial campaign. And the panel was beginning to look into A New Missouri, the dark-money nonprofit organization that promoted the Greitens’ agenda without having to reveal its backers, until the governor brought everything to a halt by leaving office.

In July, weeks after Greitens’ departure, Barnes filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission to keep the investigative ball rolling. The Greitens team went to court last fall hoping to keep A New Missouri records out of the MEC’s hands. “There are a thousand other things I would have rather done this spring than be buried in that,” Barnes told me during a recent exit interview. “It became consuming. I missed a lot of votes.” From its first meeting in early March 2018, the special investigating committee all but disappeared into the shadows. The panel first held hearings at the Jefferson City Police Department to protect the identities of witnesses in the sex scandal. The meetings later moved to the capitol, but continued behind closed doors, at least until the subject matter shifted to the charity donor list. During this process, Barnes would say absolutely nothing about the progress of the investigation, allowing the release of a pair of formal reports to do the talking. In May, when the committee agenda shifted to the dark money questions, Greitens threw in the towel and the investigation ground to a halt. At that point, the public might have assumed a goal had been reached. “There was no goal other than to fully, fairly, and swiftly investigate what had happened,” Barnes cautioned during the interview. “[Greitens’ resignation] ended the committee’s jurisdiction to investigate further.” Greitens quit just hours after a Cole County judge said he would have to turn over subpoenaed information about his political campaign and A New Missouri. The natural conclusion was that the light was about to be turned on to the dark money, and that was the last straw for the people involved with it.

Barnes says he is not convinced that was the reason. But he is convinced he was onto something outside the law. “I believe the scheme they set up at A New Missouri is illegal under Missouri law,” he told me. “That’s why I filed a complaint with the Missouri Ethics Commission. I thought it would set a bad precedent for a legislative committee to continue an investigation of a former executive branch official after they had resigned from office.” Perhaps, but the timing of events leaves the impression that the committee’s work prompted Greitens’ exit. And Barnes was the face of that committee. “Have you made peace with the idea that it’s probably going to stick to your page forever?” I asked the lawmaker. “I don’t think legislators have legacies,” Barnes responded, trying not to look annoyed. “I think that the inside baseball people in Missouri politics may remember that, but your average person on the street has much more important things to think about. People forget very soon. They’ve got families to raise and jobs to go to ... and those things are much more important in life than any hasbeen state legislator.” Barnes will return to the private practice of law and a family with young children. He insists he is completely comfortable with the idea. We spoke just days before Governor Mike Parson appointed State Treasurer Eric Schmitt to replace Senator-elect Josh Hawley as attorney general. I asked Barnes if he had been interested in that job. He said he would have taken the phone call, but never had any reason to expect it. CBT Kermit is an award-winning 45-year veteran journalist and one of the longest serving members of the Missouri Statehouse press corps.

Kermit Miller anchors the 6 and 10 p.m. news for KRCG 13. You can reach Kermit at kmiller@krcg.com COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 41

CONGRATULATIONS DANNY HAMMACK! 2 0 U N DER 4 0 | CLA SS OF 2 0 1 9

From All of Your Friends at Columbia Honda and Joe Machens Dealerships

42 JANUARY 2019

B USINESS • PEOPLE • VOIC ES • F YI

LOCA L P E R S P EC T IVE: N I C KI E DAVI S

COMO’s Hooligans of Yesteryear BY N ICKIE DAVIS | P HOTO P R OV I D ED BY T H E DI STR I C T C I D

WHAT IS IT ABOUT OUR DOWNTOWN, The District, that is so f-ing awesome?! Specifically, what is it about these downtown businesses that make them feel like home when you walk inside? Or that you can go inside knowing that your day will be improved by it? Well, after living in Columbia my entire life (minus six years after high school), owning a business on Ninth Street for five years, and now working for The District as the director of outreach with all these small businesses inside our boundaries, I think I’ve figured it out. It’s the owners. It takes a certain type of person to want to be a business owner in the first place, and it takes dedicated business owners to survive in the ever-changing world of consumers’ wants and needs. The owners are the hearts of these amazing businesses that bring so much to Columbia and Mid-Missouri as a whole. But

here’s the remarkable thing about it: These owners weren’t always business owners. In fact, many of them were just crazy, 1980s punkloving, Sub Shop-working hooligans. Remember a little place called Shattered? Not the Shattered that was on Broadway from 2000 to 2007, during my underage partying days, but the Shattered on Cherry Street circa 1985 to 1999. Here’s the best description I found: “Think of Shattered as a guaranteed hangover. And we mean that in the best possible way. Enjoy the late-night debauchery, but drink lots of water and pop some Advil,” states Clubplanet.com Would you be surprised to find out that many current downtown business owners partied hard there together? A few frequent visitors were Christina Kelly, owner of Makes Scents; Tracy Lane, director of the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival; Deb Rust and Robin Weatherford,

owners of Tellers; and Leigh Lockhart, owner of Main Squeeze Café. They all frequented the club on Cherry Street. Back during that era, Jeni Mae McKenzie, owner of Ophelia’s Flowers, could be found working at Sub Shop, and like so many others, she had various radio shows on KOPN. “The KOPN staff hated us,” McKenzie remembers. “But people listened to our shows! We used to rule this town. Ha! Terrorized it, really.” Jesse Garcia, owner of Roxy’s, used to paint and remodel houses before establishing his first business, Sapphire Lounge (and before my personal favorite, Sideshow), where Confetti Craft is now. Dan Dethrow — creator and namesake of Dan Bombs, Columbia’s unofficial drink — started his bartending career at Tellers. Personally, I know I drove Sabrina GarciaRubio crazy back in my high school days around the year 2000 when I’d go into her store, Maude’s Vintage, just to play dress up and leave without ever buying anything. (Sorry, dude!) Will Beevers, who recently helped open DrinKraft, used to run Cool Stuff in 2012. True/ False Film Fest’s David Wilson used to intro the movies at Ragtag (the 10th Street version) and half of the people there to “see the movie” were only there to see him. Remember the spicy hot dogs and personal-sized microwave pizzas? It is these businesses, and the history people have with them, that make up the heart of The District in downtown Columbia. It’s these business owners, the ones that ruled and terrorized the streets of downtown, that have grown up to open their businesses in a place they now happily call home. They are now creating jobs for our younger generation, the generation that won’t get off the sidewalks with their damn Birds and rip down our trees. *shakes fist towards hooligans* We’ve all been that age. But imagine what these kids will bring to our future: With the strong leaders and mentors they have within The District community, I’m excited to see what’s next. Note: Names have not been changed because they’re all damn proud of it! CBT

Nickie Davis is the director of outreach for the Downtown Community Improvement District. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 43

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The City’s Most Thankless Job BY A L GERMON D

IT WOULD APPEAR TO be a thankless job. Wanted: a city manager for a highly-rated, diversified community of medium size in America’s heartland. Great place to live and raise a family, educationally advanced, with a strong medical presence and numerous other stabilizing factors to shout about. What in the past would have been a plum for any upward-bound municipal administrator has become somewhat tarnished.

There’s a shelf-life for city managers. Mr. Mike Matthes — a good man with his heart in the right place — was selected for the city manager position by the previous mayor, Dr. Bob McDavid, with the assent of a more passive, less controlling city council. But Mr. Matthes was increasingly marginalized by a more controlling, hands-on mayor, Brian Treece, backed by several hyperactive, agenda-driven city council members in partic-

ular, nursed by a lengthening string of activists and special interest groups. For whoever applies and is ultimately selected, things will turn out to be no different. But good luck to whoever lands the job! So, who’s really in charge now? Why, the mayor and the city council, of course. In sum, we actually know very little about the ring leaders we elect to preside over this municipal circus. Curiously absent in this journalistically-enriched city is any informative detail about those we elect and the burgeoning group of sideline participants. Where are their biographies? Voters should be entitled to have the full curriculum vitae of each person we elect including their education as well as life stories of employment and accomplishments. With only a fraction of those duly qualified ever bothering to vote in the April elections, the city is overwhelmingly governed by people who have skillfully cultivated a select group of like-minded voters who join the fray to advance their agendas. Absent (with only the feeblest efforts to ascertain) is knowledge of how residents feel about the myriad of activities the city is involved with. What we learn from annual “feel-good” surveys is pure bunk and a waste of money. What we really want to know is how residents are thinking about their city and the direction in which it is headed. If voters across town could choose, would things have turned out any differently for the growing list of initiatives that have been spurned by the current city council? Would voters have welcomed the CVS pharmacy instead of blowing more than a million bucks on some park land at a busy intersection? The next municipal election — Tuesday, April 2, 2019 — will offer voters the opportunity to affect change. That is, if one or more of the three incumbents up for re-election is tossed out. Looking over the recent past, the present city council really has very little in the way of positive accomplishments to hang its hat on. And for this great city we call home, that’s really rather embarrassing. CBT Al Germond is the host of the Columbia Business Times Sunday Morning Roundtable at 8:15 a.m. Sundays on KFRU. He can be reached at algermond@businesstimescompany.com. COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 45

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COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 47

AGE: 36

JUDSON BALL Co-founder and Director of Marketing, Logboat Brewing Co.

Judson Ball took a bit of a tour around Missouri while earning his bachelor’s degree and finding his niche in the business world. His journey took him to Drury College, in Springfield, and then Meramec Community College, in St. Louis, to play soccer. While at Meramec, he got excited about a career that centered around music and marketing. So he finished his associate degree and accepted a full-ride scholarship to study marketing and play soccer for Columbia College. Ball connected with his marketing classes immediately. “I loved brainstorming creative ways to connect people with goods or services,” he says. Ball’s favorite projects included taking products with poor sales numbers and developing new marketing and branding strategies for them. This skill set has been a key part of Logboat’s success in a highly competitive industry. Before opening Logboat, Ball got his wish to combine a career in music and marketing. He worked as the assistant manager at The Blue Note and Mojo’s for almost nine years. While there, Ball discovered the need for a local craft brewery. “Customers

from all over the state would come into Columbia for shows and always wanted local beer,” he says. “At that time, there were zero breweries here that sold packaged beer.” The demand became so high that Ball worked on a business plan with two close friends, Tyson Hunt and Andrew Sharp, and they opened Logboat in the spring of 2014. “It was clear to me from the beginning that Judson brought a great deal of talent to the Logboat ownership team,” says Todd Hoien of Hawthorn Bank, one of Logboat’s business partners. “His understanding of marketing, social media, social etiquette, and expertise in cold calling have all proven invaluable to Logboat, helping to transform the brewery into an impressively successful enterprise.” According to Ball, 2019 is going to be a big year for Logboat. “My personal goals are to focus on diversifying our portfolio of beer as well as strategizing to expand our distribution footprint,” he says. “We haven’t taken on new territory in more than two years, and we’re anxious to begin distribution in the Kansas City and Springfield markets.”

FUN FACT: Two years after opening Logboat, Judson found out he was allergic to beer!

48 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 37

GREG BROCKMEIER Financial Advisor, Brockmeier Financial Services

Ask Greg Brockmeier about his career as a financial advisor and he’s likely to rephrase your question. It’s not a career, he’ll say. It’s a vocation. “We have the privilege and opportunity to help people with their life’s savings, to listen to people and help them get to where they want to go,” he says. “If you think about being an advisor as a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. job, or even as a career, then I don’t think you can do it well.” He’s never been a 9 to 5 guy anyway. Brockmeier attended The Culinary Institute of America, traveled the world cooking, and worked as a chef at Les Bourgeois Bistro and Winery before hanging up his apron to join his father, Lon Brockmeier, in business in 2012. They work with first- and second-generation business owners, family businesses, and some households. Brockmeier specializes in financial consulting, retirement planning, and long-term care. Now the two are leading Brockmeier Financial Services into its next chapter. They hope to expand the business in 2019 by focusing on an improved client experience and plan to bring on several new advisors and support staff.

Financial advisors should not be synonymous with salespeople or stock brokers. Clients should learn from their advisor, which is something Brockmeier is passionate about. People are no longer taught about money at home. Many end up burdened by debt or don’t save nearly enough for retirement. “We’ve structured our business around changing those traditional transaction-based models to focus on the individual and the household,” he says. “The reality is that an advisor should educate you and help you make decisions, not make them for you.” Transitioning to a career as a financial advisor was a test of self for Brockmeier. He felt pressure initially to act like a traditional investment advisor, sitting behind a big wooden desk. “Once I ‘found my voice’ — or, really, just started being myself — my clients and I really developed friendships and relationships, rather than me being that guy they see once a year to talk about retirement,” he says. An active community member, Brockmeier serves as secretary of the Columbia Evening Rotary chapter, as vice president of BNI Tiger Connections chapter, and on the advisory board of Lutheran Family and Children’s Services.

FUN FACT: Greg loves fountain pens and always wanted to be a pirate.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 49

AGE: 37

KRISTA KIPPENBERGER Practice Representative, Focus on Health Chiropractic

Krista Kippenberger is an ambassador at heart. Yes, she does slide on the distinguished gold jacket that only belongs to official ambassadors of Columbia’s Chamber of Commerce, but she also serves as an ambassador for her family business and the community of Columbia as a whole. “I love networking,” Kippenberger says. “In some groups I act as a peer talking health, wellness, and preventative medicine, and in others I rub elbows with some of the most successful businesspeople in the community.” Kippenberger thrives on learning from outstanding leaders in Columbia and beyond, and she’s grateful to return to Focus on Health to use her tool set. She encourages people to meet someone new and she strives to know everyone in the room before she leaves. Her skills have been noticed by her peers, who encouraged her to take on the primary marketing role for the business and coach practice representatives from other chiropractic clin-

ics across the country. She was also recently selected to be the Women’s Network Chair Elect. “Krista has been an active citizen of Columbia since moving here and opening her business along with her husband,” says Mary Ropp of Flat Branch Home Loans. “With a smile on her face and a kind word on her lips, she has spread her joy and passion for healthy living.” Kippenberger considers herself a morning person and takes an hour each day to drink her coffee, catch up on Facebook, and do her devotional. She listens to Gary Vaynerchuk podcasts, reads at least one book each month, and recently started Cyclocross as a way to add more fun into her life. She has lived in Missouri her whole life, but likes to travel whenever she can. “I always have huge goals that I’m working toward so I never get bored in life,” she says. And if she could improve one thing about herself? “I would have more patience and try to enjoy the process more.”

FUN FACT: Krista used to pick up “treasures” from other people’s trash, which she used to furnish her and her husband's first family home.

50 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 38

JAY LINDNER President, Lindner Properties

Jay Lindner’s primary business goal for 2019? Lease the former home of Gerbes grocery store in Lindner Properties’ Nifong Shopping Center to a tenant who can open by the end of the year. “There’s a lot more work required than ‘build it and they will come,’” he says. In the commercial real estate world, deals take time. Lindner spends most of his searching for and negotiating with prospects and attending leasing conferences to recruit tenants from around the country. “It’s exciting and rewarding to help new businesses get off the ground,” he says. “We approach each deal as not just a landlord– tenant relationship, but rather as a business partnership. We want everyone to succeed.” Nifong Shopping Center is just one of the centers Lindner Properties, formerly Forum Development Group, owns and manages across Columbia. Lindner leads the leasing, finances, and day-to-day operations of their portfolio of more than 400,000 square feet of shopping centers.

The most challenging time of his career began in 2008 with the recession, which was followed by the passing of his father and founder of the Forum Development Group, Jose Lindner. “We had to push forward and work incredibly hard over the next few years to put the company back on solid ground,” Lindner says. “Finding a way to navigate those challenges will always be one of my biggest accomplishments.” He’s been president of the company since that time, but he started in the family business at age 15. His first job was in the maintenance department, and he later bounced around to clerical and receptionist work and other temporary roles. “At this point, I’ve done every available job in our company,” he says. With bachelor’s degrees in finance and real estate, he seems made for the work. He enjoys the changes each day brings. “There are days where everything works out and things move forward, and there are plenty of days where you feel like you’re spinning your wheels and not getting anywhere,” he says of commercial real estate. “Ultimately, that’s what makes our industry exciting.”

FUN FACT: Jay's first dream was to be a veterinarian... until sitting in on a procedure in junior high and almost passing out.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 51

AGE: 32

ARIC JARVIS General Manager, The Broadway

Aric Jarvis will admit that he does not really like surprises. He prefers to know where he is going and how he is going to get there. Yet one surprise he didn’t mind was reaching his goal of becoming a hotel general manager before the age of 30. “Not only that, but it was for a branded full-service hotel known as one of the best in the market,” Jarvis says. “I was pretty proud of that accomplishment.” As general manager, Jarvis serves as the property manager, which includes duties like the oversight of The Broadway’s food and beverage outlets, Eleven Eleven and the Roof. “My amazing food and beverage team allow me to focus on the overall operations while they create our food and beverage creations,” Jarvis says. Amy Schneider, director of the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau, has known Jarvis since he worked the front desk at the Courtyard by Marriott. “From my first meeting, I knew Aric had the potential to go places in the hospitality field,” she says, “and I am personally impressed with his drive, strength, focus, and passion.”

It’s that drive and focus that led Jarvis to Columbia to pursue his career. After finding college uninspiring, he decided to climb the ladder of success through hard work, dedication, and a tenacity to learn from his managers. And his decision has paid off. Under Jarvis’ leadership, The Broadway achieved their sixth consecutive outstanding quality assurance score and has risen to the top three percent of the DoubleTree brand national market, earning the company’s Pride Award twice. “It doesn’t matter what position I’ve been in over the years,” Jarvis says. “I have always put 100 percent into everything I do.” Jarvis currently serves as president of the Cosmopolitan Luncheon Club, the Columbia chapter of Cosmopolitan International, an organization that focuses on finding a cure for diabetes. He is also a member of the Columbia Hospitality Association and was recently appointed to the Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Board. He also works closely with the Central Missouri Foster and Adoption Center on fundraising opportunities. Aric is married to his partner, David, and they are currently in the process of becoming adoptive parents.

FUN FACT: Aric secretly wants to be a house flipper with his own HGTV show.

52 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 37

JAIME PALMER Commercial Loan Officer, Central Bank of Boone County

Jaime Palmer is the rare person who is as comfortable reading a financial spreadsheet as she is connecting with clients. After 10 years of operational roles in banking, she sought a role that combined her two skill sets in 2016 with employer Central Bank of Boone County. As a business banking relationship manager, she started developing client relationships instead of supporting them from behind the scenes. “Seeing how readily I was able to combine my technical skills with taking care of client needs directly was thrilling,” Palmer says. “I loved providing concierge service to clients and finding creative ways to serve their needs.” She’s had experience all over the banking world: retail and loan operations, technical writing, system implementations, risk mitigation, management, and business development. She became a commercial loan officer in 2017. In that role, she customizes loans and lines of credit to help clients make purchases, expand businesses, and make real estate investments. “I have the ability to bridge the gap between an idea and reality,” Palmer says. “I love to learn about and facilitate finance

for small businesses just getting off the ground, existing businesses who are expanding, or even individuals looking to dabble in investment real estate.” Her goal in 2018 was to grow her portfolio by 115 percent by the end of the year. She surpassed that mark before September. “I plan to be knocking on the door to the C-suite one day,” she says, adding that without the various roles she’s played in the bank and great mentors, she would not so confidently verbalize that goal. For 2019, her goals include earning one new small business client each month and growing her loan portfolio. Palmer wants to mentor new lenders and continue to develop relationships with other female decision-makers in the community. Palmer enjoys helping businesses, sure, but getting to know the people behind the business keeps her excited each day. “I believe you can produce outstanding results and provide legendary service to clients while having a good time doing it,” she says. “If there’s a moment that could use a bit of levity, I’m often the one to bring it.”

FUN FACT: Jaime's first job out of college required steel-toed boots.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 53

AGE: 35

BENJAMIN HAMRAH General Manager, Peachtree Catering

Benjamin Hamrah is not just a chef, general manager, or salesperson; at Peachtree Catering, he is all the things, including the leader of its commitment to local food. “We work every day to create a high demand for higher quality food and community-conscious buying practices,” he says. Peachtree Catering has become synonymous with local food thanks to Hamrah’s relationships with local farmers and pop-up events like Sunday Supper, a secret and immersive dinner experience. Clients and fans get emails with hints about the month’s supper — usually just the date and time. The location is revealed right before the event, and the first 40 guests get seats. They turn up and eat what’s served to them. Keeping the meal a secret allows the team complete freedom to create, Hamrah says. “Every person is required to trust in our ability to show them something new and exciting and to prepare a meal for them like they’ve never had,” he says. More than 500 people are on the email list. A recent supper sold out in 40 minutes. He also does a secret Sunday Brunch at Logboat Brewing Co.

“We continue to push the pop-up envelope, if for nothing else than to see where our limit lies,” he says. It was difficult in the past to use local food when menus were set months or years in advance, but Peachtree has ingrained itself with the agricultural community in Columbia. Hamrah realized the problem wasn’t that he couldn’t write menus that involved local farmers; it was that the caterer offered menus in the first place. So he threw out all the menus two years ago and instead now asks clients a simple question: “What would you like?” The approach has created a dialogue and collaboration with clients. “Now, instead of databases full of hypothetical recipes, we have folders full of grandmothers’ recipes and heirlooms passed down from generation to generation.” Looking ahead, Hamrah would like to continue the evolution and growth of Peachtree and push Columbia’s food culture forward. “As cooks, we have a responsibility to our clients,” he said. “We must always provide them the highest quality product available to us, and we must always be mindful of our responsibility as educators.”

FUN FACT: Benjamin played the trumpet for 12 years.

54 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 33

JOLYN SATTIZAHN Vice President of Community Affairs, Columbia Chamber of Commerce

As recently as five years ago, Jolyn Sattizahn would have viewed her resume as a “hodge-podge” of experiences. “Looking back, most of my positions — from volunteerism to internships, temporary jobs, etc. — make perfect sense in preparation for my diverse current role,” she says. As vice president of community affairs for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, she pulls from her bachelor’s degrees in communication and sociology, her master’s degree in public affairs, nonprofit advancement work, and city government experience to build relationships with community partners across industries, backgrounds, and interests. “Forefront in our minds is making sure we provide an accessible and welcoming environment so that Columbia is a place where anyone has the opportunity to get the support they need to pursue a business idea,” she says. Simply put, her work is all about advancing community excellence. Sattizahn represents the Chamber’s interests with other organizations to make Columbia stronger, collaborating with entities such as REDI, the City of Columbia, and higher education institutions.

The end goal? “Improving the quality of life for all Columbians,” she says. “We, therefore, get to touch a lot of different sectors of our community, and this keeps my work interesting.” She also delivers leadership and educational programming for chamber members. She spearheads the chamber’s annual Leadership Visit, which takes community leaders to learn from a peer city. The program is capped at a group of 70 delegates made up of business influencers in Columbia. “I pride myself on making the trips engaging and highly relevant in terms of the pressing community topics explored,” she says. “Many local leaders have told me that it’s the most valuable investment of time and money they make all year.” She was one of 10 chamber professionals nationwide to be accepted into a three-year leadership diversity cohort through the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. Whether she’s overseeing Leadership Columbia, leading the chamber’s emerging issues committee, or pricing a bag of corn to help determine Columbia’s cost of living, she’s working toward the betterment of the community.

FUN FACT: Jolyn's favorite hobby is taking ballet classes.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 55

AGE: 37

SARA COCHRAN Entrepreneurial Programs Manager, Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship, UM System

Sara Cochran’s passion and intellectual curiosity for entrepreneurship education led her to hear a phrase she never expected. It was “Congratulations, Dr. Cochran!” after presenting her dissertation on the role of gender in entrepreneurship education, thus receiving her doctorate in higher education with a focus on entrepreneurship education from MU. After completing her PhD coursework, she became entrepreneurial programs manager for the UM System’s office of research and economic development. “I get to work with students, faculty, and staff from all four UM System universities,” she says. “This means I get to work on a wide variety of projects, and no two days are the same.” She oversees entrepreneurial programs such as the Entrepreneurial Educator Summit and Entrepreneur Quest on a system level, and she collaborates with the four UM universities on curriculum design and program development. Cochran is also leading efforts to create an entrepreneurship minor, serving as interim director for the Center for

Entrepreneurship and Innovation and teaching principles of entrepreneurship at the Trulaske College of Business. “I love watching students learn and grow and seeing their excitement and passion for entrepreneurship,” Cochran says. Cochran was recently appointed to the board of directors for the United States Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship and is chair of its minority and women’s entrepreneurship committee. She’s also a local leader in her field, providing her expertise with Mizzou Venture Mentoring Service, Junior Leadership Columbia program, Columbia College’s pitch competition, and the Missouri Women’s Business Center. “I think I’ve been most surprised by all of the twists and turns it has taken and the ways one thing has led to another,” she says of her career. “If you had told me when I graduated from high school that at my 20-year reunion I would have earned a PhD and that I’d be a college administrator and professor, I would have thought you were crazy.”

FUN FACT: Sara lived in New Zealand for four months in eighth grade.

56 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 36

CHRYSTAL L. GRAVES Master Stylist and Owner, Chrystal L. Hair & Makeup

For Chrystal Graves, just about everything in life comes down to access. Those who have it can accomplish great things; those who don’t end up stuck watching from the sidelines, their brainpower and abilities never fully realized. As a teenager growing up in St. Louis, Graves was lucky to have a mentor in her neighborhood that exposed her to all sorts of life experiences, from campus visits to etiquette classes to career shadowing. She gave Graves the gift of access, and she performed these services for countless young women in her community, free of charge. Now, Graves is paying it forward. When her family moved to Columbia in the spring of 1997, it was an adjustment. “I was surprised that enrichment programs for girls and minorities weren’t prevalent,” she says. “It was then, at the tender age of 16, that I knew I had to create opportunities here for girls who looked like me.” And the seeds of The BOLD Academy were sown. The BOLD Academy — a loose acronym for “black and brown leadership and development” — is just one part of

Graves’ mission, which is to give back as much as she possibly can without expecting anything in return. As the owner of her own salon, she can directly impact the lives of less fortunate people in her community in tangible ways, including offering styling sessions for girls in exchange for four hours of community service. “A professional haircut may not seem like a big deal, but for many it’s a luxury that’s out of financial reach,” Graves says. Jaime Freidrichs, former director of the Missouri Women’s Business Center, met Graves when she came through the door of the MoWBC asking for help with her growing business. “But more importantly she came to offer her help to get the center established,” says Freidrichs. “Chrystal led the pack of early adopters of our services, and I can’t imagine getting it off the ground without her.” According to Graves, Chrystal L. Hair & Makeup is a melting of cultures and ideas. “It’s split evenly across ethnicities and income levels,” she says. “We believe hair is hair no matter what the person’s skin color.”

FUN FACT: Chrystal received the 2017 Missouri Progress Award in entrepreneurship.

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 57

AGE: 35

JOSÉ CALDERA Assistant City Counselor, City of Columbia

José Caldera’s story is one of firsts. He’s a first-generation American who grew up in inner-city St. Louis. His parents immigrated to America from Nicaragua in 1982. He was the first in his family to go to college. “At multiple points in my life, taking the wrong path would have been much easier. However, I was blessed with great teachers and mentors who encouraged me to take school seriously and refused to give up on me,” Caldera says. When he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from UMSL and a law degree from MU, he became the only member of his family to obtain an advanced diploma. After serving as an assistant attorney general, he transitioned to in-house counsel with the Missouri Secretary of State and argued before the Missouri Supreme Court, one of his proudest achievements. He served as acting commissioner of securities for the state — the first person of color to do so — before transitioning to assistant city counselor for the City of Columbia. Now he’s leading the push toward government transparency by training city employees on the Missouri Sunshine Law. He

co-authored a board and commission handbook to help community volunteers understand the policies as well. “My goal is to develop training programs that focus on the purpose behind the Sunshine Law and convey its spirit,” he says. As the city’s development attorney, he advises and negotiates on land use, development projects, and property rights, representing the city in litigation. He also was the city’s point person in the dockless scooters discussion in 2018. “Never in a million years would I have thought that someday I would spend hours researching how first amendment law interacts with dockless scooters,” he jokes. He’s passionate about Columbia and enjoys walking downtown with a coffee in hand, looking at development projects and the things that make Columbia “weird.” “I think creating a fun, captivating, and safe environment really can change the trajectory of an area by attracting more people and, ultimately, unique businesses to serve them,” he says. Caldera is chairman-elect of the Missouri Bar’s Young Lawyers Section Council and chairman of the committee on diversity.

FUN FACT: José is a regular at M. Boss Barber and Salon downtown. He enjoys the high-end experience.

58 JANUARY 2019

AGE: 36

LARA PIEPER Owner, Bloom Bookkeeping

Lara Pieper never thought she would own her own business. In fact, she imagined herself as a corporate girl, managing accounting departments or perhaps reaching the CFO level. But never on her own. “I didn’t think I had the skill set,” Pieper says. “Turns out I do. I offer services that no one else does, focusing strictly on managerial accounting.” Pieper is a single mom to three boys and started Bloom Bookkeeping in the fall of 2016 to offer her family a different kind of life. “I wanted to be more involved with my children’s school and spend more than an hour with them at night,” Pieper says, “and that wasn’t possible while working a typical job.” Before starting Bloom, Pieper spent nine years as COO of The MacXprts Network, a computer services business where she learned the difference between managerial accounting and the tax accounting. She realized she liked managerial accounting and was good at it, so she opted to get her MBA. “All the numbers fit together like a puzzle and it all made sense,” Pieper says.

At Bloom’s first anniversary last year, Pieper set the goal to double the revenue of her business. She surpassed this goal by increasing sales by 212 percent over the year and increasing her monthly recurring client list from 17 to 30. Throughout the summer, she closed bookkeeping contracts with a new client every week. In addition to that, she was able to hire her first employee. “My services are being sought after because no one in Columbia offers what I can,” Pieper explains. “This is more than a bookkeeping service. I am a CFO for hire who is here to help business owners be the most successful they can be.” Amanda Quick, owner of The Hatchery, is one such business owner. Bookkeeping was not her strength, and when she met Pieper, Quick was at a pivotal point in her business where she needed the expertise. “Lara should be recognized because she is helping so many small businesses start off with a solid financial foundation and then holding their hand through the daily financial details,” she says.

FUN FACT: Lara has an identical twin sister who lives in Colorado.

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AGE: 37

JOSH DEVINE Attorney at Law

Whether walking into the courtroom, a board member meeting, or mingling with people in the community, Josh Devine’s easy smile and jovial voice quickly fills the room. The joy he exudes comes from his love for his family and for his profession, which are tied closely together. Both Devine and his wife, Christina, are attorneys. They met on their first day of law school at MU even though they had both grown up in Columbia and attended Truman State University at the same time. Devine’s father was also a law professor at MU for 30 years, so you might say law is in his blood. But that’s not why Devine chose to be an attorney. “I love helping people,” he states simply. His desire to help others has also led him to serve on Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri’s board. “I am passionate about helping children in our community. The board participates in community projects throughout the year, and I enjoy participating in all of them,” he says. Sally Silvers, the board’s president, says that when the board was looking for a new member to offer legal advice, Devine’s

name was mentioned by several people, and he joined soon after. “He offered his legal expertise when necessary and never with any sign of arrogance but with the organization’s best interests at heart,” she says. Devine offered this legal help until he was appointed to be an associate circuit court judge last year. He was one of the state’s youngest judges. “Becoming a judge at age 36 — I never thought I would have the opportunity to serve as a judge, and I was humbled to serve in the community where I was born and raised,” he says. While serving as judge, Devine couldn’t offer legal advice to Ronald McDonald House Charities, but he still served on their board and even involved his family by bringing his young sons to events. This year, Devine will transition back into private practice and possibly earn his fifth year of being named to the Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list, which he was named to for four consecutive years from 2014 to 2017. Only 2.5 percent of attorneys are recognized with the award.

FUN FACT: Many of Josh’s family nights are spent watching his wife’s cousins play in the NBA.

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AGE: 38

LIZ TUCKER Owner, Poppy

Liz Tucker finds joy in creating connections between makers, customers, friends, and the team she works with, bringing together people who might not ordinarily have the opportunity to interact. It’s these relationships that she credits with the continued growth of her business, which had its best sales year ever in 2018. “Liz is the owner of one of the keystone boutiques that makes downtown Columbia the vibrant, stylish community hub that it is,” says Beth Snyder, founder of 1canoe2, a design company that sells their products at Poppy. “To see how Liz has seamlessly continued this tradition with Poppy while bringing her own charisma and charm to the space has been an amazing journey and testament to her exceedingly gifted vision.” Tucker took over the established, successful business started by Barb McCormick in 1981. “I love that Poppy has a history before my time here,” she says. “It deepens the connection the shop has to our community.” Tucker’s typical day usually involves a morning meeting with an artist or with her Mastermind group (consisting of

three friends and fellow entrepreneurs) before the shop opens, followed by placing orders for merchandise, spending time on the sales floor, taking pictures for social media, and collaborating with her team on future projects. “You have to have the combination of grit and soft skills,” Tucker shares. “Owning a retail shop involves risk, managing money, and leading people. The real trick is to make it look easy!” One of Tucker’s first business ventures was reselling fireworks. In elementary school, she would buy up as many grosses of bottle rockets as she could afford after July 4 and resell them at an “insane markup” to her brothers and friends once they ran out. “This lasted until they outgrew bottle rockets,” she says. In her free time, Tucker likes to hike, fish, bike on the trail, and travel out west with her husband, Travis, and their two children. She’s an avid nonfiction reader, and enjoys listening to The Jordan Harbinger Show podcast. She also served on the committee for the inaugural Festival of Trees benefitting the MU Children’s Hospital in December.

FUN FACT: Liz visits the original owner of Poppy, Barb McCormick, in sunny California at least once a year.

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AGE: 35

MEGAN McCONACHIE Strategic Communications Manager, City of Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau

The most incredible moment of Megan McConachie’s career occurred at 1:12 p.m. on August 21, 2017, as the sun disappeared during the total solar eclipse in Columbia. It was a culmination of months of hard work. Her role in this huge project, as strategic communications manager for the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau, was to act as the lead for all of the moving parts required for putting on such a large-scale tourism event. “The event went more smoothly than I could have ever imagined,” McConachie says, “and the cheers of the 10,000 people in the park at the moment of totality moved me to tears and made every stressful moment of planning worth it.” McConachie is practically a Columbia native. She graduated from Rock Bridge High School before receiving her bachelor of arts degree in communications from Truman State University, and she took her first job at the CVB thereafter. She’s been on staff for 13 years and was promoted to strategic communications manager in 2016. One of McConachie’s goals is to raise the city’s tourism profile. “Most people don’t know this, but tourism is the second largest industry in Missouri,” she says. “The revenue and jobs

tourism creates are incredibly important to our city, and the CVB depends on the entire community to be involved in welcoming our visitors.” This year, McConachie wants to focus on doing more to raise awareness locally with both the CVB’s tourism partners and the general public. “I’m so excited to work with our team on some fun and creative ideas to bring tourism to the forefront of people’s minds,” she says. Matt McCormick, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, works with McConachie at the Thomas G. Walton building, where their two organizations are housed. “During this time, I’ve witnessed her growth in industry knowledge,” he says. “She continues to move the CVB’s communications forward not only to Columbia but to the state and nation in a strategic, efficient, and sustainable matter.” McConachie loves watching people discover that Columbia is an incredible destination. “So many people come in with preconceived notions of what a college town should look like, but they’re always impressed with how sophisticated and welcoming we are,” she says.

FUN FACT: Megan’s first job was as a softball umpire. She lasted one summer!

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AGE: 39

RANDY COLE Housing Programs Manager, City of Columbia

The Columbia Community Land Trust is a model of social equity and affordable housing. And it wouldn’t exist without Randy Cole and his passion for the work. Incorporated in November 2016, the private–public partnership, tasked with creating permanently affordable single-family housing in Columbia, nearly completed its first development in 2018. The eighth and final home is almost finished. Cole, housing programs manager for the City of Columbia and director of the land trust, rallied private sector support from Providence Bank for below-market financing, formed and managed the steering committee, and gained buy-in from community stakeholders. He runs daily operations, strategic planning, finances, and fundraising for the land trust. “It is very gratifying to see proud and happy homeowners enjoying their homes on Lynn Street,” Cole says. “They’re building generational wealth every month they live there that can be passed on to their children.” Next is the development of 10 homes at Cullimore Cottages on North Eighth Street. The land trust’s partnership with the

community in crafting the vision for the neighborhood is one of the things that excites him most. “I truly think homeownership is foundational to breaking the cycle of poverty and strengthening neighborhoods,” he says. Cole also manages the city’s federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is used to help improve low- to moderate-income neighborhoods through affordable housing and community development. Those funds are used for improving sidewalks, stormwater systems, buildings, and more. Cole also developed the city’s first net-zero energy usage home — in which the home produces an equal amount of power to what it consumes — in partnership with Columbia Water & Light and Show-Me Central Habitat for Humanity, and he spearheaded the city’s first Affordable Housing Symposium. “I still get excited when our projects get started,” Cole says. “There’s nothing quite like seeing new homes beginning to go up, a sidewalk improved, or a nonprofit building being renovated. There’s always a bit of excitement in our office when we get through the paperwork and start seeing projects take shape.”

FUN FACT: Randy proposed to his wife on Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park.

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AGE: 38

ARMINTA PHELPS Owner, Achieve Balance Chiropractic

As the owner of Achieve Balance Chiropractic, Arminta Phelps wears many hats. She’s the doctor in her practice, caring for her patients’ needs. She’s the business owner, making sure everything is running smoothly. She’s also the face of Achieve Balance in the community and a wellness entrepreneur. In addition, she wears the hat of family member and employer, as her husband and mother both work for her. And they’re all roles she cherishes. Phelps began Achieve Balance in 2008 with the hope of changing the statistical health of Mid-Missouri and helping people reach their full wellness potential. She did most of her undergraduate work at MU and then completed her degree and doctoral studies at Palmer College of Chiropractic. She also became a certified chiropractic wellness practitioner earlier this year. “There are only two CCWP doctors in the state of Missouri, so that makes me super proud,” Phelps says. Phelps has a passion to raise the wellness level in Columbia and has gained a reputation for moving chiropractic care forward both locally and nationally. “I have been ever impressed with

her vision, integrity, passion, and commitment to being the best she can be,” says local consultant Carolyn Paris. “What’s equally important is that she brings out the best in others.” Phelps admits that one thing she didn’t learn in school was how to run a business. “The real school happens when you get your degree,” Phelps shares. “Learning to be an entrepreneur was not something I thought about when wanting to be a chiropractor, but I’ve fallen in love with it!” In addition to participating in the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Women’s Network, Phelps lets her staff choose one charity to support each quarter. Her favorite community project is the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture Build This Town project for the new farmers’ market space. “It aligns with my mission of helping change the health of Mid-Missouri naturally,” she shares. Phelps and her husband, Chris Scrivner, were nominated for king and queen of the Rainbow House’s Masquerade Ball in 2018, and she loves to spend time with her son, listen to live music, and travel in her spare time.

FUN FACT: While at MU, Arminta traveled with the geography department to Belize and spent six weeks spelunking and digging for Mayan artifacts.

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AGE: 34

DANNY HAMMACK General Manager, Partner, Columbia Honda

At age 27, Danny Hammack became general manager of a Mercedes-Benz dealership. Since then, the general manager and partner at Columbia Honda has turned more than six automotive dealership stores around to profitability. His strategy? Build and prioritize a team culture. Every job at the dealership is Hammack’s job, he says, whether it’s selling a car, changing a paper towel roll, or making a highlevel decision. He’s held nearly every position in a dealership and believes in being a leader by example. “The real reason behind our success is our ability to pass this mentality to all employees and have a team that takes care of our customers,” he says. Hammack says he’s passionate about transparency in dealing with customers, and the Columbia Honda team embraces openness and third-party validation. Since joining the Columbia Honda team in 2015, the store has doubled its revenue from $37 million to $71 million and increased staff from 40 to 73. “Most importantly, we did this while delivering continuous great customer service and increased community involvement each year,” Hammack says.

If all goes well, Columbia Honda will again win the President’s Award for 2018, which Honda bestows to only five percent of dealers nationwide, recognizing excellence in all categories of operations. He plans to grow store revenues to $78 million in 2019, a 10 percent increase. Hammack enjoys the people-centric aspects of the automotive business and the fast-moving nature of the business. “The operations that adapt and implement new thinking are always the ones leading the volume board,” he says. His personal goals are to acquire a second franchise and continue to focus on employee development. Hammack serves on the board of directors for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, is a regional advisory council member for Great Circle, is a member of REDI, and sits on the CarGurus dealer advisory council. Columbia Honda sponsors and supports countless organizations, events, and teams across Mid-Missouri. “We have grown Columbia Honda into a mature store that is a community stakeholder,” Hammack says. “I’m proud of our reputation and the way we take care of employees and customers alike.”

FUN FACT: Danny was the youngest corps commander in Kemper Military Academy history.

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AGE: 35

AGE: 33

GABE GARCIA & LEE SENSINTAFFAR Co-owners, Iron Tiger Tattoo and Tattoo You

Gabe Garcia got his first tattoo at age 16. Not the best idea, he says, but in terms of teenage rebellion, it could have been worse. An aspiring tattoo artist, he started his apprenticeship at a shop in Columbia called Hollywood Rebels. “As bizarre and unwelcome as tattooing was at that time, I personally felt at home,” he says. Six years later, Garcia purchased the shop and re-named it Iron Tiger Tattoo. He turned to his brother, Lee Sensintaffar, to manage the shop. One year later, he made Sensintaffar a full partner. Sensintaffar says it’s been one of the biggest risks and best decisions of his life. The two make a balanced team. An artist by nature, Garcia focuses on honing his gifts as a tattoo artist and hiring the right staff. “There’s magic in figuring out what people want and making my art as an indelible mark on their skin,” he says. Sensintaffar runs the books, manages the day-to-day operations, and implements quality control standards. “He has built and rebuilt this business literally and figuratively several times over,” Garcia says. “In addition to maintaining the bills, streamlining production, and saving us a fortune in operating costs, he also keeps me grounded. He is my best friend and a huge part of my success and the success of our business as a whole.”

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“I want to see my tattooers and piercers grow and perfect their craft and bring in other talented artists who will wow our customers,” Sensintaffar says. “When the shop is doing well, it means our tattooers, piercers, and employees are doing well and able to provide for their families.” In 2013, the two purchased a second shop, Tattoo You, Columbia’s oldest tattoo parlor, and gave it a makeover. They recently remodeled Iron Tiger, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. “Between our two shops, we house the absolute best tattoo artists in Columbia,” Garcia says. “I am very proud of our staff. They’re what makes our business strong.” The two are dedicated community supporters, donating to organizations like Woodhaven, Rainbow House, Welcome Home, and food drives at Douglass High School. When one of their employees was diagnosed with cancer, Garcia and Sensintaffar paid for six months of his rent, hosted a charity auction on his behalf, and used a day’s profits to pay for his medical expenses. “We don’t do it for attention,” Garcia says. “But rather because we believe in helping others, and we care about our community.”

AGE: 29

MIKE NOLAN General Manager, The Blue Note & Rose Music Hall

Mike Nolan started working at The Blue Note for free as a box office intern and plugged away until he was promoted to general manager, a feat that makes him proud. “It was a dream I had when I was hired, and I made it a reality,” he says. Nolan moved to Columbia in 2007 and pursued his undergrad at MU, but he dropped out to chase after a career in the music industry. To his surprise, it actually worked out. According to Nolan, many people think he simply runs a bar and cuts checks to bands at the end of the night. He’s actually involved in almost every aspect of the business. “I love creating memorable experiences for people,” he shares. “No one remembers that ‘one night at a bar,’ but they always remember when they saw their favorite band with their best friends at The Blue Note, Rose [Music Hall, another venue affiliated with The Blue Note], or on Ninth Street.” Nolan believes providing that kind of entertainment improves the quality of life for Columbia’s residents, and it

serves as his motivation to continue updating and beautifying his clubs, keeping them at the apex of industry standard. “I love this city and the people in it,” Nolan says. “The fact that I get to contribute to the happiness of the people here everyday makes this job not feel like a job.” Nolan’s dedication and leadership has not gone unnoticed by the community. “Mike has a calm, business-like demeanor that commands respect in his industry but allows for individual expression and growth,” says Tyson Hunt, captain of Logboat Brewing Co. “A good leader can be judged by those he leads, and the crew Mike has assembled around him at both The Blue Note and Rose are some of Columbia’s finest.” The best parts of Nolan’s job are the free concerts (duh!), and his favorite genres are punk rock and heavy metal. He’s an avid Mizzou, Cardinals, Blues, and Boston Celtics fan and spends his free time hiking around the country and reading true crime books. CBT

FUN FACT: Mike was a bit of a surprise to his parents. His siblings range in age from 47 to 50.

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WASTE Exploring how True/False Film Fest aims to increase their sustainability efforts by decreasing their carbon footprint. BY DAV I D MO R R I S O N P H OTO G R A P H Y P ROVI D ED BY TR U E /FA L S E COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 71

ach year, the True/False Film Fest can be counted on to draw tens of thousands of people to Columbia for a four-day celebration of documentary filmmaking. The fest’s spectators, whether they be from Boone County or beyond, have a significant impact on the local economy. They also have an increased impact on the local environment, with more cars on the road, more utilities being used, and more waste being produced. That’s why, starting with the 2014 event, True/False committed to taking steps to cut down on its carbon footprint and work toward a zero-waste future. With this year’s fest set to run from February 28 through March 3, True/False sustainability coordinator Patricia Weisenfelder is already knee-deep in the work of continuing the efforts from years past while enhancing sustainability initiatives for this year.

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“We’re really excited about where we’ve come from, and I think we’re even more excited about where we’re going,” Weisenfelder says. “We’re looking forward to seeing what this fest brings, the data we’re able to capture, and the achievements we’re able to make.” Weisenfelder’s first fest as sustainability coordinator was in 2017. She says her predecessor started putting numbers to the impact the sustainability efforts were making the year before, but once Weisenfelder took over and standardized data collection methods, she was able to track year-over-year improvement. At last year’s festival, for example, True/False reported nearly 2,600 pounds of food waste and 1,800 pounds of recyclables collected. The fest was able to divert nearly 88 percent of the waste from its four food-heavy events — The Jubilee, Reality Bites, Filmmaker Fete, and Closing Night Reception — from the landfill, nearing

the “zero-waste” guidepost of 90 percent set forth by the Zero Waste International Alliance. True/False was able to reduce its overall event waste by 157 pounds from 2017 and its landfill contribution from events by 78 pounds. “We’ve really lucked into a great crowd. People are very interested,” Weisenfelder says. “Some people compost at home and some people have never seen it before, so it’s kind of educating them on sorting as just one of the tasks that you have to do. But, ultimately, we’ve had really good reception and people are really excited to see that we’re making this effort and really appreciate it.”

IT’S A TEAM EFFORT

Weisenfelder heads the Green Team that has numbered between 20 and 35 volunteers during her tenure. Green Team members are tasked with roaming the venues to collect data and educate attendees about the fest’s sustainability efforts. They encourage guests to recycle glass, aluminum, paper, and appropriate plastics and work with local restaurants to collect food waste, weigh it, and divert it to the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture, where it’s composted. “We recruit a lot from sustainability groups on the Mizzou campus or around town just so that people are excited to be on that team — we don’t want them to feel like they wanted to be in the theater somewhere and now they’re picking up trash,” Weisenfelder says. “We really do try to get those volunteers that want to be there. Our food waste and amount of recycling have definitely increased in the past three years, but, ultimately, we know that we want to reduce everything. So there have been some areas or events where we’ve reduced the overall weight of everything because we’re depending less on those materials, which is really good.” True/False went straw-free last year and recruited some of its sponsoring restaurants to do the same. Camp True/False, the annual program for high school students, utilized real plates and silverware for its participants instead of relying on single-use items. It’s a push that will continue with this year’s event. “A lot of the education team is served lunch and dinner every day,” Weisenfelder says. “Even cutting back for 100 students and two meals a day — that’s a lot of single-use items we were able to avoid altogether.”

And Weisenfelder has her eye on something else: the giant aluminum pans that hold mass quantities of food at catered events. They aren’t able to be recycled through the City of Columbia Solid Waste Utility, but Weisenfelder wants the Green Team members to collect as many as they can during the fest this year so they can find a local vendor who accepts them afterwards. On the front end, True/False is also working with the restaurants it partners with to provide the same services with less waste involved. “The fest relies heavily on donations, food sponsors, and that kind of thing,” Weisenfelder says. “What we’re able to do, and hoping to do a little bit more over time, is work with those restaurants to make their impact even lower. We

"We recruit a lot from sustainability groups on the Mizzou campus or around town just so that people are excited to be on that team — we don’t want them to feel like they wanted to be in the theater somewhere and now they’re picking up trash. We really do try to get those volunteers that want to be there." Patricia Weisenfelder True/False sustainability coordinator

deal with the waste once it gets to our events, but it’s also helping them to figure out ways to maybe serve it buffet style as opposed to pre-packaging lunches — that kind of stuff that reduces their waste before it even gets to the festival doors.”

GOING BEYOND THE COMPOST PILE

Food waste and recycling are only part of the equation. True/False also encourages festivalgoers to rent bicycles from local shops if they need to get around town and partners with Go COMO to provide free public transportation and a dedicated venue route for city buses during the event. “The sustainability team focuses a lot on solid waste right now, but we do acknowledge that there are other impacts that the fest has on the community,” Weisenfelder says. “We have a pretty big footprint from airplane traffic, so we’re kind of exploring our options there to look into other possible energy usage or transportation, other aspects of sustainability that we can really tie into that plan.” Weisenfelder says she’s relatively new to the world of event sustainability. She has a graduate certificate in sustainability, but the experience she’s gaining coordinating the efforts of True/False keeps opening her eyes to new possibilities. “There’s a lot that I can learn, still, from other events, seeing what other community events are doing,” Weisenfelder says. “But it also depends heavily on partners in town that I’m able to learn from and work with to make it possible. For me, it’s been a lot of learning as you go and making the most of every opportunity that we have.” CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 73

At Columbia Safety & Supply, it’s not all about the numbers — but the numbers are still jaw-dropping. BY J E N N I F E R TR U E S DA L E | P H OTO G R A P H Y BY ANT HO NY J I NSO N 74 JANUARY 2019

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Not every workplace has a construction-orange tube slide that shoots employees and customers at surprising speed from the second floor to the first. Then again, not every company is Columbia Safety & Supply. Now in its 14th year of operation, Columbia Safety & Supply has grown from a side business founded by Beau Aero in 2005 to one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. Calling themselves the home of the “gear experts,” their specialty is fall-protection safety equipment, lifting and rigging equipment, power tools, and workwear. They cater to the construction, oil and gas, wind generation, and manufacturing sectors. (GME Supply Co., a division of the company, focuses on equipment and supplies for cell tower construction and maintenance.) The company is headquartered in Columbia with distribution centers in Dallas and Atlanta. Aero says the company is growing at a rate that’s 75 percent higher than other comparable companies in the industry, with sales having increased by 40 percent each year for the past five years. And while these numbers are impressive, what makes the company unique is its tireless investment in its employees and the community.

Getting a Foothold Named to the 2014 class of 20 Under 40 for his success with Columbia Safety & Supply, Aero has innovation and achievement in his genes. In 1918, his great-grandfather, W.C. Martin, founded what is today GlenMartin Inc., a steel fabricator originally based in Cooper County whose specialty has changed with the times. After college, Aero held a leadership position in the company, which is now a Texas-based producer of telecommunications towers. While with the company, Aero gained the industry expertise and business savvy needed to launch his own gear and equipment company, thus planting the seed for his Columbia Safety & Supply startup. But launching his own distribution enterprise wasn’t Aero’s first dream. After graduating from MU’s School of Journalism in 2001, where he

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focused on marketing, the Boonville native wanted to work in New York City for advertising giant Ogilvy. Founding Columbia Safety & Supply in 2005 as an online business was Aero’s plan to get him there. “I was in my mid-20s and I didn’t exactly know what my life was going to be about,” Aero, now 38, recalls. “All I knew was I needed to find a way to pay for it. My business was a lifestyle business at that point that allowed me to pursue my dreams.” By 2009, the business was doing well enough for Aero to strike out on his own and move to the Big Apple, where he opened a small office under the Manhattan Bridge. But before long the high cost of rent and labor became too much of a challenge to keep the business thriving — a business he realized was more than a means to an end. “One day I realized that I have something that’s very valuable [with Columbia Safety & Supply],” Aero says. “I woke up to the fact that, in life, you’re only dealt so many cards. And you have a choice whether to play those cards or not. If you choose not to, you’re giving up a huge opportunity.” Aero moved to Columbia in 2010 and headquartered his office above Lakota Coffee downtown, where rent was a fraction of what it was in New York. Within a few years, the company, which was a firmly established brick-and-mortar outfit with a handful of employees, had moved quickly from one larger facility to the next before settling in its current, 100,000-square-foot location on North Rangeline Street in 2017. As business has boomed, Aero opened additional distribution centers in Atlanta, in 2016, and in Dallas, in 2018. While the company has flown largely under the radar as a large employer in town, that’s likely to change. With a total of 65 employees, 50 of which are in Columbia, Aero expects the company to grow to 150 employees within the next few years.

Moving On Up Before the company moved into its current home, Aero remodeled the massive facility with a vision to create a workspace that is inviting to customers and conducive to employee happiness and productivity. The

majority of the 100,000 square feet is dedicated warehouse space that stores up to $5 million in inventory. The rest of the space is a marvel of design that Aero says is uncommon in the industrial sector. An expansive retail space on the main floor houses displays of everything from power tools and height-safety equipment to industrial eyewash stations and designer hard-hats. The floors throughout are coated with a slip-resistant surface. An enormous classroom where industry professionals can train workers is off to one side, and the safety training center — where the orange slide resides for a bit of fun — is complete with a mock cell tower that takes advantage of the building’s 26-foot-tall ceilings. The lower floor also boasts a custom studio for shooting photos and video of products, along with a gym for employees and their families. The second floor includes two suites of offices, a kitchen stocked with healthy snacks, and a break room with a leather sofa and TV for playing video games. Skylights adorn the ceilings, and white noise is piped in to make conversation and collaboration less noisy for colleagues in the cavernous space. Business development and sales employees occupy one suite, where they can view real-time sales statistics on large flat-screen TVs. Administrative and executive employees reside in the other suite, where the floor’s perimeter features a series of large, LED-lit glass inlays etched with the company’s logo that give a view into the warehouse below. A well-appointed private break room with a large TV, artwork, and a bar awaits travel-weary executive clients. “I think it’s really important to remember that all of this is an investment,” Aero says. “If you look at it as an investment in your people, it will pay dividends like you’d never dream. The people are your greatest asset, and so COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 77

making sure that we’re taking care of them and considering their work environment — you see returns on that, and it helps the business continue to grow.”

Reaching New Heights For all of its forward-thinking design, the cool factor of the workspace doesn’t define the company’s ethos; rather, it’s a physical reflection of an intentional company culture that recognizes excellent customer service begins with employees who feel valued by the company. “The customers fuel the business. What makes the business happen is the employees,” Aero says. The company’s mission and vision statements, which are stenciled on walls throughout the facility, were drafted based on what employees thought they should be. Word clouds displayed as wall art in common areas affirm words like honesty, integrity, tenacity, and creativity that staff identified as describing the spirit of the company. As part of the hiring process, job candidates complete a behavioral assessment called the Predictive Index, which estimates the candidate’s current and future skills and motivators. Andrea Seeley, human resources manager, says there are no right or wrong answers to the survey, and the results are used to understand where a person is most likely to succeed within the company. “We want to understand what makes people happy and then focus on what we can do once we have that information,” Seeley says about the assessment. “We can direct them into areas of the business where they will see the most fulfillment. We’re constantly asking people to stretch themselves, but as an employer, we want to remind them that they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t the perfect fit for their job.” The commitment to making sure employees are the right fit has paid off; Seeley says the company’s retention rate has been 85 percent since it started hiring staff in 2011. Aero says that making time during the workday to give back to the community adds to the fulfillment of the work they do, and so corporate giving is a part of the business model. In 2014, the company founded the Columbia Foundation, which matches dollar for dollar the contributions that employees make to local charities. Great Circle, Love INC, the Central Missouri Humane Society, 78 JANUARY 2019

Andrea Seeley, human resources manager

and the Boys and Girls Club are some of the charities the foundation has donated to. “Culture in a company is everything, and it doesn’t matter what type of business you are. That’s something that you can sponsor in your company, no matter your company type,” Aero says. “We’re doing it in the industrial channel, which is usually very stodgy and strict and serious. We’ve taken a different approach, and we’re very successful at it.”

The Sky’s the Limit Last year’s company goals included increased profitability, above-market revenue growth, and strategic expansion, all of which Columbia Safety & Supply achieved. Looking forward, Aero is determined to see the company hire more staff and currently has 20 open positions for the right people. “The limiting factor that we have in taking on additional business is the amount of time in a day,” Aero says. “That’s what our challenge as a company is — bringing in those additional resources to help capture as much business as we can. The business is out there. We need more people who want to be part of a growing and exciting team. And that’s what we’re excited about, that’s what we’re doing, that’s what we’re growing.” As the company grows, so too will its commitment to nurturing a strong, supportive work culture. “It starts from the top down,” Aero says. “It starts with the management of the company. And if you truly want it, it’ll happen. It’s a natural side effect.” CBT

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IN FOCUS

SCOOTER CITY

The City of Columbia is in the middle of a three-way scooter war. BY KACEN J. BAYLESS

IN FOCUS

any, if not most, birds migrate in flocks. Throughout different times of the year, birds will decide to upgrade and temporarily move to areas with increased resources. When birds do decide to pack their bags and seek new homes, they’re mainly looking for one thing: A place to nest. In Columbia, a new type of bird has certainly found its nest. Bird scooters, that is. In mid-August 2018, Bird, a motor-propelled scooter company based out of California, dropped off the first of several fleets of scooters in Columbia — much to the surprise of both city officials and citizens. “They just showed up,” Interim City Manager John Glascock says. “They were here way before we had any kind of agreement.” Less than two months after Bird arrived, the battle of the scooters began as another motorized scooter company, Lime, dropped off a fleet of their own downtown in October. Early next year, a third company will join the mix, as PONY Scooter signed an agreement with the city to bring 250 scooters to the streets of Columbia. The surprise arrival of motor-propelled scooters has been a polarizing issue in the city, with supporters touting their convenience while some city officials and residents have raised concerns about public safety and overcrowded sidewalks. Nationwide, cities like Columbia are learning and adjusting to this new and disruptive business model. “We’ve had the benefit of seeing how other cities are regulating these [scooters], but there’s a national group right now trying to figure out what’s the best way to perfect the usage of these things in our cities,” says José Caldera, assistant city counselor. Within a day or two of Bird’s arrival in Columbia, Caldera says the city began negotiating a business agreement with the company that would also provide certain regulations. The city informed the scooter company that, to operate on the public right of way, Bird would have to have a business license. For close to two months, Bird was allowed to remain and continue operating within the city in “good faith” until a one-year agreement was reached on October 25. At any point during those two months, the city could have ordered Bird to cease operations and impounded the scooters.

82 JANUARY 2019

“When Bird came in, they essentially abandoned property in our rights of way, so at any moment we could’ve impounded them and taken them all away,” Caldera says. “We were deferring that action while we were negotiating in good faith to hammer out a contract.”

THE AGREEMENTS On October 25, both Bird and PONY signed business agreements with the city. The agreements were approved in a 5-1 vote by the city council in November. Under the agreements, both companies must pay the city a one-time $10,000 regulatory fee as well as $1 per day per scooter quarterly. Bird is currently permitted to operate with 500 scooters in the city. Caldera says that if the company wants to increase its number of scooters, Bird has to first notify the city. The city can’t unreasonably deny the request up to 750 scooters. Bird can also reduce their fleet down to 300 scooters before they have to notify the city. When PONY comes to Columbia in late January or early February, they have agreed to deploy 250 scooters. Right now, however, Lime is still technically operating illegally with 250 scooters in the city without a license. Caldera says the city is working on an agreement with the company that’s similar to the agreements with Bird and PONY. With the Bird and PONY agreements, the city estimates the scooters will bring in $308,000 over the next two years and $144,000 each year after that.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND CONCERNS Over the past several months, Caldera says he’s heard several different reactions to the influx of motorized scooters in the city. He says he’s spoken with residents who enjoy the scooters and don’t want to see them banned from the city. However, some citizens have expressed concerns about the new technology. Caldera says most of the complaints he’s heard from people have to do with public safety. He says public safety issues can arise when riders leave scooters in the middle of the sidewalk or ride them on sidewalks. There’s also the potential of scooter accidents on streets. To curtail these issues, the city included legal liability protections in the agreements with Bird and PONY.

NOTABLE NUMBERS PONY Scooter signed an agreement with the city to bring 250 scooters to the streets of Columbia.

Bird and PONY must pay the city a one-time $10,000 regulatory fee as well as $1 per day per scooter quarterly.

The city estimates the scooters will bring in $308,000 over the next two years and $144,000 each year after that.

Bird has amounted over 207,000 rides in the city.

The city council approved the agreements written up with Bird and PONY in a 5-1 vote.

B i rd S co ote r s Jessica Park, a communications consultant with Boone Hospital, says they do not collect specific data on injuries treated in the emergency department that could confirm a rise in injuries associated with the arrival of electric scooters in Columbia this year. The Columbia Police Department was not available for comment regarding motorized scooter accident data, but Caldera says if someone called the city and reported an incident with a scooter, that person would be referred to the police department. As part of the agreement with the scooter companies, the city also worked with the city council to amend city code and create an ordinance that regulates the use of “motorpropelled scooters” and prohibits their usage on sidewalks, public parking lots, and garages downtown. A violation of this ordinance could result in a fine of up to $100. Adam Kruse, assistant city counselor and the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator for Columbia, says the city has a responsibility to make sure the new scooter companies aren’t in violation of ADA requirements. “It’s a brand new technology and we’re trying to adapt with it, but it is causing problems for the accessibility of our sidewalks, which is really important to the city and to all members of the public, but particularly people with disabilities that rely on our sidewalks for transportation,” he says. “We’re doing everything we can to try to keep our sidewalks clear, but we’re also trying to be flexible and figure out how to work with this new technology and this new business model that is run on our city sidewalks. It’s something all communities are trying to deal with, and we’ll see where it goes.”

THE SCOOTERS Despite many of the public safety and aesthetics concerns raised about the scooters over the past several months, the new mode of transportation has been popular among riders. At the time of this writing, Bird had amounted a total of 207,000 rides in the city. As part of the agreement, Caldera says, the companies are required to share anonymized data regarding scooter usage with the city. He says the daily usage of each Bird scooter in Columbia was double the industry standard.

“When Bird came in, they essentially abandoned property in our rights of way, so at any moment we could’ve impounded them and taken them all away. We were deferring that action while we were negotiating in good faith to hammer out a contract.” – José Caldera

Aryan Davani, the co-founder and CEO of PONY Scooter, says his company also wants to be a long-term partner with the city and they want to provide the city with as much valuable information as possible. “Most of these companies gauge how many scooters to deploy based on how many average rides a single scooter gets, and there seems to be an industry standard of how many rides a scooter needs before they deploy more,” Caldera says. In terms of the relationship between the city and the scooter companies, Caldera says it’s mainly been a positive one. Under their agreements, Bird and PONY are required to have publicly listed phone numbers and emails to address citizen concerns as well as another contact for city concerns. If the city contacts Bird or PONY with a concern, the companies

are required to take action within two hours of being notified. “I’ve had phone calls with all three companies, and I’ve negotiated with PONY and Bird. The conversations have been good,” he says. “I would say the communication is great, but we’re obviously always trying to improve it.” Representatives from Bird and Lime were not available for comment on this story, but Davani says PONY is different from other scooter companies in the fact that they negotiate with cities before dropping off their scooters. “Definitely one of our main concerns is making sure that the cities that we’re working with are not alarmed by anything, they’re not surprised and we’re just kind of managing those obstacles that are surely to come with any disruptor that enters a new city,” he says. CBT

COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 83

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BUSINESS • P EOPL E • VOIC ES • FY I

N E W BUS I N E SS L I C E N S E S

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Stick Man Productions LLC

Hair Extensions and Color

1408 Indiana Ave.

1705 N. Stadium Blvd., Ste. C

573-489-7439

573-825-5628

Cabinet shop

Hair coloring and hair extensions

Pride Auto Care LLC

1812 Dogwood Ln., Ste. A Cassava Mama Tortillas

573-424-3546

1201 E. Broadway, Ste. B

Auto repair shop

573-818-2240 Wholesale distribution

Ashley W. Hester PC

of tortillas

33 E. Broadway, Ste. 200 580-695-0358

The Counseling Hub

General contractor

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Desired Designs

Independent

1000 N. Old 63

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Clothing Concepts Inc.

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Aqueous Vapor LLC

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Direct retail sales of men’s

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B U S I N E SS • P E O P L E • VO I C E S • F Y I

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Hawthorn Bank

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BUSINESS • P EOPL E • VOIC ES • FY I

Economic Index LABOR

HOUSING

OCTOBER 2018

United States

Total single-family

Labor force: 162,723,000

home sales: 135

Employment: 156,952,000

Existing single-family home

Unemployment: 5,771,000

sales: 115

Rate: 3.5 percent

New construction singlefamily home sales: 20

Missouri

Single-family homes average

Labor force: 3,070,323

listing sold price: $225,975

Employment: 2,998,936

Single-family homes median

Unemployment: 71,387

sold price: $203,500

Rate: 2.3 percent

Single-family homes active

Boone County Labor force: 99,177 Employment: 97,613 Unemployment: 1,564 Rate: 1.6 percent Columbia Labor force: 67,754 Employment: 66,702

listings on the market: 851 Single-family homes average days on market: 57 Single-family homes pending listings on the market: 154

UTILITIES NOVEMBER 2018

Unemployment: 1,052 Rate: 1.6 percent

Water November 2018: 49,419 November 2017: 49,162

CONSTRUCTION

Change #: 257

OCTOBER 2018

Change %: 0.523 Number of customers

Residential building permits: 33 Value of residential permits: $9,071,904.80

receiving service on December 1, 2018: 49,407

Commercial building

Electric

permits: 2

November 2018: 50,517

Value of commercial building

November 2017: 50,150

permits: $454,783.80

Change #: 367

Commercial additions/

Change %: 0.732

alterations: 2

Number of customers

Value of commercial additions/

receiving service on December

alterations: $55,000

1, 2018: 50,565 CBT COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 87

ADVERTISER INDEX ACCOUNTING PLUS..................................................................................................... 91

I-70 CONTAINER........................................................................................................... 44

ACHIEVE BALANCE.....................................................................................................37

INSIDE THE LINES........................................................................................................ 34

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LANDMARK BANK.......................................................................................................... 2

ATKINS, INC.................................................................................................................... 38

LINDNER PROPERTIES............................................................................................... 24

BLEU EVENTS...................................................................................................................11

LOGBOAT BREWING COMPANY............................................................................40

BMW OF COLUMBIA......................................................................................................9

MERCEDES OF COLUMBIA.......................................................................................... 7

BROCKMEIER FINANCIAL SERVICES...................................................................32

MIDMOTIX........................................................................................................................ 85

CENTRAL BANK OF BOONE COUNTY...................................................................8 CITY OF COLUMBIA - CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE............................................ 14 COLUMBIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.............................................................. 24 COLUMBIA EDP............................................................................................................. 80 COLUMBIA HONDA..................................................................................................... 42 COLUMBIA MARKETING GROUP........................................................................... 69 COMPASS CHIROPRACTIC..........................................................................................4 DOWNTOWN APPLIANCE........................................................................................ 80 EDWARD JONES........................................................................................................... 46

NATHAN JONES LAW................................................................................................. 86 NAUGHT NAUGHT INSURANCE AGENCY.......................................................... 80 PERSONAL TOUCH CLEANING SERVICE........................................................... 79 PRESSED........................................................................................................................... 18 PROVIDENCE BANK....................................................................................................... 5 QUANTUM WIRELESS INTERNET.......................................................................... 79 REALTY EXECUTIVES - HEATH HIGGINS............................................................ 10 SOCKET............................................................................................................................ 20

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STANGE LAW FIRM...................................................................................................... 88

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GFI DIGITAL....................................................................................................................... 3

TRUE FALSE FILM FEST............................................................................................ 68

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UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI - OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.40

HEART OF MISSOURI UNITED WAY............................................................. 12 & 13

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88 JANUARY 2019

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

BY T H E N U M BER S

GET TO KNOW THE 2019 20 UNDER 40 CLASS

Women Recipients

Men Recipients

Classes of 20 Under 40 Recipients

19.5

35.4

2001

Average Years Lived in Columbia

Average Age of Recipients

Year 20 Under 40 Recognitions Started COLUMBIABUSINESSTIMES.COM 89

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

T H I S OR T H AT

TOM BRADLEY The Tom Bradley Show on 93.1, Jack-FM, “The Governor of Mid-Missouri”

Mac

Big Picture

Cursive

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Solo

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Reading

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90 JANUARY 2019

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Beer

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Night Owl

Wine Improviser

Photography by Anthony Jinson

Details

Playlist Minimalist Board Game Execute Nonfiction Call Sandwich

Happy New Year! Accounting Plus wishes your business and your family a happy and prosperous new year! We hope to see you this tax season! Call, email or go online to book your appointment.

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