July 2014
Boom! Bang! Pow! Money in the fireworks industry Page 50
beer mania Page 22
➺ Joe Priesmeyer N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co.
A Salute to Our Vets Page 32
The American
Dream Page 40
Ice Ice Baby Page 48
Columbia’s Founding Fathers Page 54
WE’RE COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS...
MOVING
SALE
Charlie says:
BUY IT BEFORE WE BREAK IT! Visit our website & Facebook page for sale info.
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From left to right: John “Boo” Cathey, Cassie Rohe, Scott Bradley (V.P.), Sonya Reil, D. Scott Adams, Betsy Ames.
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columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 7
Commercial Lighting Incentive Program
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Miller’s Professional Imaging offers high-end photo products to professional photographers. Proper lighting in their production area is essential to their business. “Our old lighting had a yellowish color tone and we had to replace 8-10 bulbs per week, which isn’t easy in 24-foot high ceilings. Since changing to LED fixtures, we increased the amount of light from 19 lumens to 40 lumens, and we haven’t had to change any bulbs at all. Best of all, the improvement in the lighting level and whiter color temperature helps us to more accurately produce our customers’ work.” —Greg Martin, Director of Technical Maintenance
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From the Publisher
Editorial Chris Harrison, Group Publisher ChrisH@BusinessTimesCompany.com Sarah Redohl, Managing Editor SarahR@BusinessTimesCompany.com Katrina Tauchen, Copy Editor Katrina@BusinessTimesCompany.com
Cheers to nine great years ›
Nine years is a long time to do anything. For a young guy like me, nine years comprises nearly 25 percent of my life and almost 50 percent of my professional career. Nine years ago, in January of 2005, I strolled through the doors of the Business Times Co., and I was pretty sure I knew everything about publishing. It didn’t take long for me to understand that creating a successful magazine or a successful company did not hinge on my knowledge; it was directly in the hands of my colleagues and employees. No amount of knowledge can outweigh the collective passion, expertise, desire and dedication of a group of professionals. Nine years doesn’t go by without change. I’ve driven, witnessed and fought for and against many of the changes our company has gone through over the years. It was my job. In those nine years, I am proud to say we have created a Photo by valuable online presence, changed some magaTaylor Allen zine formats and frequencies, merged titles, garnered regional and national editorial and design awards, built an audited circulation of readers and produced events all while consistently providing great news, content and photography. I am grateful to have met and worked with some of the most talented, creative and dedicated people I could ever imagine. As a personal side note: I also have more gray hair! Cheers to the next nine years. It is my honor to offer a genuine thank you to everyone whom I’ve met and worked with over the years at the Business Times Co. This will be the last letter I write for the Columbia Business Times. I am excited to announce the birth of my own publishing company based right here in Columbia. I am acquiring Asphalt Pro magazine from the Business Times Co. It is a magazine I launched here with them in 2007 for an industry that I started my career in almost 20 years ago and one where I continue to have many friends and customers. With my departure, a new face will grace this page. Although she may be new to this page, she is not new to CBT or the local business scene. You have likely met her at a chamber function, a local entrepreneur event or a CBT-sponsored event. Beginning with the August issue, CBT managing editor Sarah Redohl will fill this page with her insightful and engaging comments. Thank you again to all whom I have crossed paths with over the past nine years. I feel blessed to have met, learned from and done business with you! As always, I hope you enjoy the issue you hold in your hands. I am sure Sarah would love your feedback, good or bad. You can contact her at sarahr@businesstimescompany.com. See you around! July 2014
Best,
Chris Harrison, Group Publisher
Joe Priesmeyer, president of N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co., stands in the company’s Columbia warehouse. Read more about the company’s history, growth and unwavering commitment to quality service after 60 years in business on page 22. Photo by Anthony Jinson.
BOOM! BANG! POW! MONEY IN THE FIREWORKS INDUSTRY PAGE 50
BEER MANIA PAGE 22
➺ Joe Priesmeyer N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co.
A Salute to Our Vets PAGE 32
THE AMERICAN
DREAM PAGE 40
ICE ICE BABY PAGE 48
COLUMBIA’S FOUNDING FATHERS PAGE 54
DESIGN Kristin Branscom, Art Director Kristin@BusinessTimesCompany.com Gillian Tracey, Creative Marketing Assistant Gillian@BusinessTimesCompany.com Creative Services Whitney Buckner, Creative Marketing Assistant Whitney@BusinessTimesCompany.com MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES Angie Huhman, Marketing Consultant Angie@BusinessTimesCompany.com Jermaine Rivera, Marketing Consultant Jermaine@BusinessTimesCompany.com Melissa Reaves, Marketing Consultant Melissa@BusinessTimesCompany.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Taylor Allen, Whitney Buckner, Chris Harrison, Anthony Jinson, Aaron Pellish, Sarah Redohl, Sadie Thibodeaux CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Madison Alcedo, Claire Boston, Al Germond, Vicki Hodder, Monica Pitts, Sarah Redohl, Molly Wright Interns Madison Alcedo, Steven Benna, Claire Boston, Abby Connolly, Kaylie Denenberg, Kendra Johnson, Torie Ross, Sophia Conforti, Crystal Duan, Aaron Pellish, Connor Relyea, Sarah Walsh MANAGEMENT Chris Harrison, General Manager ChrisH@BusinessTimesCompany.com Renea Sapp, Vice President of Finance ReneaS@BusinessTimesCompany.com Erica Pefferman, Vice President of Operations Erica@BusinessTimesCompany.com Cindy Pudney, Operations Manager CindyS@BusinessTimesCompany.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscription rate is $19.95 for 12 issues for 1 year or $34.95 for 24 issues for 2 years. To place an order or to inform us of an address change, log on to ColumbiaBusinessTimes.com. The Columbia Business Times is published every month by The Business Times Co., 2001 Corporate Place, Suite 100, Columbia, MO 65202. 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 strives 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.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 11
12 \\\ July 2014
About The Last Times What's happening online
Online extras
Sarah Hill @SarahMidMO June 2 @BukowskyJen very disappointed you have no dart guns in ur office. I mean. What's up w/ that? @ColumbiaBiz
Get a tour of House of Chow’s new look, read about more of Columbia’s founders and check out more photos of Redneck Fireworks online this month.
Mayecreate Design @MayeCreate May 30 @ColumbiaBiz, I love everything about this article: Columbia's Coolest Offices
House of Chow
Columbia MO Buzz @ColumbiaMOBuzz May 31 via @MOREALTORS: #Missouri #realestate market strongest in months
ColoCSX @ColoCSX What is making Columbia a growing hub for #datacenter
May 28
Tim Rich @Tim_Rich May 14 Great article on our United Way work! Thank you @ColumbiaBiz Times!
Bukowsky Law Firm Our first magazine cover! Thank you Columbia Business Times for including us in the article and congrats on another excellent issue of your magazine!
Around the office Thank you to everyone who came out for our Open House Happy Hour at United Way’s new office — and a big shout-out to Room 38 for providing the food and drinks!
CoMo Premium Roofing After the interview with Molly Wright, Elias did a photo shoot for Columbia Business Times. Picture Shared by Anthony Jinson
Our building remodel is in full swing! If you drop in, please pardon our mess as we beautify our workspace.
June 2014
THE COOLEST OFFICES IN COLUMBIA PAGE 38
Section 8: Explained PAGE 56
HIGH-PRICED HOTSPOTS PAGE 48
Data Centers Moving in or moving on? PAGE 62
A HISTORY OF HOUSING PAGE 52
➺ Jennifer Bukowsky sits in her downtown law firm, one of the city’s coolest offices
Write to CBT editor Sarah Redohl at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 13
14 \\\ July 2014
July 2014
Vol. 20, Issue 13 columbiabusinesstimes.com
Departments
50 Bang! Boom! Pow!
Those are the sounds of money for mid-Missouri fireworks retailers, who jump through regulations, permits and more to keep business booming for the Fourth and beyond.
11 From the Publisher 13 Letters to the Editor 17 Movers and Shakers 18 Briefly in the News 21 A Closer Look 22 Business Update 27 P.Y.S.K. 31 Opinion 60 Going Up 62 Nonprofit Spotlight 65 Technology 67 Celebrations 68 Deeds of Trust 69 Economic Index 70 Business Licenses 71 By the Numbers 72 7 Questions 74 Flashback
32
40
48
Saluting Our Vets
American Dreamers
Ice Ice Baby
This is a town that supports its vets. Take a look at the facts and figures behind the veterans and veteran-friendly programs that make Columbia proud.
Columbia business owners find their slices of the American Dream and show that entrepreneurial opportunities are ready and waiting for those willing to take the risk.
The ice business is thriving from Memorial Day to Labor Day, but the industry’s real success stories are those that keep product moving when temperatures start to cool.
54 Our Founding Fathers The CBT takes a retrospective look at the forbearers who laid the foundation of the Columbia we know and love today.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 15
Jeremiah Turner
Strategic Business Analyst Jeremiah joined the Data Comm team in 2012, after spending the previous six years working for local banks as a specialist in electronic payment systems. Since coming to Data Comm, Jeremiah has been able to apply his expertise in solving complex problems by showing businesses, organizations, and government entities how to utilize emerging technology to streamline processes & become more efficient and productive.
2515 Bernadette Dr. Columbia, MO 65203 • (573) 256-5551 • www.datacomminc.com
Copiers, Printers and Document Management
Desktop • Workgroup • Production • Wide Format Application Software • Network Printers Print Cost Management • Email • Fax
16 \\\ July 2014
Managed Network Services Cloud Brokerage Services • Email & Web Services • Proactive Monitoring & Maintenance • Strategic IT Plannin
Office Products
Cleaning & Break Room Supplies Office Furniture • Office Supplies
Movers and Shakers ›› Professionals grow, serve and achieve
barbour
hopkins
coil
›› Boone County National Bank BCNB has announced four employee promotions. Erica Weathers of the Boonville West Bank was promoted to teller II. Krista Seidl, floater pool, was promoted to consumer banking representative. Katherine Landes was promoted to senior customer service representative for the Customer Service Center, and Shanita Hunt was promoted to payroll specialist. ›› Shawn Barbour Barbour has joined Williams-Keepers LLC’s Columbia office as an audit supervisor. He specializes in financial statement audits of financial institutions and will also supervise audits in other industries. He has five years experience in public accounting and four in performing credit risk analysis.
humphrey
musgrove
›› Clint Miller Miller has been honored as one of Shelter Insurance Companies’ highest-achieving sales representatives of 2013. Miller has been with Shelter since 1991 and has received this distinction 14 times. ›› Cathy Richards Richards was unanimously voted as the new president of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators. She is the first public administrator from Boone County to hold this position. ›› Kim Siegenthaler Siegenthaler has been named director of Mizzou Online. She has served as interim co-director for the past three years.
›› Paul Hopkins Hopkins has been appointed assistant director of the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital. In his new role, he will oversee facilities management, police, voluntary service, safety and the green environmental-management system. He has operated as the chief financial officer at Truman VA since 2008.
›› Columbia College Evening Campus Director David Humphrey has received the Frazier Moon Administrator of the Year award for exemplifying the virtues of former Columbia College Dean Frazier Moon. The American College has recognized Melissa Montgomery-Carberry as a Chartered Adviser in Philanthropy. Additionally, Jeff Musgrove has been named vice president for Adult Higher Education. Musgrove is currently the southeast regional director.
›› David Coil Coil, a project manager at Coil Construction, is one of 19 students of the inaugural class of the University of Missouri’s executive MBA program. “My experience in the exec MBA program allows me to bring more structure and value to Coil Construction,” he says.
›› Brad Fresenberg MU’s Fresenberg won the Founder’s Award from the Sports Turf Managers Association for his service to the industry as a professor in the Division of Plant Sciences. STMA is the professional organization of 2,600 sports-field managers worldwide.
➜ Are you or your employees
making waves in the Columbia business community? Send us your news to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com
mccray
wilson
mayne
›› Kee Groshong Groshong received the sixth annual Howard B. Lang Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service to the City of Columbia. ›› William Woods University Carrie McCray was promoted to associate professor of American Sign Language interpreting, and social work program director Elizabeth Wilson was granted tenure. Assistant professor of psychology Caroline Boyer Ferhat has received the school’s Louis D. Beaumont Dad’s Association Distinguished Professor Award for Excellence in Teaching, and Shelby Jobe received the Academic Service-Learning Award. ›› MidwayUSA Founder and CEO Larry Potterfield received the NRA’s Life of Liberty Leadership Award, and Brenda Potterfield has been presented with the first NRA Women’s Leadership Forum Lifetime Achievement Award. ›› Judy Wall Wall has received the SEC Faculty Achievement Award, an annual award honoring one professor from each SEC university who demonstrates outstanding teaching, research, scholarship and mentorship. Wall is a curators professor of biochemistry at MU. ›› Kath Mayne Mayne joined the American Red Cross Heart of Missouri staff as a disaster specialist and will assist in disaster activities throughout the chapter’s 21 counties. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 17
Briefly in the News
›› A rundown of this month’s top headlines
top lender 20 years The U.S. Small Business Administration ranked The Bank of Missouri as a Top 10 Lender in the Eastern Missouri District. The bank ranked No. 1 in volume with 40 loans and No. 3 in dollars, lending $8 million to small businesses.
The Assistance League of Mid-Missouri celebrated its 20-year anniversary May 13 with an event at Lela Raney Wood Ballroom at Stephens College. In 1994, the organization was welcomed as the 90th Assistance League chapter. There are now 120 chapters nationwide and nearly 300 members in the Columbia chapter alone. The Assistance League of Mid-Missouri’s nine philanthropic programs have reached thousands of women and children in need.
top ten DECA superstars
The American Academy of Family Physicians has awarded the University of Missouri School of Medicine with a Top 10 Award for its family and community medicine program. This is the second year in a row the MU School of Medicine has received this distinction. Award recipients are determined by the greatest percentage of graduates who choose first-year family medicine residency positions. The MU School of Medicine ranked fourth in the nation in number of graduates going into family medicine between 2011 and 2013.
rum time
In May, Les Bourgeois Vineyards and Winery launched a white rum as part of its partnership with local distiller Jonny Ver Planck. The new craft distillate brand, Planck & Anchor Distillers, has further plans for its Rocheport Rum line that will also include gold, coconut, aged and spiced rums in addition to a vodka and gin.
Small business of the year
William Woods University students Amy Faus of Waterloo, Illinois, and Lacee Floyd of Littleton, Colorado, placed in the top 10 internationally for “Entrepreneurship: Starting a Business” at the recent Collegiate DECA International Competition. 18 \\\ July 2014
The Columbia Chamber of Commerce announced its 2014 Small Business of the Year May 9 during a luncheon at The Tiger Hotel. SuretyBonds.com was selected from a group of five finalists, Josh Kayser including Focus on Health Chiropractic, Honeybaked Ham Co. and Café, The Lawn Co. and Monarch Title Co. Inc. SuretyBonds.com began when Josh Kayser, owner and general manager, started selling bonds in 2010. The company now sells bonds in every state in the nation and employs 22 full-time staff and 10 part-time interns.
What’s happening
$111,000
Columbia College assistant professor of criminal justice Barry Langford donated a record sum of $111,000 to the college’s “Tradition Meets Tomorrow” campaign. The gift will support the college’s Mock Trial Award as well as scholarships for criminal justice and forensic science students.
Dedication of Service Westminster College dedicated its alumni building as the Jack Marshall Alumni Center in honor of John “Jack” Marshall during a special dedication ceremony as part of the college’s Alumni Weekend. During his 55 years of service to Westminster College, Marshall held several significant leadership positions, from student recruiting to interim president. He also played a role in moving the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury from London to Westminster College.
local telly tally Hub & Spoke, Columbia College and City Channel each won Telly Awards in the 35th annual competition. Hub & Spoke was named a bronze winner for its production of Chomp, a television series that aired fall of 2013 on KZOU-TV featuring local and regional cuisine and food tourism. Columbia College’s marketing department received two bronze awards for its “Young Americans” and “Worth It” broadcast campaigns. The “Young Americans” and “Worth It” campaigns are part of the college’s larger “Go for Greater” campaign. City Channel employees Liz Fornango and Dustin Hawkins received bronze Telly awards for their creative excellence in production. The City Channel is Columbia’s government access television station and broadcasts city meetings and original programming featuring department programs and activities.
5,452 degrees MU bestowed 5,452 degrees during spring commencement: 3,814 bachelor’s degrees, 1,009 master’s degrees, 268 doctorates, 128 law degrees, 111 veterinary medicine degrees, 97 medicine degrees and 25 education specialist degrees. More than 270 of those degrees were conferred upon students who have completed online degree programs.
Excited to Be No. 3 Real estate research site Movoto ranked Columbia as the third most exciting place in Missouri. Movoto looked at places with a population of more than 10,000 and ranked them based on nightlife, music venues, restaurants, age of residents and more. Here’s the full list: St. Louis, Rolla, Columbia, Kansas City, Branson, Fulton, Jefferson City, Clayton, Warrensburg and Springfield.
2,500 sq. ft. Columbia Courtyard by Marriott is adding 2,500 square feet to its executive conference center.
Giving 50 Cents Sean Spence, Greg Wolff and Mike Nichols officially launched their online ticketing business, EveryTicketGives (everyticketgives. com). With a goal to go national, EveryTicketGives donates 50 cents of every ticket sold to the charity of the event host’s choice. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 19
20 \\\ July 2014
A Closer Look
New Businesses in
Columbia
›› A quick look at emerging companies
1. CrossFit Audacity
3. Fast Yeti Custom Tees
5. Agave
A new gym focused on personal training and fitness has arrived in Columbia. CrossFit Audacity opened at 3410 Broadway Business Park Court, Suite 103 on May 1. The gym offers personalized programs and advice focused on the specific needs of each client. CrossFit Audacity also offers a variety of services, including CrossFit classes, personal training, boot camps, yoga and nutritional consulting. The gym’s goal is to help clients use fitness as a tool to reach their full potential. Contact: Jack Jones, 417-399-5759
Fast Yeti Custom Tees offers a variety of shirt designs that can be funny, personal or for business and other purposes. The store, founded by Reid Lyle, opened at 2703 E. Broadway in the Broadway Shops in early April. Lyle has more than 13 years of experience in marketing and media and years of experience working with printed material. The focus Lyle employs at Fast Yeti revolves around offering a creative selection of shirt designs while maintaining a family-friendly environment. Contact: Reid Lyle, 573-289-9080
In June, Agave Mexican Restaurant & Bar opened a second location at 1000 I-70 Drive SW, formerly occupied by Kabuki Japanese Steakhouse. Its first location, at 901 Safari Drive, is an authentic and casual Mexican restaurant. The traditional-style restaurant offers takeout and dine-in options, has indoor and outdoor seating and caters. Its menu includes appetizers, lunch and dinner as well as a kids’ menu, specials and drinks. The second location will continue the atmosphere and cuisine of Agave’s flagship location and offer an outdoor patio that can seat around 150 people. Contact: El Carreton LLC, 573-814-9894
2. Strength & Conditioning Factory Strength & Conditioning Factory was founded by JD Franklin and Joey Grippo and held a grand-opening celebration June 28. Located at 1004 W. Worley St., its offerings include training in sports performance, mobility, functional training, reconditioning and personal training. According to Strength & Conditioning Factory’s website, scfcolumbia.com, “Our practical approach to total development will not only help you reach your goals, but it will also assist in injury reduction.” Contact: SCFC LLC, 573-442-2869
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4. Café Utopia After nearly 15 years of running her own catering business, Kasey Ryan opened her own restaurant, Café Utopia, at 1013 E. Walnut St. in November 2013. The café offers all homemade items, including paninis, soups, quiches, pies and grits. The ingredients used by Café Utopia come from local farms to ensure freshness and support the local community. Customers have the option to dine in at the café or take the food to go. Contact: Kasey Ryan, 573-795-0987
6. Go Baby Go Go Baby Go, a boutique that specializes in baby clothes, toys, diaper bags, feeding accessories and more, opened in Columbia at 2609 E. Broadway, Suite 203. The idea for the store came into being when Molly and Jeff Carmichael were shopping for their baby boy. They were struggling and realized that Columbia did not have many options for baby shopping, so trips to St. Louis and Kansas City sparked the idea. Contact: Molly Carmichael, 573-214-2229 CBT
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4 ➜ Are you an entrepreneur? Are you sprouting a new business? Tell us about it at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 21
Joe Priesmeyer Caroline Leemis. Photos AnthonyJinson Jinson Photos by by Anthony
22 \\\ July 2014
beer mania
Business Update
›› Transformed, trending and up-to-the-minute
An American Tradition N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co.’s commitment to quality service remains unchanged after 60 years in business. Joe Priesmeyer, president of N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co., speaks with pride about his grandfather Norb Scheppers. “He saw an opportunity and just started pedaling beer,” he says. “It was basically him and a truck for a long time.” Today, with more than 70 employees, warehouses in both Columbia and Jefferson City and a growing list of suppliers and products, this local company with humble beginnings has come a long way. Yet, the business’s commitment to quality service, established more than 60 years ago, remains the same. Although founded in 1950, the company partnered with its first big supplier, Anheuser-Busch, in 1952. For the next several decades, Scheppers only sold Anheuser-Busch products. In fact, it wasn’t until 2008 that the business expanded its supplier base, first to include nonalcoholic products such as Monster, Dad’s Root Beer and Fitz’s Root Beer. Dramatic changes in the beer industry prompted the company to expand its list of beer suppliers the following year. “There were less than 100 breweries in the country in the early 1990s,” says Priesmeyer, who took over the presidency from his uncle Joe Scheppers in 2008. “Today, there are about 3,000. We now have about 40 different suppliers.” General Manager Mike Radzin says the majority of the company’s growth has been in direct response to customer demand for more microbrewery, or craft beers, those that are produced in smaller quantities and often have a distinctive flavor. “We’ve expanded from two local craft producers, Rock Bridge Brewery and Bur Oak Brewing Co., to bringing in two of the five largest craft breweries nationally into our house,” Radzin says, referring to New Belgium Brewing Co. and Deschutes Brewery. Scheppers distributes at least a dozen different brands brewed in Missouri in addition to products
By Molly Wright
from across the country, from Lake Wood, New York, to San Diego.
A changing industry Paul Wissmann, who manages the company’s craft portfolio, says there’s been a shift in customer preference in recent years away from the larger more standard beer companies, especially with the younger crowd. “There used to be more brand loyalty in the industry,” he says. “But the 21-year-olds today are not making brand-loyalty choices.” Instead, he says they are looking for something different that sets them apart and gets them noticed. “It’s like knowing the band before they became popular.” Priesmeyer agrees, but he says consumers in general want more local products and services. “This is not just a Columbia phenomenon,” he says. “You are seeing industries starting to reflect that, and I think the beer industry is a bit ahead of the curve on this. This is one of the reasons why we try to partner with as many Missouri-made beers as possible.”
“The core of what we do is that we are a logistics business. The industry is changing; the consumer taste profile is changing, rapidly. We have to be cognizant of that and pay attention.” — Joe Priesmeyer, president, N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co.
Opposite page: Joe Priesmeyer, president of N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co., stands in the company’s Columbia warehouse. Above: N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co. has warehouses in both Columbia and Jefferson City.
However, Radzin is quick to point out that Scheppers doesn’t represent every brand that approaches the company. “You have to select products you truly believe in, that the market will support and that people you want to do business with will like,” he says. Choosing the right partners is also important because each supplier brings with it several new brands, which increases the complexity of the distribution operations. For this reason, developing solid working relationships is the key. “The core of what we do is that we are a logistics business,” Priesmeyer says. “The industry is changing; the consumer taste profile is changing, rapidly. We have to be cognizant of that and pay attention.”
Product evolution Although Anheuser-Busch was purchased by InBev in 2008, the beer giant remains Schepcolumbiabusinesstimes.com /// 23
N.H. Scheppers Distributing Co. was established in 1950 and now employs more than 70 people and has about 40 different suppliers.
pers’ biggest supplier. “Our relationship is still incredibly solid,” Radzin says. According to Priesmeyer, their business relationship with the new company has not changed, though the company’s more corporate approach to business took some getting used to. “The previous owners of Anheuser-Busch thought more like a family-owned business, and they took a longer-term view of their industry and the position that they held in it,” he says. Wissmann says he believes the beer industry will continue to evolve now that people have gotten a taste for different styles of beer. “Some stats indicate a new brewery opens every day across the country,” he says, which is why building relationships with suppliers is so important. “So when they come into the area, we have an opportunity to establish a partnership. People in this area are seeking different brands and different opportunities, so my suppliers benefit immensely.” For Radzin, new suppliers and innovative products make this an exciting time to be work24 \\\ July 2014
ing in this industry. But overall, he says he appreciates working for a family-owned company that recognizes the value of its employees and is committed to the community. “There is a charitable aspect here,” he says. “It’s not just about selling as many cases as we can. The mindset of this company is committed to their employees as well as the community.” Scheppers frequently donates thousands of dollars annually in products, cash and services. Recently the company constructed a large conference area off the back of its Columbia location called the “octagon room,” which is often utilized by local groups such as the Boy Scouts and the Boys & Girls Club.
A family business Priesmeyer admits the distribution business is physically demanding and often challenging. Regulations between states can make it difficult to get products across the nation to mid-Missouri. “And then we have to figure out how to
move it to our clients here in the area,” he says. Because beer is perishable, making sure stores receive enough inventory so they don’t run out but not so much that there are date issues with the products can also be tricky. Then again, he says there are perks. “It’s also the beer business, so it’s a lot of fun.” Today, Scheppers runs seven delivery routes apiece from its two warehouse locations and distributes products in Boone, Cole, Callaway, Osage, Moniteau and Miller counties. “A lot of what this company is about stems from the fact that we are a family business and have been here for three generations,” Priesmeyer says. “This is our community; this is our home. It’s a large part of who we are, and we are connected to it.” He says he hopes as a company that they instill this same feeling in their employees. “I want our people to feel that when they come to work here, they are part of a family within the company and the community at large.” CBT
E xpEriEncE is ThE DiffErEncE D L •F L •c L •P i omestic
aw
amiLy
aw
riminaL
aw
ersonaL njury
Milt Harper Kay Evans Ron Netemeyer Helen Wade Jeff Hilbrenner
Kevin O’Brien Melissa Faurot Katy Reeder Jill Elsbury
“We’ll Fight For You.”
HARPER, EVANS, WADE & NETEMEYER 401 Locust Ste 401 | Columbia, MO | 573.442.1660 | www.lawmissouri.com “The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.”
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 25
Meet Stewart Scott, owner of Cevet Tree Care. He recently obtained an SBA loan to refinance his existing debt, purchase equipment and secure a line of credit for short term working capital. An SBA loan from The Bank of Missouri is one of the best financing options for small and growing businesses. An SBA loan can help you finance an entire business, equipment and fixtures, business real estate and much more.
www.bankofmissouri.com/business-sba-loans
26 \\\ July 2014
Karin Bell Vice President, SBA Manager
Crystal Morris SBA Sr. Loan Admin. Asst.
Geoff Karr SBA Lender
P.Y.S.K. Person You Should Know
›› Job description: We build custom barbecue meat smokers and have a line of 11 barbecue-related sauces and spices. All are distributed worldwide. We also sell welding and industrial supplies and hardware.
Jay Curry
Owner/partner, Spicewine Ironworks; owner/partner Columbia Welding & Machine Age:
57
›› Years lived in Columbia: 54. I did a three-year stint in New Orleans as a restaurant manager. ›› Original hometown: Columbia ›› Education: I graduated from Rock Bridge High School in 1975 and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame in 2011. I graduated with a B.A. in business administration from Columbia College in 1982. I graduated from the Culinary Institute of Smoke Cooking with a Master of Barbecue degree in 2009. ›› Community involvement: I am a member and past president of the Beta Beta Que Society. We promote the art of barbecue in the central Missouri area, raise money for charities and have a disaster relief response team. We have worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Central Missouri, the Central Missouri Food Bank and the Central Missouri Humane Society. I am also a member of the Elks Club and the Operation BBQ Relief Team, a nationwide group of barbecue teams that travel to disaster areas and feed the displaced and first responders hot meals. ›› Professional background: I have been in the restaurant business for 13 years and in the welding supply and industrial sales field for 26 years. I have been in the barbecue smoker-building business for 10 years. ›› A favorite recent project: I recently signed with an export company and have been working to get my barbecue products established overseas. We have shipped barbecue smokers to Australia, Japan and England.
Photo by Anthony Jinson
➜ If I weren’t doing this for a living, I would: I would probably be a chef or own a restaurant.
›› A Columbia businessperson I admire and why: Ralph Gates. Ralph believed in us when we were trying to buy our first business and was instrumental in making it possible. Also my father, who raised me to be honest and hard working. He also was a major factor in Columbia Welding’s ability to remain in business for more than 90 years. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 27
›› Why I’m passionate about my job: Each barbecue smoker has its own identity. They are each handcrafted to the customers’ specifications. We take great pride in the craftsmanship and their ability to last for many years. I love to hear when my customers win barbecue contests with them or when someone has used one of our sauces or spices and delighted their barbecue crowd. ›› What people should know about this profession: It is fast paced and ever changing. You really have to keep your ear to the ground and adapt to changing markets. Working with purveyors and distributors and competing in barbecue contests is a full-time job, let alone building barbecue smokers. ›› What I do for fun: I love to cook! My kitchen is where I go to relax. I had it built especially for me and spend all day on Sunday cooking for my family. I do some catering and cook on the professional barbecue circuit. ›› Family: My wife, Susan, is a registered nurse in the neonatal unit at University Hospital. I have three children, Andrew, Jessica and Michele, and two grandsons, Dylan and Ethan. My oldest daughter and fourth child passed away a number of years ago. ›› Favorite place in Columbia: Stephens Park. I go walking there just about every day. It is a beautiful place that is just getting better. ›› Accomplishment I’m most proud of: We’ve won three barbecue world championships. Our Blue Collar BBQ Sauce won Best in the World honors in 2009 at the American Royal World Championships, our Heffer Dust BBQ Rub won Best in the World honors in 2007 at the American Royal, and we won Best in the World in the pork category at the American Royal in 2012, first place out of 545 teams from around the world. ›› Most people don’t know that I: Attended college on a vocal music scholarship, played bass guitar in a local rock band, and all of the barbecue sauce and rub recipes are mine. CBT 28 \\\ July 2014
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 29
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30 \\\ July 2014
Roundtable › Al Germond
point-of-view
A Reason for Growth It’s somewhat amazing that it’s taken more than 30 years to replace the parking lot at the northeast corner of 10th and Broadway with a four-story apartment house that’s now under construction. Almost as startling is the underutilization of the half city block on Locust Street between Seventh and Eighth streets, the most recent nexus of commuAl Germond is the nity angst because the OPUS group wants host of the Columbia to build a four-story apartment house Business Times there. In both instances, the assessed valSunday Morning uation and concomitant tax increases on Roundtable at 8:15 these parcels will principally benefit the a.m. Sundays on KFRU. Columbia School District once they are He can be reached at completed. This is good news consideral@columbia business ing the amount of tax-exempt property times.com. across the city owned by various medical and educational entities, the largest of course being the University of Missouri. A flashback to the early 1960s reminds us of how much property Stephens College used to own. Beginning in 1957, the college began to divest itself of a number of buildings and tracts and returned them to the tax rolls with a combined assessed valuation at the time of around $300,000. This brings us to the northeast corner of 10th and Broadway that until May 27, 1983, was the site of the Stephens Endowment Building. An early morning fire of suspicious origin gutted the historic structure, so it was razed and replaced by a surface parking lot that has been shared by several downtown businesses for the past 30 years.
A finger wag to those condemning development who also happen to be employed by the institutions that benefit from enrollment growth and need to house these “clients” of our educational plant… The original two-story brick structure on that corner was built in 1880. On March 31, 1905, Stephens College bought the building using funds from the sale of 16 houses that had been given to the college in 1876 by James L. Stephens. The college rented the premises, and the proceeds endowed Stephens, but the building remained exempt from taxation.
This photo of the Stephens Endowment Building was taken for the Columbia Missourian in 1962 when Stephens College sold the property.
This changed on Jan. 30, 1962, when Stephens announced it was selling the building to the Kelly brothers — James, Sherman and Glenn — who owned Kelly Press at 201 S. Eighth St., which is not far, ironically, from the site OPUS wants to build on and includes a building that at one time was a Kroger grocery store. The sale price of the Endowment Building was not disclosed, but with enrollment surging and more than 1,700 students on campus, Stephens was on a roll with plans underway to build the $4.3 million Library and Learning Center on East Broadway. Other properties the college had already sold included two tracts at the southwest corner of East Broadway and William Street subsequently occupied by two medical office buildings and the College Lodge at the southeast corner of Bass and College avenues. A building and a parcel associated with the college’s aviation program represented curious investments in their day. The Sinclair Pennant Hotel built in 1929 across from the old Municipal Airport, now Candlelight Lodge, was used by the college as a dormitory but sold to the Gross brothers in 1959. A group of Quonset huts on the north side of Hinkson Avenue in the 1700 block was sold in late 1961 to a St. Louis developer who built three detached buildings in what was advertised at the time as garden apartments. While some curse and fume at the surge of construction across the city and especially downtown, it’s a reminder of the startling increases in tax receipt revenue as parcels accrue in value through development. A finger wag to those condemning development who also happen to be employed by the institutions that benefit from enrollment growth and need to house these “clients” of our educational plant — albeit temporarily — as they live and spend amongst us. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 31
32 \\\ July 2014
Head online to ColumbiaBusinessTimes. com/webextras to hear the stories of Columbia veterans, in partnership with the Missouri Veterans History Project.
By Sarah Redohl photo by Whitney Buckner columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 33
there are
veterans in columbia
Columbia College
fast facts
Columbia College has a longstanding partnership with service members in the U.S. military. It is a charter member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges, which aims to provide educational opportunities to service members and has nearly 40 years of experience working with military students. According to Mike Lederle, the assistant dean of military and federal programs at Columbia College, service members have a specific set of needs. “What’s unique about the military is they’re committed adult learners,” he says. “They bring a level of life experience that makes them very dedicated to success, whether it be formal military training or life experiences such as being overseas.” Lederle says it’s important to provide the maximum amount of academic credit based on military experience and training. Another factor? Lederle says it takes an average of six to eight years for an active duty service member to complete an undergraduate degree due to deployments and frequent relocations, and it’s not uncommon for them to have transcripts from a handful of institutions. Because of these additional factors, Columbia College has crafted programs that offer special services and opportunities to service members and veterans. “When we developed the online campus in 2000, we knew this was something the military could really benefit from,” Lederle says. There are 27 degree programs that can be completed online, and the college accepts military tuition assistance and GI Bill benefits. The college also provides disability services, has a dedicated Veterans Service Center and offers scholarships to veterans and active duty service members.
In 2012 alone, Columbia College awarded $172,000 in scholarships to current and former service members. military and veteran graduate numbers grow 639
2010
975
2011
2,009
2012 0
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
Nearly 30 percent of its 27,000 students are either active service members or veterans.
Eighteen of its 35 campuses are on military installations. Military campuses
One in every 16 Columbia citizens 18 years or older are veterans. Source: 2008-2012 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Columbia, Mo.
34 \\\ July 2014
2,500
Redstone Arsenal, AL San Diego, CA Los Alamitos, CA Lemoore, CA Coast Guard Island, CA NAS, FL Patrick Air Force Base, FL Hunter Army Airfield, GA Fort Stewart, GA Fort Leonard Wood, MO Fort Drum, NY Hancock Field, NY Fort Sill, OK Weapons Station, SC Forth Worth, TX NS Everett/Marysbille, WA Whidbey Island, WA Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
veterans united
89.8% of Columbia's veterans are male
10.2% of Columbia's veterans are female
Veterans United, founded in Columbia in 2002, has provided VA mortgages to 30,000 military families. With more than 1,100 employees in Columbia, Veterans United administered $4.1 billion in loans in 2013 nationwide. According to its website, Veterans United has raised more than $6 million to help veterans and families in need. The Veterans United Foundation, founded in 2011, is driven by employees giving 1 percent of every paycheck. Approximately $1.4 million has been given to Missouri veteran organizations and individuals since the program’s inception.
Adopt-A-Platoon
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tery Donelson
“The initial move to the program occurred at [mid-Missouri MOAA’s] 2005 Christmas holiday party. One of the members told the chapter about a unit his daughter and friends had adopted. They had collected a lot of items to send to the troops deployed to the Middle East; they were very successful with their donations, so much so that they didn’t have the funds to ship all the items overseas. "The member asked if he could pass the hat at the social, and if members were so inclined, they could donate to cover the cost of the postage. The chapter members came through with over $300 donated. At our next board meeting, I mentioned the chapter had been looking for a project to get behind and offered to research the National Adopt-a-Platoon program and see if we could get a platoon to support. The board unanimously agreed, and I’ve been passing the hat at our quarterly socials ever since.”
2,463 $15,700 283 more than
pounds sent, total
raised
Mid-Missouri's Military officers association of america The Military Officers Association of America is the country’s largest military association, with more than 380,000 members. The midMissouri chapter, led by its president, retired Lt. Col. David Russell, has 115 members and 10 auxiliary members (spouses of deceased members who choose to remain affiliated with the chapter). MOAA is a tax-exempt veterans organization founded in California in 1929. The mission is to promote the values of military professionals; shape related government policy; deliver membership value; and provide products and services to help members meet professional, financial and family needs. Locally, the chapter has six board meetings and four socials per year and works on community projects, such as the Memorial Day Parade and Courthouse Ceremony, serving as Salvation Army bell ringers during the holidays and honoring a local military community leader with the Citizen of the Year Award. They also present ROTC awards at universities in the mid-Missouri region and participate in the Adopt-A-Platoon program to purchase personal comfort items for a platoon in Iraq or Afghanistan and the Military Family Relief Fund to assist deployed Reserve and Guard families in emergencies.
There are 37 lieutenant colonels and 43 colonels in the mid-Missouri chapter of MOAA.
boxes sent, total
Mid-Missouri’s MOAA has supported eight units since 2006, and its most recent unit, 70th MPAD out of Jefferson City, returned home last month.
Lieutenant colonels
Colonels
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 35
military morning
age of Columbia's Veterans 23.1%
12.5%
Military Morning was organized four years ago, based on an idea from Sean Spence. On the second Wednesday of each month from March to November, veterans and active military personnel are offered a free breakfast and a short presentation on a topic of interest. Topics include women and minority veterans services, Honor Flight, Bugles Across America and more, according to Stephen Gaither, public affairs officer at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital, who has been involved in the program from its inception. “Most importantly, it provides camaraderie,” he says. The breakfast is held at Truman’s Bar & Grill, one of the event’s gold sponsors. Other sponsors include the 128th Field Artillery Association, Central Missouri Honor Flight, American Legion Herbert Williams Post 202 and a number of individuals. The next Military Morning will be July 9.
between 25.8%
19.8%
attend the average military morning
18.8% 18-34
35-54
55-64
honor flight 65-74
75 +
vfw post 280 Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 280 is located at 1509 Ashley St. in Columbia. Nationally, the organization was created in 1899 and currently has more than 1.4 million members. It provides financial, social and emotional support to members of the armed forces, veterans and their dependents. Its headquarters is in Kansas City, Missouri. The local post meets the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m.
36 \\\ July 2014
Central Missouri Honor Flight transports veterans to Washington, D.C., to reflect on their memorials. Since its founding in 2009, it has transported more than 1,650 veterans on 28 flights. Its most recent flight left June 9, 2014, according to Logistics Chief Sharon Paulsell.
Evelyn Korth was an Army nurse stationed in Trinidad during World War II. She was one of the first two women to go on the Honor Flight.
veterans campus Earlier this year, Welcome Home partnered with the Columbia Housing Authority and the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital to create a campus for veterans in Columbia. The partnership has submitted an application to the Missouri Housing Development Commission for 4 percent low-income housing tax credits to partially fund the project, but at time of press, the partnership had not yet been awarded those funds. They also plan to launch a community-wide capital campaign to raise the balance of the funds. The campus would include 25 one-bedroom apartments for veterans participating in the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, or HUD-VASH. There will also be a fitness center, computer lab and laundry facility on site, as well as a supportive services center.
military burials Deceased veterans may be buried in any of 131 national cemeteries with available space and will receive a headstone or marker, burial flag and Presidential Memorial Certificate, ordered by the cemetery officials, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Burial benefits in a private cemetery include a government headstone or marker, a burial flag and a Presidential Memorial Certificate that must be obtained by completing VA forms. After completion of the VA Form 27-2008, flags may be obtained from any VA regional office or U.S. Post Office.
Missouri National Guard The 175th Military Police Battalion of the Missouri National Guard is located at 5151 N. Roger Wilson Memorial Drive in Columbia. According to the 2013 fiscal year report, the activities of the Missouri National Guard had an economic impact of more than $1 billion across the state and $4 million in Columbia. This includes guard pay, supplies, maintenance, construction projects and more.
military recruiting Missouri Recruitment Rates
U.S. Average Recruitment Rates
2
2.5
2.89
2.74
2.29
2.69
1
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
Number of recruits per 1,000 youth aged 18-24
Number of recruits per 1,000 youth aged 18-24
3
2 1.5
2.27
2.29
2.1
2.28
St. Louis County
1 0.5 0
The Missouri counties of Jackson and St. Louis were among the top 100 counties with the most military recruits in the country, according to the National Priorities Project.
Jackson County
2007
2008
2009
2010
Source: National Priorities Project
year
year
Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital Following the scandal regarding the Phoenix VA’s secret waiting list for health care services for veterans, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill announced the results of a survey regarding care received at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital in May. Of the more than 250 veterans surveyed, upward of 80 percent reported easy appointment scheduling, respectful treatment and reasonable wait times for health care services at Columbia’s VA. The survey also questioned veterans’ satisfaction with VA services in Kansas City and St. Louis. Satisfaction with services in Columbia was 13 percent higher than satisfaction at the Kansas City VA and nearly 25 percent higher than St. Louis’ VA. In early June, VA officials reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs maintained 10 “secret waiting lists” in the Midwest. Of those 10, seven facilities had nearly 100 veterans waiting more than three months for treatment; St. Louis had 26 and Columbia, 19.
Missouri was ranked the 15th state, overall, in military recruitment rates, according to the National Priorities Project.
Quick Facts 123 beds 397,876 outpatient visits 1,374 employees 883 volunteers contributing 63,922 hours 44 Missouri counties served (and Pike County, Illinois) 7 community-based outpatient clinics (Jefferson City, Osage Beach, Kirksville, Mexico, Sedalia, Saint James, Waynesville. An eighth facility is planned for Marshfield).
troops to teachers Troops to Teachers was established in 1994 to help former active duty soldiers and members of the National Guard and Reserves transition to become public school teachers, according to Chad Schatz, state director of the program. In the past year, nearly 50 teachers have been placed in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Nationally, more than 17,000 veterans have been placed in public school classrooms. Learn more about Troops to Teachers on page 72. Chad Schatz
American Legion Post 202 Herbert Williams American Legion Post 202 is located at 3669 Legion Lane in Columbia. It received its charter to be a part of the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization on Aug. 20, 1922. Post 202 also includes the American Legion Auxiliary, the American Legion Riders and the Sons of the American Legion, according to the organization’s website. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 37
missouri military schools
The Missouri Veterans History Project MVHP is a nonprofit that aims to collect the oral histories of Missouri veterans. Since its founding in 2011, MVHP has interviewed more than 500 veterans of all ages and eras. The stories, all at least 30 minutes in length, are videotaped and preserved at the U.S. Library of Congress and the State Historical Society of Missouri. For more information, to participate or to make a donation, visit MVHP.net, call (573) 522-4220 or drop by 1400 Forum Boulevard.
welcome Home
Welcome Home, founded in 1993, provided almost 3,000 nights of shelter to 27 homeless veterans in 2013. In that same year, the organization had to turn away 116 people Aneisa Sherrill-Mattox, due to a lack of space in the building executive director at 1206 Rangeline St. There is room for a maximum of 12 residents per night, assuming there is one person on a couch, one on a cot and at least four people doubled up together. Learn more about Welcome Home on page 62.
38 \\\ July 2014
There are two military schools in Missouri: Missouri Military Academy in Mexico and Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington. Missouri Military Academy was founded in 1889 by Col. A. F. Fleet and is an all-boy college preparatory military school. With an average graduating class of around 45 to 50 students, it boasts a 100 percent college acceptance rate and between $1 and $3 million in scholarships each year. It’s well known for its 360 Degree Education, which focuses on academic excellence, character development, physical health and leadership skills. Wentworth Military Academy is a private four-year college preparatory high school and one of five military junior colleges in the United States. It was established in 1880 and has around 1,500 students.
Patriot Guard Riders Patriot Guard Riders is a nonprofit organization whose members attend funerals of members of the U.S. military, as well as those of firefighters and police officers. The regional captain is Teresa Galloway, the state captain is Roger Bailey and the local ride captain is Reed Hickam.
salute to veterans celebration The 26th Annual Salute to Veterans Celebration was held Memorial Day 2014. According to the event website, more than 3,000 volunteers and 100 committee chairpersons assist in putting on the event.
ROTC
The University of Missouri Reserve Officer Training Corps program operates out of Crowder Hall. The Army ROTC program has partnerships with Central Methodist University, Columbia College, Westminster College and William Woods University, where those students can take any Army ROTC classes through the program. MU was among the first 20 schools in the nation to receive Army instructors to teach ROTC in the late 1860s. In 1869, the board of curators at the university made military training mandatory for all male students, and this remained unchanged until 1964, when the ROTC Vitalization Act was passed. Additionally, cadets could choose their branch upon commissioning as an officer, so the program began to focus on general military tactics. Program requirements include earning a degree in the student’s chosen academic subject and completing 12 to 22 credits in military science and leadership curriculum and an approved course in American military history. In 1971, the ROTC Vitalization Act was altered to allow women, and in 1973, six female students had enrolled in the freshman military science class at MU.
Marine Parents MarineParents.com Inc. was founded in 2003 by Columbia resident Tracy Della Vecchia to provide support, info and services to Marines and their families. According to MarineParents.com, the organization is headquartered in Columbia and has 13 Tracy Della Vecchia full-time and six part-time staff members, more than 800 volunteers and a nine-member volunteer board of directors.
MarineParents.com, by the numbers:
• Invested more than $1 million in direct support to Marines, their families and other military personnel • Provided information to more than 250,000 family members through a network of communities and educational websites • Processed more than 1,200 support requests each week from recruit and Marine family members • Collected materials and shipped more than 38,000 care packages to Marines and military personnel in combat zones • Sent more than 87,000 cards and letters to injured troops • Served more than 35,000 meals to injured troops and their families at military medical facilities on the East and West coasts
One in seven Columbia veterans has a disability. A little fewer than one in five of those veterans with disabilities are more than 70 percent disabled. A little less than half of all disabled veterans in Columbia are 10 to 20 percent disabled. Source: 2008-2012 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Columbia, Mo.
high ranks
Some of mid-Missouri’s highestranking former military personnel
John Gordon, Four-Star General Lives in Columbia Received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit, among others Homeland Security Advisor ’03-’04 CIA Deputy Director ’97-’00
mu Veterans center The MU Veterans Center aims to assist student veterans from admission to graduation. With one full-time employee, Carol Fleisher, and six VA work-study students, the office provides assistance for families during deployment and when applying for VA benefits and scholarships, provides health referrals to local medical facilities, assists with reintegration from military to academia and offers a network of social support. The Veterans Center is located in N-5 Memorial Union.
Source: U.S. Air Force website
Stephen L. Danner, Two-Star General Adjutant General of Missouri Army National Guard Born in Macon County, Missouri, and earned a law degree from MU Received Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal, among others
U.S. Coast Guard
Source: Missouri National Guard Blog
Based in St. Louis and Kansas City
Larry D. Kay, One-Star General
More than
Executive Director of the Missouri Veterans Commission Lives in Boonville, MissourI Source: Missouri Veterans Commission
There are 867 veteran-owned businesses in Columbia. 159 are professional, scientific and technical services 153 retail trade 52 finance and insurance 36 transportation and warehousing 467 other or unreported Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 Survey of Business Owners
$24 million
in operating expenses Workforce totals in Missouri’s Coast Guard 199 military active 106 military reserve 56 civilian 375 auxiliary 409 active retired 1 cutter, or commissioned vessel
90 reserve retired 26 boats 0 aircraft 112 search-and-rescue missions 5,180 aids to navigation serviced
Source: United States Coast Guard Snapshot for Missouri
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 39
Thinkstock.com
40 \\\ July 2014
Columbia business owners find their slices of the American Dream.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 41
Photo by Anthony Jinson
42 \\\ July 2014
American dreamers
A New Custom
Custom Complete Automotive President Meir Lazar left his collective farm in Israel more than 40 years ago and found success in Missouri. By Molly Wright Forty-five years ago, Meir Lazar left Israel to move to the United States. Back then he was looking forward to living in a country that he heard was full of opportunities. Today, as president of Custom Complete Automotive, he is truly living the American Dream. Raised on a kibbutz, or a collective farm, Lazar spent his early years primarily growing cotton and alfalfa. This unique experience introduced him to young adults from other countries. “It was a safe place to live, so a lot of kids from all over the world used to join us,” he says. While on the kibbutz, he met his first wife, an American from the Midwest.
“We are running a good business with a good reputation. If you last for 38 years, you’ve done something right.” — Meir Lazar Married in Israel, the couple moved to Unionville, Missouri, in 1969 where they lived and worked on a farm owned by his wife’s father. The following year they moved to a farm in Fair Grove, Missouri, where they stayed for the next 10 years. During this time Lazar started to look around at other business opportunities. “You could
not get your labors’ worth in farming those days,” he says. So he took a second job managing an automotive shop in Springfield. “I loved the automotive business,” says Lazar, adding that his automotive skills are self-taught out of necessity. “On the farm we fix our own messes.”
one on Nifong, at which time he changed the name of the business to Custom Complete Automotive. In 2000, when a Chinese firm from Beijing “gave me an offer I could not refuse,” he sold his successful OMCO factory. Three years later, he opened the shop on Worley by the Columbia Mall.
Start your engines
Columbia love
In 1976 he left the Springfield job and used $13,000 from the sale of an apartment he co-owned with his father in Israel to open Custom Muffler in Jefferson City. “I already knew how to do the business with my background from the Springfield shop,” he says. “I just needed a niche where I wouldn’t have a lot of competition.” The capital city turned out to be the perfect choice. In fact, his gamble paid off so well, the following year he opened a second shop on the Business Loop in Columbia. Following his divorce in 1980, Lazar left the farm and a year later opened another automotive shop in Kirksville. He branched out a bit further in the industry in 1985 when he started the Ozark Muffler Corp. factory in Columbia. “There was no muffler manufacturing equipment made in the United States at the time,” Lazar says. “So I traveled to Italy and brought my equipment back from there.” At the same time, he continued to build more shops. In 1991, Lazar opened the Providence shop and just six years later the
Lazar says he loves Columbia. “In the years that I owned the factory, I traveled all over the country from New York to California. I spent a lot of time on the road, but I could not wait to come back to Columbia. It’s the absolute jewel of this country.” After almost 40 years in industry, Lazar has seen a lot of changes. “You have to be sharp to keep up with technology to survive,” he says. His own business has changed considerably as well. “Only 8.5 percent of our business is exhaust work now. Today we do everything it takes to fix your car except body work.” Lazar has some advice for others hoping to start a business in this land of opportunity. “I think you just have to get lucky once in a while, and you have to work hard,” he says. “If you want to survive in business, you have to adapt as well. “We are running a good business with a good reputation,” Lazar adds, giving credit to the 50 employees who work for him. “If you last for 38 years, you’ve done something right.”
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 43
From left: Pano and Alex Terzopoulos Photo by Anthony Jinson
44 \\\ July 2014
American dreamers
A taste of home
When Alex and Pano Terzopoulos of G&D Pizzeria came to Columbia in the 1970s, it was supposed to be a short-term stay to make cash. Now, they’re still here, and they’re still thriving. By Molly Wright When brothers Pano and Alex Terzopoulos left Greece almost 40 years ago to come to the United States, they didn’t know what to expect, but they were ready to work hard to achieve their dreams. Today, as coowners of G&D Pizzeria, they run a thriving restaurant business in a community that has not only supported them over the years but also one that they are proud to call home. According to Alex, their uncle and local businessman George Terzopoulos paved the way for their success. Opening G&D Pizzeria in 1977, he already owned G&D Steakhouse and By George, as well as several restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota. “He was in this business, and he needed some good help,” Alex says. In January that same year, Pano, 18 at the time, moved to Columbia. “It started as a deal with my parents,” he says. “I said, ‘I can go over for five years and save some money and then come back and start a business or enlarge our family grocery store.’” Alex, 23 and serving in the military, immigrated eight months later. “My brother said, ‘Alex, if you work like you work in Greece, you make four times the money here,’” Alex says. “I said, ‘I’ll be right there.’”
Buying the future With financial help from their uncle, the brothers bought the restaurant in 1979, which Pano says was easier than trying to secure a traditional loan from the bank. “Giving a loan for a restaurant for two guys just off the boat from Greece would be hard,” he says. But they were ahead of the game when it
came to running a business. “We got a good start in Greece working for our father,” Alex says. At first, they didn’t hire any employees to save money and keep their overhead low. “We were willing to work, and we were here from open to close every day,” says Alex, who adds they also worked for free the first six months they were open. Their efforts paid off and allowed them to stay in the States. After waiting the required five years, the men became American citizens in 1982. For the brothers, the secret to their success is the quality of their menu items. They prepare everything they make daily, cut their own steaks and only use fresh ingredients. In fact, many of their recipes, such as their Greek salad, they brought from home. “The pizza recipe has been in our family for 60 years,” Pano says. Overall, they only make menu items they know they can sell. “Your customers really guide you. If they don’t like something, you won’t be selling it very long.” Today, though they offer a full-service menu, their best sellers are still their pizzas, steaks and gyros.
Believing in a dream The Terzopoulos brothers believe the American Dream is alive and well for those who are willing to work hard and believe in what they are doing. “You come here for a better life, and if you achieve that dream, then it’s worth it,” Pano says. Alex agrees, especially for those just starting out. “If you are a young person, you
have the potential for more opportunities in America,” he says. Both consider Columbia a great place to not only start a business but also to raise a family. “The community has supported our business for years, and we support our community,” says Pano, who has three children: two daughters, 23 and 19, and a 20-year-old son.
“You come here for a better life, and if you achieve that dream, then it’s worth it.” — Pano Terzopoulos Alex, who has been married for 24 years and has two children, a 23-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old son, appreciates the beauty of the city and the friendliness of the people. “It reminds me of my hometown of Katerini, Greece,” he says. Alex and Pano encourage others to take a similar leap of faith and start their own businesses, though they admit it may be a bit harder to get a foot in the door these days. They advise to start by researching the industry. Understand there is always a risk. And when it comes to starting a restaurant? “Work in one,” Pano says. “That’s what we did. And make sure the food is good and hot.”
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 45
Photo by Anthony Jinson
46 \\\ July 2014
American dreamers
premium dreaming
After opening Southside Pizza with his brother Mousa, Iranian-born Elias Abadi struck out on his own to open CoMo Premium Roofing in 2009. By Molly Wright Elias Abadi was 11 years old and spoke very little English when his family left Iran. Leaving behind everything that was familiar and learning to adapt and thrive in a new country wasn’t easy. Today, as the owner and CEO of CoMo Premium Roofing, Abadi says he feels blessed to be running a successful business and raising his own family in the United States. It was a rapidly changing political landscape that initially prompted many of Abadi’s extended family to leave Iran in the 1970s and early 1980s, but it wasn’t until 1995 that Abadi’s immediate family, including his parents and two older brothers, decided to follow suit. Settling briefly in Turkey, they soon relocated to Los Angeles to be closer to other family members who had made the United States their home. In 1999, an uncle who was a professor at the University of Missouri suggested they move to the Midwest. “He said to my parents: ‘Why don’t you bring the kids here to Columbia? It’s smaller, and they can get a good education,’” Abadi says. Taking English as a Second Language programs at both West Junior High and Hickman High School, Abadi improved his English. Soon, he picked up a part-time job at MBS that lead to a full-time position after graduation. It was while he was working at the book company that he met his future wife, Marta, who is from Belarus.
Starting Southside While Abadi was attending MU and working on a degree in civil engineering, his older brother Mousa, who was working for Gus’s Pizzeria, approached him with a proposition. “He said, ‘The owner is selling it, and it would
be a good opportunity,’” Abadi says. They bought the business, which they renamed Southside Pizza, and Abadi left the university. During this time, Abadi was married, and by the time he was 25, they had the first of their three boys. “At the restaurant, because it was a sports bar, I was working until 2, 3 in the morning,” he says. “I was missing a lot of things with my boy.” So he quit. Unemployed and anxious about supporting his family, he had a friend who was successfully flipping homes, and Abadi decided to give it a try. He bought a home and hired a couple of friends to help him remodel it. They completed part of the roof and went home for the day when a hailstorm hit. “I came back to do the other part of the roof the next day, and several neighbors walked by and asked if I would give them an estimate,” he says. “It just kind of clicked for me. I needed to concentrate on one thing.”
Finding his focus Abadi opened CoMo Premium Roofing in 2009 from a home office, relying primarily on business he received from canvassing
“As long as you’re honest, you work hard and you have even a partial business plan, you can be successful here.” — Elias Abadi
door to door. Today, CoMo Premium Roofing is located on Interstate 70 Drive SE and serves customers in Columbia and within an hour’s radius of the city. “It’s so much easier here, the way you can expand yourself and the freedoms you have here,” Abadi says of being self-employed in the States. “As long as you’re honest, you work hard and you have even a partial business plan, you can be successful here.” Both of Abadi’s brothers own local businesses as well. Mousa still owns Southside where Abadi’s mother and father help out, and his eldest brother, Reza, owns a branch of USA Mortgage in Columbia. Abadi appreciates the sacrifices his parents made to leave their home and come to this country. “I am blessed my kids are living here in America,” he says. “You can have your own car, your own house, your own business.” Although he misses Iran and returns to visit when he can, Abadi considers Columbia home. “I love the community,” he says, especially because of the way local businesses are supported. “Other companies may come and give the homeowner a bid, and the owner won’t even look at it. They go with me because I am a local company.” As for future plans, Abadi hopes to continue working in his business and that it will remain in the family. “It has a lot of headaches, but every job has good and bad in it,” he says. “In my opinion, being selfemployed has more benefits.” Overall, he is focused on taking care of his three boys, ages 6, 3 and a newborn. “My goal is really to be a good father and to raise my children well,” he says. CBT
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From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the ice business is booming, but the real success stories of the industry are those that keep product moving even when temperatures start to cool. By Claire Boston
In the ice industry, weather is everything. Tiger Ice General Manager Andy Jira’s favorite holidays are hot and sunny ones. “When it rains on the Fourth of July, it can cut our sales in half, sometimes more,” Jira says. Fourth of July is peak season for Tiger Ice, which supplies ice to vendors as far as 60 miles from Columbia. When it falls on a Friday, as it does this year, area ice producers move even more product as people plan barbecues and outdoor events all weekend long. Tiger Ice produces 60 tons of ice every 24 hours. Consumers can purchase seven- or 20-pound bags at local retailers such as Schnucks, Break Time and Moser’s Food. Tiger Ice also supplies some annual festivals and University of Missouri football games. 48 \\\ July 2014
Sales are strong for the rest of summer as well. Tiger Ice’s busy season starts around Memorial Day and lasts through Labor Day. In those months, the company sends two trucks, each holding eight tons of ice, out on delivery routes Monday through Friday. The business also stays open for on-call weekend deliveries. On most days, the trucks may come back and deliver another load or two. In the peak season, Tiger Ice adds five seasonal baggers to its full-time staff of seven. The baggers load sealed bags of ice onto tightly packed pallets. By the time the ice ends up on a pallet and in Tiger Ice’s large freezer, its water has snaked through a series of industrial water filters, freezers and bagging machines.
Crystal clear The reason bagged ice tastes better than what comes out of the average freezer ice machine lies in commercial ice production’s water filtration system. At Tiger Ice, machines pump water out of a state-approved well that lies below the production facility. From there, it’s chlorinated to remove germs, filtered three times to remove minerals, dechlorinated to improve taste and run through two UV lights to provide further sanitation. “You’re getting really pure water; there’s no question about it,” says Vice President of Marketing Amy Johnson. Jira says he sometimes wishes he could take the ice’s water home with him. “It tastes delightful,” Jira says. “I wish I had that water in my house.” After passing through the filtration system, the water enters a freezing cylinder, a hulking gray contraption filled with tubes. Freon, a coolant, lines the outside of the tubes. As water passes through the series of tubes, it freezes from the outside in. The constant water circulation keeps the ice clear; the tube series gives the ice its circular shape. The end of the machine has knives that chunk off the long tubes into drink-size pieces. In ice-production lingo, the stuff that comes from frozen water is called wet ice. Its counterpart, dry ice, is solid carbon dioxide. Tiger Ice sells some dry ice, too, mostly to area laboratories, but the heart of its business is in its in-house wet ice production. Technically, wet ice could be wetter. After freezing, it spends time in a silver hopper, where excess moisture drips off. After the wet ice is dry enough, it moves to the ice bin, a 26- to 28-degree room where ice awaits bagging. Automated rakes in the bin rake the ice closer to the bagging machine, which uses air compression and sensors to fill each bag with exactly seven or 20 pounds of ice. The machine then heat-seals each bag and sends it on a conveyer belt and into a bagger’s hands. Baggers work without gloves or coats, as the main bagging area is kept at room temperature. They load each pallet with two tons of ice. The pallets are more than 6 feet high when fully stacked, but Tiger Ice’s massive zero-degree freezer can hold 200 of them. The freezer space also allows Tiger Ice to do some cold storage for local beef producers ShowMe Farms and Missouri Legacy Beef.
Local industry Despite sending out 32,000 pounds of ice on most summer days, Jira says his business is still on the small side as ice producers go. Tiger Ice serves a
45- to 60-mile radius, depending on the direction. Its big accounts are the convenience and grocery stores, MU and annual events such as the Salute to Veterans Airshow and the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. Most restaurants have in-house ice machines, but there’s also solid business in trucking ice to restaurants with broken machines. Tiger Ice has expanded over the years. The production facility has been in its current location off of Route 40 for about a decade after upgrading from a smaller plant across the highway. Jira says as he began to produce more ice, more business followed. “It’s amazing how when you have a better facility, and you can make more ice, you can sell more ice,” Jira says. Although technically outside of city limits, Tiger Ice is the city’s closest ice supplier. The second nearest is Hilke’s Ice in Freeburg, about an hour away. Mid America Ice in Clinton is about two hours from Columbia. It produces between 85 and 100 tons of ice a day and supplies clients such as the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia. Hilke’s Ice, the largest production plant in midMissouri, has a sales radius of about 100 miles and supplies Columbia’s Walgreens, Midwest Petroleum stores, some Casey’s General Stores and Bengal’s Bar & Grill. Its three tube icemakers produce about 130 tons of ice a day, and a fleet of 20 vehicles makes multiple daily runs during the peak season. Its largest trucks can hold 22 tons of ice. Hilke’s employs 30 to 35 people during the summer months. The seasonal workers augment the year-round staff by serving as drivers, ice stackers and office workers. About half of those workers stay on year-round. Like Tiger Ice, sales at Hilke’s don’t dry up after Labor Day hits. “You have to carry a decent inventory through the winter,” says Laron Hilke, who serves as the company’s general manager. But Hilke says the ice industry has changed over the years. New Year’s Eve began to fall in the early 2000s when area police began cracking down on DWI offenses. In recent years, a renaissance in Missouri’s wineries has kept Hilke’s busy supplying ice through September and early October. “The business has changed somewhat,” Hilke says. “September is getting stronger.” Hilke says sales take a sharp slide — as high as 50 percent — in mid-August when students head back to school. Area wine tours, however, have grown more popular in recent years and continue into the fall. Hilke’s supplies several area wineries.
Family owned Now in its 40th year, Hilke’s remains family owned and has three generations of the Hilke family working at the facility. Laron Hilke’s parents, John and Marie Hilke, founded the company and are still involved in its operations. In recent years, Laron Hilke’s stepchildren, Katie and Zachary West, have also joined the company. Johnson and Jira at Tiger Ice are siblings, and their father, Chuck Jira, still helps out at the company he founded. Jira and Johnson say keeping the family business going just made sense; both of them grew up around the industry and spent time in high school helping out with the company. Jira attributes the area’s few ice suppliers and the business’s strong family ties to the industry’s specialized nature. The machines are expensive, as are the specialty parts needed for repairs. Johnson and Jira recently purchased a second bagging machine for $120,000. “It’s a very expensive startup cost,” Johnson says. “And yet you’re selling a bag of frozen water.” CBT
Block Heads
Tiger Ice can produce more than a ton of bagged ice in an hour, but making a 300pound carving block takes just a bit longer. The 40-by-10-by-20-inch blocks take between three to five days to freeze solid. Special freezers give the blocks their rectangular shape and constantly circulate water to keep the ice see-through clear. Jira and Johnson sell most of the blocks to area carvers for $85, but they also do some in-house sculpture carving. Past designs include a semi-truck for Midway Truck Stop when it was featured on the Travel Channel show Truck Stop Missouri and massive playing cards for a Break Time event. A resort in Ozark, Missouri, once requested a whole bar made of ice. In recent years, Jira says Tiger Ice's $125 shot blocks, which are cut diagonally from full blocks and weigh about 150 pounds when carved, have become increasingly popular, particularly with college students. Despite summer’s warmer temperatures, there is demand for ice sculptures at places such as weddings and parties year-round. At room temperature, the sculptures can easily make it through an entire event: They melt at a rate of about an inch per hour.
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Head online to ColumbiaBusinessTimes. com/webextras to see more photos from our shoot at Redneck Fireworks.
50 \\\ July 2014
Those are the sounds of money for mid-Missouri's fireworks retailers. by Vicki Hodder | photos by anthony jinson Virginia residents Leea and David Wroten browsed through Redneck Fireworks east of Columbia on their way home from a visit to Macon, Missouri, last spring and took in the shelves filled with products ranging from Morning Glory sparklers to an assortment of cake fireworks. When their shopping concluded, the Wrotens emerged with a package of Screamin’ Eagles Rockets and a variety of other fireworks to take back with them to the East Coast. “My grandson wanted me to bring him some,” David Wroten says. “We don’t have rockets like this in Virginia.” Customers such as the Wrotens are the offseason backbone of Redneck Fireworks, which opened last April in a year-round store near the Hatton exit along Interstate 70. But it’s the hope of bang-up in-season sales that prompted Fulton res-
ident Matthew Shaon to launch his fireworks business in the former home of Fireworks Supermarket, which closed its Hatton exit store in the fall of 2013. Shaon, 34, and his family have been running the fireworks business in what he describes as an “exploratory” season. If it goes well, Shaon hopes to place the store back on a year-round footing with a couple of employees. The storefront sign, which still closely resembles Fireworks Supermarket’s former signboard, will signal the enterprise’s fate, Shaon says. “If it’s a go after August, we’ll probably completely change the signage.”
Lighting the fuse Other aspects of Redneck Fireworks have their roots in the store’s former ownership as well. Shaon’s mother-in-law, Sharon Harris, managed the store for 23 years when it was the Fireworks Super-
market and retired when it closed. Harris offered her son-in-law advice, business contacts and a bit of a push to open the new fireworks retail operation. “I told him, ‘This is available; it’s on the interstate,’” Harris says. Shaon, who already has a full-time career as a social worker for the children’s division of the Missouri Department of Social Services, says he has “always wanted to be an entrepreneur” and decided to pursue his aspiration when the former fireworks store remained vacant for several weeks. He rented the roughly 2,000-square-foot building, which houses an office and product warehouse along with the business showroom, and began meeting the requirements for obtaining a license required to sell consumer fireworks as labeled by the U.S. Department of Transportation. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 51
Consumer fireworks businesses may operate under a number of different state permits, all issued through Missouri’s Division of Fire Safety. Among them are permits for manufacturers and distributors, each of which cost $775 a year per location; a permit for wholesalers, with a fee of $275 a year per location; a permit for seasonal retailers, which costs $50 per year for each location; and what is called a “jobber” permit, which for a $525 annual fee per location allows the retailer to sell consumer fireworks for use outside the state of Missouri year-round as well as to residents during the fireworks season. Because Shaon is over 18 and operating out of a permanent structure, he meets basic state jobber permit requirements. After obtaining state and federal tax identification numbers as well as a retail sales tax license and proof from the Missouri Department of Revenue that he does not owe back taxes, Shaon applied for and received his state jobber’s permit. From there, Shaon focused on meeting fire safety codes. For example, he says he must keep particular types of fire extinguishers no more than 35 feet away from any point in the store. The devices themselves must pass a fire extinguisher company’s inspection each year.
A Fourth of July business With state permit in hand, Shaon set about stocking his store and serving customers. Redneck Fireworks obtains virtually all of its products — comprising about 400 different items, Shaon estimates — from the Springfield, Missouri-based wholesale operation of its predecessor, formerly called Mid-American Fireworks but now known as Fireworks Over America. Fireworks Over America runs both wholesale and retail operations out of Odessa, Missouri. Most of Fireworks Over America’s products are imported from China, says Mike Beck, general manager for the company. Beck, a Columbia resident with 36 years in the fireworks business, says the variety of consumer fireworks has exploded over the years. The number of different products available just in the Fireworks Over America line has risen from about 100 when he was new to the business to about 500 now, Beck says. Some of that growth is due to changes in federal regulations, and some reflects a natural expansion. Some is attributable as well to rising consumer demand for fireworks, particularly new varieties. “This industry is dominated by the new,” Beck says. Travelers also dominate the business, at least during the off-season. Missouri law allows fireworks sales to the general public only between June 20 and July 10 and between Dec. 20 and 52 \\\ July 2014
Fulton resident Matthew Shaon launched Redneck Fireworks in the former home of Fireworks Supermarket.
Jan. 2. Apart from those dates, fireworks buyers must sign a waiver stating that their purchases are for use outside of Missouri. In October 2012 the City of Columbia, which has long prohibited the sale or discharge of fireworks within the community, also banned the possession of fireworks other than sparklers within city limits. Given such regulations, off-season sales depend upon truckers and other travelers, Shaon says, and make interstate highway sites desirable for fireworks businesses. That, in turn, encourages a wide customer base. Harris remembers selling fireworks from what was then Fireworks Supermarket to customers from as far away as Australia who sent their friends back to the store years later. And off-season sales often are higher than typical sales made during fireworks season, averaging about $100 compared to an average in-season sale of $40 or $50, Shaon estimates. Still, the fireworks business centers on the first week of July. Shaon aims to sell between $100,000 and $140,000 between Memorial Day and August, while making just about enough to pay the monthly bills the rest of the year. Seasonal customers typically come from Columbia, Fulton and Kingdom City as well as from nearby mobile home communities, he says. “If you have a good enough Fourth, it pretty much covers the rest of the year,” Shaon says. “The rest is just the cherry on the top.” Beck agrees. Some 60 to 70 percent of fireworks sales occur between July 2 and July 4, he says. “Open year-round or not, this is still a Fourth of July business in Missouri,” he says. CBT
Safety First A host of safety provisions regulate fireworks operations. Some of them may seem surprising until their underlying rationale is explained. Missouri’s fireworks safety laws include: ➜ Fireworks cannot be displayed or stored behind glass through which direct sunlight will shine, unless the fireworks are in their original package. That’s to prevent the glass from magnifying the heat of the sun and causing a fire. ➜ Electronic pest control devices are prohibited in seasonal fireworks sales sites. Insect “zappers” produce sparks and can create a fire hazard if they’re near fireworks. ➜ Fireworks cannot be stored, kept or sold within 50 feet of any gasoline pump, gasoline filling station, gasoline bulk station or any building in which gasoline or volatile liquids are sold in quantities of more than one gallon. Moreover, no one may discharge fireworks within 300 feet of any permanent storage of ignitable liquid, gases, gas pump or gasoline filling station. Grouping fireworks and gasoline together could create a catastrophic situation. If an accident were to occur at a gas pump, it could ignite the fireworks; if an accident were to occur at the fireworks site, it could threaten the gas pumps with fire. To help ensure compliance with these requirements, anyone selling fireworks must allow the State Fire Marshal’s office to inspect his or her store and storage areas during normal business hours. Source: Mike O’Connell, communications director, Missouri Department of Public Safety
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54 \\\ June July 2014 2014
Gen. Richard Gentry, oil on canvas by George Caleb Bingham, 1837 Source: St. Louis Art Museum
Columbia has a lot of founders to be thankful for, and we couldn’t fit them all here! Head to our website to read more bios.
Our Founding Fathers A retrospective of the forbearers who laid the foundation of the Columbia we know today By Sarah Redohl When the earliest pioneers settled in Boone County, land cost between $2 and $6 per acre; corn, 20 cents per bushel; a cow, $9; and people lived in log cabins daubed with mud and covered with boards. The settlers of Boone County came mostly from Virginia and Kentucky. Among the first were Robert Hinkson, who had a cabin where St. Charles Road crosses his namesake Hinkson Creek; Thomas and John Kennon; Dennis Callahan; James W. Fowler; Samuel Johnson; Robert Houston; and Joseph Persinger, the famous old hunter raised by Native Americans. The county, sectioned off from Howard in 1820, was named for the great pioneer Daniel Boone. Columbia, however, wasn’t laid out until spring of 1821 when Gen. Richard Gentry, Judge David Todd and other citi-
zens purchased the land on which Columbia is located from the federal government. There were only 15 homes in Columbia in the early 1820s. Throughout the ’30s and ’40s, our forbearers laid the foundation of the Columbia we know today: they secured the University of Missouri’s location in Columbia, donated money for public education options and infrastructure improvements and set the plans for Columbia’s growth. According to James L. Stephens, who recounted that period of Columbia history for the local newspaper, the Herald, in 1895, “The vantage ground they gave the county has remained with it until this day, and there has not been a time from that day to this that the community has not held a front rank in Missouri.”
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Col. William F. Switzler Switzler was a journalist, author, orator, politician and public servant. Born in 1819, he moved from Kentucky with his parents, Simeon and Elizabeth Switzler, in 1826. He worked in the law office of Maj. James S. Rollins. In 1841, he became the editor of Columbia’s Patriot newspaper and in 1843 changed its name to The Missouri Statesman as its co-owner. He also gained great renown for his coverage of the Civil War and served on the MU Board of Curators, where he was involved in the selection of a number of MU’s early leaders. He was also involved in bringing the College of Agriculture to Columbia and connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad, as well as the creation of Christian Female College and Stephens College. In 1856, he was elected to the legislature with Gen. Joseph Beeler Douglass. He also wrote a book covering Boone County’s history in 1882.
Maj. Gen. Richard Gentry
Maj. Gen. John Ellis
Gentry was one of the most prominent characters of Boone County’s early history. Born in Kentucky in 1788, he had 18 siblings, many of whom were also prominently connected to the “political history and the financial, commercial and other vital interests of the state,” according to Switzler. He was a member of the Smithton town company, Columbia’s predecessor. “The history of the services of Gen. Gentry is so interwoven with the history of Boone County… that it would be a work of superogation to write it here,” Switzler reported. He received various commissions for his military service, the first at age 19. He came to Boone County in 1820 and was the state senator from this district from 1826 to 1830. In 1830, he was appointed postmaster. He was also a trustee for Columbia College (not presentday Columbia College), the seed of MU in the 1830s. Also in the 1830s, Gentry was successfully engaged in the Santa Fe trade. In 1837, he died in the Battle of Okeechobee in Florida with the Seminole Indians. Upon his death, personal friend and U.S. Sen. Col. Thomas H. Benton secured the position of postmistress for Richard’s wife, Ann. The first postmistress in the country, she held the position for more than 30 years. His son, Judge Thomas B. Gentry, was known as one of Columbia’s leading citizens, according to the Herald. He served as head clerk of the post office during the Civil War and was justice of the peace from 1868 to 1878. He was also a trustee of MU for 10 years and twice served as the chairman of the board and treasurer for five years. He was also the first school board president in 1873. He is buried in Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis. *Pictured on opening page.
Ellis came to Boone County with his parents in 1818. He served as a captain under Maj. Gen. Richard Gentry in the Florida War in the late 1830s and as a colonel in the Mormon War shortly after. In 1842, he was appointed to the board of curators of MU. In 1846, then a major general, Ellis raised troops from Boone County for the Mexican War and led more than 100 local men to protect Santa Fe traders. He also served as public administrator for 10 years, as justice of the peace from 1844 to 1878 and on the committee to select Boone County representatives for the State Convention. According to Switzler, who wrote a history book about Boone County in 1882, “Few men in Boone County have been more active in public affairs.”
Maj. James Sidney Rollins Rollins is often credited as “The Father of the University of Missouri.” Rollins, a state legislator, drafted a bill that was ultimately passed and brought Missouri’s state university to Columbia. He also founded the College of Education, raised money for the president’s home and established MU as the state’s federal land grant institution. He was the president of the MU Board of Curators from 1869 to 1886. According to Stephens, “he was always foremost in every important public movement” and was an accomplished orator and public leader. He also assisted in connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad. Rollins’ son George Bingham Rollins was a director of Boone County National Bank and Boone County Milling and Elevator Co. He was also a member of MU’s Board of Curators. 56 \\\ July 2014
Gen. Odon Guitar Guitar moved to Boone County in 1829 and attended the first session at MU in 1842. He served in the Mexican War and studied law in the office of his uncle, John Boyle Gordon, upon his return. He was commissioned brigadier general while fighting for the Union in the Civil War for “gallant and meritorious service in the field,” and he was also a “citizen of prominence,” according to Switzler. He was a part of the collection of citizens responsible for bringing the College of Agriculture to Boone County. He represented Boone County in the General Assembly from 1853 to 1858. He was also a member of the board of education and led Columbia Milling Co. During his time as a lawyer, only six of his clients were convicted.
James L. Stephens Stephens moved to Boone County with his father in 1819 from Kentucky. He was a well-known merchant of three stores — in Mexico, Fulton and Columbia — and the first to bring the concept of a cash-only store to Columbia in 1843, which was known then as “one of the most notable business events of the period,” according to Switzler. He was considered a principal citizen of Columbia in the mid-1880s. “Few, if any, of Columbia’s business men have done more to extend the business of Columbia. None has been more generous towards public improvements,” according to the Herald. During his life, he donated more than $100,000 to various causes, including the gravel road system and the construction of railroads, churches and schools. He was also involved in bringing the College of Agriculture to Columbia and connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad. As a curator of MU, he was involved in selecting a number of early leaders of the university. He beat out J.M. Proctor, one of the most prominent and successful businessmen in the county, for the State Senate in 1880. He is also the namesake of Stephens College, having donated $20,000 to the school. After his initial donation, he remained actively involved in fundraising for the college. His son Edwin Stephens was also known as one of Columbia’s foremost citizens. He began the Columbia Missouri Herald in 1870, was president of the Missouri Press Association and was an “active factor in the educational uplift of his state,” according to the Centennial History of Missouri by Walter Barlow Stevens.
John Boyle Gordon
Judge David Todd
Gordon came to Boone County in 1826 from Kentucky and was one of the “ablest lawyers and orators,” according to Stephens. Gordon entered politics immediately after moving to Boone County and was elected to the legislature for five terms. He and James S. Rollins worked together to secure Columbia as the location of MU. He was one of the leading members of the Missouri bar and was recognized as the first orator of the state. He also assisted in connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad, was a trustee of Columbia College, and was recognized as one of the city’s principal people in 1830 by the Herald’s historic edition. He had six children, and his sons, Boyle and Wellington, followed in his footsteps and became lawyers. Boyle married Ann Gentry, the daughter of Col. Richard Gentry.
Todd, born in the 1780s, was among the first settlers of Columbia. Throughout Columbia’s early years, he and members of his family served in various roles to assist in Columbia’s growth and prominence. He was among the five trustees of the Smithton Co., the company that first established the town of Smithton, Columbia’s predecessor. According to Stephens, Todd was “a very able man” and an “enlightened judge and accomplished politician.” He was the judge of the circuit court from 1819 to 1837. He also served as a trustee for Columbia College in 1833 and presided over the laying of the cornerstone of MU. A portrait of Todd, done by George Caleb Bingham, still hangs at the university. His son, Robert B. Todd, served as a second lieutenant in the Boone Guards to keep the county safe.
David H. Hickman Hickman was “as useful and wise in his day as any citizen this county ever possessed,” according to Stephens. He was a member of the Missouri State Assembly from 1838 to 1842 and was instrumental in the founding of Stephens College when he helped secure the college’s charter in 1856 (then known as The Columbia Female Baptist Academy). He was also president of the board of curators of Stephens College and a curator for MU. He also assisted in connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad. Decades after his death in 1869, Hickman High School was built on his country estate in 1927.
John Hiram Lathrop Lathrop was the first president of MU in 1841. “The presence of the University wrought a beneficial effect in many ways and lifted the community to a higher plane,” said Stephens in his recollections. Lathrop served for nine years in that role before accepting a position at Wisconsin University. He was succeeded by James Shannon, W. W. Hudson, professor G. H. Matthews and B. B. Minor before returning to the university after the Civil War in 1865. After his death in 1866, Lathrop was succeeded by Daniel Read, S. S. Laws, M. M. Fisher, J. S. Blackwell and Richard Henry Jesse. Jesse also contributed a great deal to the university during his presidency from 1891 to 1908. He convinced the curators to rebuild in Columbia after Academic Hall burned, leaving the columns behind, in addition to creating summer school and the athletic department and quadrupling MU’s income. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 57
Other citizens of prominence Thomas D. Grant
Grant had a farm on Two-Mile Prairie north of St. Charles Road. He commanded a company in the Black Hawk War under Maj. Gen. Richard Gentry, again in the Florida War and as colonel in the Mormon War. In 1840, he was appointed as one of the first curators of MU. He was also a corporator in the charter of Christian College in 1851.
Joel Harris Haden
Haden was one of Boone County’s most successful citizens. Born in Kentucky in 1811, he came to Boone County in 1828 and married the daughter of Richard Cave, who was Columbia’s first justice of the peace in 1821 and opened one of Columbia’s first mills in 1821. He owned more than 1,500 acres, and his farm was among the best in the county.
Capt. David Guitar
Guitar was a farmer and one of the first students of MU. He served as a captain in the Civil War for the Union and was in both the mercantile and milling businesses. He was also a director of the Boone County National Bank and involved in many other enterprises.
Judge Joseph Hickam
Hickam had spent more years in public life than any other man in Boone County, according to the Switzler’s Boone County history. His father, John, was one of the earliest settlers of Boone County. Hickam’s career in public life began at the age of 16, when he was elected captain of a militia company. He was commissioned as a justice of the peace in 1827 and was elected county court judge in 1832. From 1834 to 1839, he was the clerk of the lower house of the Missouri Legislature and from 1839 to 1858 was the superintendant of bridge building in Boone County. He also held the position of school commissioner until 1859, when he was appointed assessor by the county court.
Capt. James A. Adams
Adams was born in Scotland in 1833 and came to Boone County in 1858. After serving in the military and as provost marshal of the State University, now known as the University of Missouri, he became a member of the firm Broughton & Adams, the largest industry in Boone County. He was also president of the school board and was involved in the construction of the public school house in 1880.
Eli Bass
Bass was born in 1809 in Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to Boone County in 1819. Upon the death of his father, Peter Bass, he was left a great fortune and was one of the largest owners of real estate in central Missouri. He provided $3,000 to secure the location of MU in Columbia and was one of its first curators. In 1861, he was elected to the Constitutional Convention to form a new constitution for the state.
St. Clair was the first woman ever made a college president in Missouri. Her husband, professor F. P. St. Clair, died while presiding over Christian College in 1892, and Luella stepped into that role in 1893. 58 \\\ July 2014
Jewell resided on lower Broadway, and according to stories recalled by Stephens, “he was always, in church and state, an active force in public affairs.” It was to Jewell’s credit that Broadway was cut down, leveled and macadamized. Jewell argued with Gen. Richard Gentry about whether the town should remain on Flat Branch Creek or be brought up hill, and he ultimately lost. The first courthouse was built in 1824 uphill from the creek. He is also the namesake of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
John Keene
Keene, emigrated from Kentucky in 1826, was a bricklayer and built the Presbyterian church in Columbia. His son, Alfred, was also a bricklayer and was engaged in building the State University, Fulton Asylum and the President’s Mansion and superintended the work on the public school building built in the 1880s.
Mrs. Luella Wilcox St. Clair
Dr. William Jewell
Col. E. C. More
More was born in 1837 and educated in the United States and Europe, graduating from Yale in 1858. He had traveled extensively before settling in Boone County to practice law for four years before abandoning it for farming. He was president of the State Board of Agriculture and the Boone County Fair Association and was also unanimously chosen as Boone County’s choice for Congress in 1882.
Maj. Nathaniel W. Wilson
Wilson was born in 1811 in Kentucky and moved to Boone County in 1825. He had many mercantile business ventures and ultimately became a farmer with more than 1,000 fruit trees. He was at one time treasurer and trustee of the Columbia College, the seed of MU, assisted in the building of the Columbia Female Academy and was an active part in the management of the Boone County Agricultural and Mechanical Association.
Gen. Joseph Beeler Douglass
Douglass became deputy sheriff under William P. Hickman in 1848. In 1850 and 1852, he was elected sheriff. In 1856, he was elected to the legislature with Col. William F. Switzler. In 1859, he was elected clerk of the county court. He fought in the Civil War, where he earned the title of brigadier general. After the war, he was appointed U.S. assessor of the 4th District. He also assisted in connecting Columbia to the North Missouri Railroad.
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 59
Going Up
›› City structures by Sarah Redohl
1
Photo by Sarah Redohl
2
1. Scott Boulevard
Location: Scott Boulevard from Bellview Drive to south of Vawter School Road Developer: City of Columbia Contractor: Emery Sapp and Sons Details: The project includes a new bridge over Hinkson Creek, a roundabout at Scott Boulevard and Vawter School Road and 3,600 feet of sidewalks, among other improvements. Square footage: N/A Estimated completion date: Fall 2014 For sale or leasing information, contact: N/A
2. Executive Office Suites
Location: 1815 Chapel Hill Road Developer: Buffalo Creek Properties LLC Contractor: Oakridge Contractors LLC Details: This commercial space of executive office suites could house a variety of business types. One 9,000-square-foot building is completed, and the foundation for a second 9,000-square-foot space is ready for further construction, if desired. The minimum rental requirement is 1,500 square feet. Square footage: 9,000 Estimated completion date: Completed, with option to expand For leasing information, contact: Rob Duncan with United Country Commercial, 573-268-7720
Photo by Chris Harrison
3
Photo by Chris Harrison
60 \\\ July 2014
3. Country Club of Missouri
Location: 1300 Woodrail Ave. Developer: N/A Contractors: Little Dixie Construction, Peckham and Wright Architects Inc. Details: The 5,000-square-foot banquet hall space will seat up to 320 people in one room and have a view of the golf course, separate entrance from member dining rooms and state-of-the-art visual and audio amenities. CCMO has also been renovating its clubhouse since January. Square footage: 5,000 Estimated completion date: October 2014 For booking information, contact: Tina Patel, 573-449-7201
built to last 4. Chapel Hill Cottages
Location: 2212 Chapel Hill Road Developer: Jon and Brooke McCarty of McCarty Property Investments Contractor: N/A Details: Chapel Hill Cottages, at Martinshire Drive and Chapel Hill Road, are under construction. The 12 luxury rental cottages will be housed in a three-story building and offer one- and two-bedroom options. Some will be furnished, and others are available for long-term rentals. The cottages will also have access to the MKT Trail. Square footage: 2,200 per unit Estimated completion date: August 2014 For leasing information, contact: McCarty Property Investments, 573-864-8644
5. Log Hill off College
4
5
Location: 1322 Paris Road Developer: Log Hill Properties Contractor: N/A Details: This project offers a number of townhomes less than a mile from downtown Columbia. These 2,200-square-foot, two-story townhomes have four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms each and are one of seven complexes managed by Log Hill Properties. Square footage: N/A Estimated completion date: Fall 2014 For leasing information, contact: Log Hill Properties, 573-228-9017
6. Discovery Office Park
Photo by Aaron Pellish
6
Location: Highway 63 and Discovery Parkway Developer: Trittenbach Development Contractor: Columbia Civil Engineering Group Details: This office park offers multiple buildings available for sale or lease, either in condominium form or by the entire building. Spaces range from 2,500 to 60,000 square feet and have a lease price of $16 per square foot. Sale prices will depend on the level of finish. Square footage: 60,000 Estimated completion date: First buildings by early 2015 For sale or leasing information, contact: Plaza Commercial Realty, 573-445-1020 CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 61
Nonprofit Spotlight ›› Welcome Home
A Home for Our Veterans
Welcome Home provides shelter, counseling and other services for mid-Missouri veterans. By Madison Alcedo As Columbia’s only homeless shelter for veterans, Welcome Home provided almost 3,000 nights of shelter to 27 homeless veterans in 2013. Since the organization’s founding in 1993 by a group of Vietnam veterans who were concerned about the increasing number of veterans sleeping on the streets, Welcome Home has evolved from a shelter to a transitional living facility committed to providing emergency food and clothing; a clean, stable living environment; case management; and advocacy to disadvantaged and displaced veterans, according to the organization’s website. “Unlike most homeless shelters, we try to provide something that resembles as close to a ‘welcome home’ environment as possible and not a shelter,” Welcome Home’s Executive Director Aneisa Sherrill-Mattox says. The organization’s name also carries a deep meaning. “Welcome home is a sort of a military tradition that was to reward troops that were coming back from oversees deployments
to kind of have this community of individuals who were concerned about their well-being and reintegration,” Sherrill-Mattox says.
Sherrill-Mattox’s primary job, in addition to overseeing agency operations, is working one on one with clients doing benefit screens and assessments to determine mental and physical health issues, identifying barriers to housing and then assisting clients in applying for some of those benefits. “I am a 60 percent service-connected disabled veteran myself,” she says. “I really kind of felt that this particular opportunity resonated with me personally because it was a chance to work with a population that I am fond of and apply my social work skills to assist them from becoming homeless.” Because a majority of the people at Welcome Home have more than one mental or physical disability impacting more than one domain of functioning, Sherrill-Mattox also does mental heath counseling with the residents. “I might be coun-
seling a veteran who is suicidal one moment, switching gears and visiting with a donor the next minute and then switching gears again and going back into teaching mode for our interns,” she says. In the Welcome Home building at 1206 Rangeline St., there is room for a maximum of 12 residents, assuming there is one person on a couch, one on a cot and at least four people doubled up together, which often presents a challenge for this population, Sherrill-Mattox says. “Whether they are homeless or have served in combat, sometimes they may develop posttraumatic stress disorder,” she says. “Being homeless places them in an undue risk for crime, violence and victimization out in a real-world situation. So one of the things we struggle with is finding space for veterans who have some complex safety issues that might be related to trauma or stressors from an environment.” The residents of Welcome Home have access to a kitchen, a washer and dryer, a computer to fill out applications and keep up with family on
Daniel Beckett “Far too many veterans are homeless in America…and I welcomed the opportunity to assist, in any measure, to reduce the number of veterans sleeping in doorways, alleys or boxes in our community who, in the recent past, were willing to sacrifice life and limb for my benefit.”
Frank Martin “We are trying to build a veterans campus, and we need all of the donations we can possibly get to make it happen. When it does happen, we will be able to triple our shelter capacity and not have to turn away veterans needing shelter simply because there is not room.”
Ilene Drennan “The idea of veterans helping veterans continues today in the vision of the efficient and caring staff and board of Welcome Home. Most of the staff and board members are veterans who are committed to meeting the needs of the growing number of veterans."
62 \\\ July 2014
Behind Welcome Home’s culture
➜ 1206 Rangeline St Columbia, MO 65201 573-443-8001 • welcome@socket.net
social media, a phone and a living room with a TV. Welcome Home also has a bike checkout program and provides annual bus passes for residents. But any veteran who has some kind of need can come in for the day and use the facility. “We have been able to provide services and extend those services to a broader population in our outreach to veterans that are in rural areas,” Sherrill-Mattox says. “We have really turned the agency from being reactive to homelessness to being more of prevention-type effort. I am very proud of the culture that we have put together here at Welcome Home.” One of the things that Sherrill-Mattox says is unique about Welcome Home’s culture is the involvement from the organization’s board of directors and the veterans who work there. “We offer vet-to-vet, peer-to-peer services where we are able to sit down with a veteran…” she says. “What we like to do is kind of strip off the rank and maybe get back down to tax where it’s another veteran counseling another veteran, and that sets us apart.”
A need to expand Last year Welcome Home had to turn down 116 people because of the building’s lack of space, but they have still been able to provide assistance for many veterans after the organization was awarded the full amount of the Veteran Joseph Blanton “Being a veteran myself, I want to help veterans; that’s my end goal. But I also want Columbians to know that homelessness is an issue in the midMissouri area, and it is up to us as a community to take charge remedying the issue here as best we can.”
Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families program request in summer 2013. The SSVF program is designed to assist veterans and their families who are homeless or are imminently in danger of becoming homeless in obtaining and maintaining stable housing, according to Welcome Home’s website. But even with the grant, Welcome Home is in need of a new building so the organization won’t have to turn so many people away, Sherrill-Mattox says. “In the current facility, we can’t serve female veterans,” she says. “As a female veteran, I am very concerned about this. Female veterans historically have had issues in engaging services with the VA. Here in Columbia, there are no specific programs for the female veteran to turn to — we are it. Because of our small space, it would simply be impractical if not impossible in order to have female veterans present here...” Melissa Acton, Welcome Home’s chief financial officer who works closely with SherrillMattox, says she hopes their new building will be handicapped accessible. “We can’t have anyone in a wheelchair get into this building right now,” she says. Currently, Meals on Wheels provides two meals a day and several meals on Fridays for the weekends for Welcome Home residents. Acton says with a bigger building, they would be able to provide meals to residents themselves. Ross Bridges “I am a military veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. Upon my return from Iraq, I faced several difficulties with returning to civilian life. I struggled, mostly on my own, with my problems, and luckily I overcame them. However, I can identify with this population.”
“They provide the meals as part of their program free of charge to us,” she says. “If we were to double the size of our agency, hopefully we would be able to free up some of their resources and use some of ours to have meals around the clock or at least a kitchen and a dining room setting. Acton says a sort of veterans campus is in the works for Welcome Home that would include the new building, medication management, increasing of staff to reduce each case worker’s individual case load and green space where they could host fundraisers and some recreational activities with residents.
What Columbia can do Without the help of the Welcome Home staff, board members and many volunteer veterans who are former Welcome Home residents and help with repairs, the services at Welcome Home wouldn’t be possible. But both Sherrill-Mattox and Acton are now asking for Columbia’s support. “Every time you see a homeless person out there, they may or may not identify themselves as a veteran,” Sherrill-Mattox says. “I am asking the city of Columbia, businesses and investors to invest in people. These people invested in our country, and at the very least we can build them a more welcome home of their own.” CBT Photos by Whitney Buckner. Not pictured: Terry Roberts, Sue Thompson, Wes Parks, Russ Anderson, Penelope Braun and Jama Rahn.
Ryan Gill “I was aware that the bond I shared with members of my military unit was incredibly special, but I hadn’t yet discovered that our camaraderie would be what I was thinking about well after the end of my contract. Welcome Home allows me to share my time and efforts with the men and women who I know would do the same for me.”
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 63
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64 \\\ July 2014
Technology
›› Monica Pitts reviews the latest trends in tech
Fighting Fires with Technology The Boone County Fire Protection District has always used technology to fuel its service to local residents. The organization was founded by a group of CB radio enthusiasts working to organize fire protection outside the city limits of Columbia after a house fire claimed the life of a local woman in the early ’60s. Communication by CB radio is now a thing of the past, but using technology to drive communication is still an evolving process. The Boone County Fire Protection District consists of 14 stations spread throughout the county, with more than 421 total members, the largest volunteer fire department in Missouri. There is constant communication from station to station, a station to headquarters, a station to those out in the field and dispatching. When even the fewest of seconds can prove critical, information needs to get where it’s going quickly. Their jobs are so tied to the technology they continually seek to improve that Chief Scott Olsen and Lee Turner, Fire District lieutenant and IT manager, talk about technology like diehard IT geeks, and they throw around terminology usually reserved for those wearing pocket protectors like it’s just part of everyday conversation. They received a grant to install computers at each of the 14 stations in 2000 and hired Turner as in-house IT shortly thereafter. The initial Internet connection was old-school frame relay, later replaced by DSL, and last year a fiber connection was installed at headquarters.
A progressive approach Keeping firefighters in top-notch training takes a lot more than physical exercise; it takes educational training. According to Olsen, “Everything now is about videos and blended learning environments, which requires decent bandwidth.” The members can easily and quickly
Monica Pitts
interact through Web conferencing, webinars and other training websites. The Fire District recently adopted a program called Moodle, an open-source learning program used by many Missouri schools and universities around the country such as Texas A&M and Iowa State University. The program allows for more comprehensive online training from online classes, assignments and assessments. “It will even go so far as to print out the certificate when you successfully pass the test,” Turner says.
Google Docs for Task Force 1 The group also uses Google Apps to maintain communication. They have more than 450 users. “We have people addicted to Google Apps,” Turner says. Missouri Task Force 1, a smaller team of volunteers within the Boone County Fire Protection District who have undergone extensive training in urban search and rescue, emergency or disaster situations, often uses the Google Docs application. The task force uses Google Docs to create, upload and share the documents they need throughout deployment, at times editing simultaneously throughout the nation. The team also uses Google Apps as a place to store images for FEMA documentation.
Tablets and smartphones Use of handheld devices has gone up in the field quite a bit and now plays a role in both dispatch and scene assessment. When a dispatch comes out, it includes a text message with links to a map, directions to the location and notes about the call. The text helps to prepare the volunteers before they even leave the station and allows them to access the information again if needed. Tablets and cellphones are not the primary or only source of information for the volunteers. “They are a redundancy for the radio system,”
Photo by Sadie Thibodeaux
says Turner, explaining the devices are “a way of getting more information out faster.” Because of the holes in signal coverage, it’s safest to use the well-broadcasted radio and pager system to assure the information is available where and when it’s needed. When Internet connectivity is available, tablets are used in place of the printed Emergency Response Guidebook. Government-sponsored applications allow firefighters to identify hazardous materials, explain how to address the vehicle if an accident has occurred and share safety instructions for the volunteers and general public. The app distributes new and updated information just like any other with a notification to download the most recent version. The technology keeps the most current information at the tips of users’ fingers when handling a potentially life-threatening situation. Through their progressive online training, task force collaboration and use of handheld devices while engaged in emergency-response situations, the Boone County Fire Protection District is a progressive group of professionals always seeking the safest, most efficient way to keep Boone County citizens safe. CBT
➜ P i t t s i s t h e c h i e f c r e at i v e d i r e c t o r o f M ay e C r e at e D e s i g n . columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 65
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New LIFE
Celebrations ›› House of Chow
Changing Hands
This food fixture gets a new owner from the same family. For James Lowe, restaurants have always been a family business. His mother owned Peking Restaurant when it was located at Ninth and Cherry streets downtown. A few miles down Broadway, his aunt, Amy Chow, owned House of Chow. Lowe logged time in both restaurants and worked part time in the kitchen when he was in college. Lowe was known as a reliable chef, but he didn’t intend on making cooking a career. He studied architecture at the University of Missouri and worked as a designer in Kansas City for 16 years after his graduation. Eventually, Columbia pulled him back. “Last year, I just felt like I wanted a change,” Lowe says. His timing was perfect. Chow’s nephew Edward Lin and his wife, Ming, had purchased House of Chow in 2005 but were looking to exit the restaurant business. Lowe, also a nephew of Chow’s, took ownership in March.
Old and new James Lowe. Photo by Anthony Jinson.
Timeline 1981 › Amy Chow opens House of Chow at 2101 W. Broadway. 2003 › The restaurant undergoes renovations but remains in the Broadway location. 2005 › Chow turns ownership over to her nephew Edward Lin and his wife, Ming. 2014 › Nephew James Lowe becomes the new owner. He tweaks the restaurant’s décor and menu, redesigns the logo, creates a new tagline and launches a new website.
Keeping with family tradition, Lowe’s House of Chow doesn’t look drastically different from how it did before. Lowe has added and removed some menu items but estimates that 95 to 98 percent of the original menu’s 100-plus items still remain. “With the menu, we can’t make a drastic change,” Lowe says. “This restaurant has been here so long, and people are used to what we offer here.” In the kitchen, Lowe has turned his attention to adding appetizers. So far gua bao, a Taiwanese dish that Lowe describes as a pork belly slider, has been a crowd favorite. Lowe also lowered some lunch special prices but kept most entrée pricing hovering around $10. House of Chow regulars might also notice some subtle upgrades to the restaurant’s interior design. Drawing from his architectural background, Lowe sought to bring more light into the restaurant. He spent about $3,000 on new light fixtures, added sheer curtains to the front windows and purchased new lounge furniture for the restaurant’s front.
By CLAIRE BOSTON
“We’ve just tried to do little cosmetic changes,” Lowe says. “I spent money on what people see the most.” Lowe has also worked to revive House of Chow’s Web presence. He designed a new website for the restaurant and also came up with a new logo for the website, menus and promotional materials. The new logo also bares a new tagline: Traditional Chinese dining with a modern twist. That twist, Lowe says, is a combination of affordable, great-tasting food made with fresh ingredients. He hopes to soon offer specials that feature seasonal, locally sourced items. “We try to take care of different kinds of customers,” Lowe says. “We’re more traditional, but once in a while we do a modern twist on certain dishes.”
All in the family House of Chow regulars still often inquire about Chow. Although she hasn’t owned the restaurant in nearly a decade, she’s still a restaurant fixture; she and her siblings from Taiwan helped Lowe transition during his first few weeks of ownership, and she’ll stop in on weekends to see her friends. “My aunt has a lot of loyal customers,” Lowe says. “I would say that eight out of 10 customers when they come in would say, ‘Where’s Amy?’” In his first few months as a restaurant owner, Lowe says he aims to keep his goals realistic. He hopes to increase House of Chow’s presence in the community through catering and promotions. He also wants to work on increasing sales and his overall customer base. Although the restaurant’s finances are stable, sales are about 40 percent lower than their peak in 2002 and 2003. Lowe says he thinks his family ties will be instrumental to the restaurant’s continuing success. “[Customers] don’t want some stranger from out of town that just came here, bought a restaurant and ruined the restaurant,” Lowe says. “The environment [at the restaurant] and that it’s family owned means a lot to the customers because they still see the familiar faces.” CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 67
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Deeds of Trust
›› Worth more than $600,000 $47,000,000 Jade Properties LLC Bank of America/Restaurant Finance Group LT 1A Pt Oak Forest Sub Blk 2 $47,000,000 Wendy’s of Missouri Inc. Bank of America/Restaurant Finance Group LT 1A Pt Oak Forest Sub Blk 2 $15,000,000 PVL Columbia Realty LLC First National Bank of St. Louis LT 401 Rock Valley Plat 4 $15,000,00 PVL at Columbia LLC First National Bank of St. Louis LT 401 Rock Valley Plat 4 $4,569,019 Country Club of Missouri The Boone County National Bank LT 1 Woodrail Sub Plat 1
$1,960,000 Residences at Old Hawthorne LLC The Boone County National Bank LT 1 Residences at Old Hawthorne The $1,880,000 Ganish Hotel Group LLC Equity Bank LT 48 Keene Estates LT 2 Ff w/ Esmt
$700,000 G. Lewis – Missouri LLC First Midwest Bank of Poplar Bluff STR 16-48-12 //NE $700,000 Barnes, Stephen D. Exchange Bank of Missouri LT 7 Nowells Sub/Machir Place
$1,640,000 Beacon Street Properties LLC Martinsburg Bank & Trust LT 201 Oak Park Plat 3
$693,500 Dalrymple, Scott Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. LT 1 McGill Pointe Estates
$1,400,000 Wendling Development LLC Callaway Bank The LT 4 Academy Village Plat 1 $1,200,00 D&D Investments of Columbia LLC Landmark Bank STR 6-48-13/E/SW SUR BK/PG: 4071/135 AC 3.860
$2,587,500 C-Hill2 LLC Boone County National Bank LT 5 Rock Valley Plat 2
$1,050,000 Best Five LLC Boone County National Bank LT 3 Corporate Lake Plat 14
$2,500,000 Forum Boulevard Christian Church/Westside Christian Church Boone County National Bank LT 1 Forum Blvd. Christian Church
$820,000 Blossom, Charles C. and Pamela K. Boone County National Bank STR 9-47-12 //N SUR BK/PG: 4246/4 AC 10.04
$2,100,000 DCJ Enterprises LLC Martinsburg Bank & Trust LT 1119 Highlands Plat 11B
$750,000 Ryan, Terry and Julie Landmark Bank LT 219 Gates at Old Hawthorne Plat 2 The
$1,646,995 Berendzen/Gage Rentals LLC First State Community Bank LT 1 McKee Park Plat 1
$2,965,000 Grindstone Village Properties LLC Commerce Bank LT 1A Grindstone Village Plat 1A
$2,350,000 Sayona Hospitality LLC Boone County National Bank LT 3A Keene Street C P Sub
831
deeds of trust were issued between May 6 and June 2.
$785,000 M.S. Hall Investments LLC Bank of Missouri The LT 3B Boone Quarry Plat 3A $780,000 Judy, Grace J. and Charles W. Providence Bank STR 32-48-11 /W//NW SUR BK/ PG: 1701/493 AC 20.930
$693,500 Dalyrmple, Tina Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. LT McGill Pointe Estates $670,000 Bessey, Robert Eric Callaway Bank The STR 11-47-13 SUR BK/PG: 1097/917 FF TRACT 19 $670,000 Bessey, Kimberly P. Callaway Bank The STR 11-47-13 SUR BK/PG: 1097/917 FF TRACT 19 $607,001 Dhrudev Inc. First Midwest Bank of Poplar Bluff LT 7A Vanderveen Plaza Plat 1 LT 7 $600,837 Baker Development Group Inc. First Midwest Bank of Poplar Bluff LT 504A Highland Circle Plat 6A CBT
Economic Index ›› It’s all about the numbers Housing: Single-family homes sales, April 2014: 170 homes Single-family active listings on market, April 2014: 839 homes Single-family homes average sold price, April 2014: $209,548 Single-family home median sold price, April 2014: $175,000 Single-family homes average days on market, April 2014: 78 days Single-family pending listings on market, April 2014: 260 homes
Construction: Residential building permits, April 2014: 108 Value of residential building permits, April 2014: $45,966,961 Detached single-family homes, April 2014: 32 Value of detached single-family homes, April 2014: $8,586,279 Commercial building permits, April 2014: 23 Value of commercial building permits, April 2014: $14,093,337
Commercial additions/alterations, April 2014: 19
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Labor: Columbia MSP labor force, April 2014: 99,827 April 2013: 98,572 Columbia MSP unemployment April 2014: 3,952 April 2013: 4,221
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Columbia MSP unemployment rate April 2014: 4 percent April 2013: 4.3 percent Missouri labor force April 2014: 3,019,753 April 2013: 3,016,184 Missouri unemployment April 2014: 177,834 April 2013: 184,219 Missouri unemployment rate April 2014: 5.9 percent April 2013: 6.1 percent
Utilities: Water April 2014: 47,134 April 2013: 46,393 Change #: 740 Change %: 1.6 percent Electric April 2014: 47,841 April 2013: 46,863 Change #: 978 Change %: 2.1 percent CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 69
New Business Licenses ›› Columbia residents and their upstarts
Our Partners... 573-442-3850 • FlatBranchHomeLoans.com
Bailey’s Home Maintenance 1005 Coho Court Home repairs, interior painting
Groundwork Coffee & Tea Distributing 3610 Buttonwood Drive Website sales of gourmet coffee and tea, accessories
Beckett Investment Group LLC 2409 Marietta Falls Lane Real estate investment office
Karma Care 601 W. Business Loop 70, No. 126 Counseling, holistic sales items retail
Bella Casa 3336 St. Charles Road House cleaning Billie Stock Photography 12106 Windstone Drive Onsite photography and sales
“Flat Branch Home Loans supports the United Way because the community comes first.”
(573) 777-4332 • TheEvokeGroup.com
“Heart of Missouri United Way is our choice for an excellent way to give back to the community because of the variety of agencies they support.”
are community partners. To become a member of the LU365 Small Business Circle visit uwheartmo.org/live-united-365 70 \\\ July 2014
Kostaki’s Pizzeria 3412 Grindstone Parkway, Ste. C La Tolteca 128 E. Nifong Blvd., Ste. E Mexican restaurant
Conquest Offroad 610 Vandiver Drive Auto repair shop
Lizzi & Rocco’s Natural Pet Market 1610 I-70 Drive SW Pet supplies retail
Critter Care of Columbia 2755 N. Lakeland Drive Dog walking and sitting
Minuteman Press 2511 Bernadette Drive Printing service
CrossFit Audacity 3410 Broadway Business Park Court, Ste. 103 Gym and fitness center
Mozingo Music Inc. 1729 W. Broadway, Ste. 108 Music store
Diona Marie Esthetics 2800 Forum Blvd., Ste. 4 Esthetics, skin care spa, medical spa
One More Rep One More Set 1209 S. Spurgeon Court Fitness and gym personal trainer
Dynamic Builders 2701 Comstock Drive Construction
Peggy Jean’s Pies 3601 Buttonwood Drive, Ste. D Bakery items and misc. retail
Empower & Define Coaching 500 E. Walnut St., Ste. 102 Onsite consulting, coaching service for businesses
Professional Cleaning Service 6704 Port Orchard Drive Cleaning services, commercial businesses
Farmers Insurance Group – TANY 1000 N. College Ave., Ste. 1 Insurance agency
Quan’s Computer Repair 203 Kenya Court Online computer repair
Flow’s Pharmacy 303 N. Keene St., Ste. 103 Retail pharmacy
S.A. McMillin Architects Inc. 5513 Dalcross Drive Architectural and construction
Saigon Bistro 912 E. Broadway, Ste. 101 Vietnamese restaurant Seville Woodworks LLC 1516 Wyoming Ave. Cabinet manufacturer, casework and countertop installation SMC – Columbia 3334 Brown Station Road Wholesale electrical and data products Sparkle Cleaning Services 2508 Morning Glory Drive Cleaning commercial properties Strength & Conditioning Factor 1004 W. Worley St. Strength and condition, personal training, rehab Suburban Extended Stay 3100 Wingate Court Hotel, motel Supplement Nation LLC 2101 W. Broadway, Ste. 204 Health supplements The Trove 3910 Peachtree Drive, Ste. H Beauty salon, booth rental Thread-Me-Green 1506 Stone St. Custom shirts and apparel design True Line Agency LLC 110 E. Ash St. Insurance agency – Allstate Wills Floor Care 5102 Chariton Drive Stripping, waxing, floor cleaning 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment 2703 E. Broadway, Ste. 230 Retail sales of fitness and exercise equipment CBT
By the Numbers ›› Boone County statistics
We’ve all heard the United States referred to as a melting pot, welcoming people from all over the world. There are an estimated 40.4 million immigrants in the U.S., according to 2011 Census data, the last year for which the estimate is available. But what does that look like for Columbia?
Population of Columbia, by race
Foreign-born population in Columbia
0.2
5.2
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008-2012 American Community Survey, Columbia, Missouri
4
= 500 people 17.5
22.5
10.8 12.5
17.5
78.2
30
White Black or African American Asian American Indian Native Hawaiian or or Alaska Native other Pacific Islander Other
Two or more races
11.5
9.6
Korean
Black or African American, white
Asian, white
American Indian or Alaska Native, black
German
Other
Scottish
Breakdown of Hispanic and Latino population, by origin
English Other European
Chinese Vietnamese
11.4
Filipino
Japanese
Other Asian
Mexican Cuban
Sub-Saharan African
Italian Polish
2.1% 2.9% 3.9% 1.7%
Spanish or Spanish Creole
Puerto Rican Other Hispanic or Latino
Source: 2008-2012 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Columbia, Missouri
Columbians are expected to eat...
North American
French
11%
54.3 8.6
7.7
Irish
Nearly 11 percent of Columbians speak at least one language other than English
25.7
36.6
Asian Indian
American Indian or Alaska Native, white
19.2
13.5 1.9
Source: 2008-2012 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Columbia, Missouri
Top 10 places of origin for Columbians
0.1 1.5
Breakdown of Asian population, by origin
9,081
Breakdown of Columbians identifying as two-plus races
Other IndoAsian and European Pacific Island languages languages
Other
Source: 2008-2012 American Community Survey Five-Year Estimates, Columbia, Missouri
Map of origins of Columbia’s foreign-born population Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2008-2012 American Community Survey, Columbia, Missouri
Not reported
16,389
Other
26,591 Russia
824
Europe
54,105 5.4 mil. hot dogs on July 4
2.5 mil. hot dogs between Memorial Day & Labor Day
pints of ice cream each year, based on local population & national consumption patterns
57,480 North America
4,505 Caribbean
124
Middle East Africa
1,692
1,296 South America
47
Australia
19
Source: Forbes.com
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 71
7 Questions
➜ Missouri Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education 205 Jefferson St. Jefferson City, MO 65101
›› Get to know your professionals
Chad Schatz
Director of Veterans Education and Training/Troops to Teachers 1. How does the Troops to Teachers program work? The Troops to Teachers program is designed to help former active duty soldiers and members of the National Guard and Reserves transition to high-need public school teachers, with a potential bonus or stipend to help with certification courses only and expenses associated with the transition. Regional Troops to Teachers offices work with school districts to promote the program, provide counseling and help candidates with certification issues in their state. The program was established in 1994.
4. How many veterans have been placed as teachers with the programs? In the past year, we have placed almost 50 teachers in Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. Nationally, more than 17,000 veterans have been placed in public school classrooms. Approximately 263 Missouri Troops to Teachers participants have taught at least five years or more, and 1,246 have registered for the program since its inception. 5. How widely does the program operate? And what is your specific area of service? Troops to Teachers is a national program. The Central States Troops to Teachers program includes Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas, with the main office in Jefferson City.
3. How do you identify veterans who might want to become a teacher? Methodology for identifying veterans who might want to become teachers includes informational briefings at military bases and following up on inquiries from soldiers by phone and email.
Fun Fact: 72 \\\ July 2014
Photo by Anthony Jinson.
2. How is the program financed? Troops to Teachers is a U.S. Department of Education and Department of Defense program managed by the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support in Pensacola, Florida. Funding is established by the U.S. Department of Education.
6. What military skills are translatable into a career as a teacher? In that the military trains its own, teaching methodology is top notch and detail oriented. The teaching strategies and technology in the military make for an efficient transition for public school teaching. Jobs in the military include a wide variety of specialties, and many translate well to public school teaching.
7. What resources are available to succeed with the Troops to Teachers’ mission? Resources that are used to make the program successful include a contractual agreement with the State of Missouri’s Workforce Development Veterans Representatives that includes training for Missouri Vet Reps performed by Central States Troops to Teachers staff members, giving coverage to the entire state. DVDs, television, radio and regional publications are utilized, and institutions granting teacher certification are provided with program information that they can use for recruiting purposes. Interacting with the Veterans Administration is also a key component. The larger functions and financing for our office come from the VA for approvals and compliance of schools, colleges and on the-job training programs; therefore the combination of TTT and VA programs is a good fit. Financial assistance, pending availability of funds, may be provided as stipends up to $5,000 to pay for certification costs or bonuses of $10,000 to teach in schools serving a high percentage of students from low-income families. However, participants must agree to teach for three years in schools that serve students from low-income families . CBT
➜ The ➜Troops Fxxxx to Teachers Referral Assistance and Placement service is managed by the DANTES Troops to Teachers office in Pensacola, Florida.
ADVERTISER INDEX Accounting Plus...............................................................................................75 Anthony Jinson Photography...................................................................... 6 Caledon Virtual................................................................................................... 8 Carpet One...........................................................................................................5 Central Trust & Investment Co.................................................................25 City Of Columbia Water & Light.................................................................. 9 Commerce Bank.............................................................................................29 Como Connect.................................................................................................16 Data Comm........................................................................................................16 Dave Griggs Flooring America...................................................................53 Evans & Dixon LLC.......................................................................................... 10 First Midwest Bank......................................................................................... 30 Fry-Wagner Moving And Storage..............................................................59 GFI Digital............................................................................................................69 Harper, Evans, Wade & Netemeyer........................................................25 Hawthorn............................................................................................................76 Healthlink............................................................................................................20 Heart Of Missouri United Way...................................................................70 Landmark Bank...................................................................................................2 Lincoln University............................................................................................73 Massage Envy / European Wax Center.......................................... 29,59 Mayecreate Web Design...............................................................................12 McAdams' Ltd..................................................................................................... 4 Mid-City Lumber Co................................................................................ 16,53 Midwest Block & Brick.................................................................................. 30 Midwest Computech.....................................................................................66 Moresource Inc...................................................................................................7 Naught Naught Insurance Agency..........................................................28 Room 38..............................................................................................................66 Socket....................................................................................................................14 Starr Properties................................................................................................28 State Farm Insurance - Stephanie Wilmsmeyer...............................20 Superior Garden Center/ Rost Landscape..........................................20 Tech Electronics............................................................................................. 64 The Bank Of Missouri.....................................................................................26 The Olde Un Theatre.................................................................................... 64 University Of Missouri Health Care............................................................3 Visionworks........................................................................................................69 Watkins Roofing.............................................................................................. 64
columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 73
Flashback ›› Then and now
➜ The Columbia business landscape is always evolving, but it’s important to remember our historical roots.
By Sarah Redohl Photo by Sarah Redohl
Cultural historians have claimed that Howard Johnson became synonymous with travel in America during the 1950s. With its iconic orange roof, prominent weather vane and ubiquitous outdoor signage, Columbia’s Howard Johnson Motor Lodge, located at 900 I-70 Drive SW, was a perfect model of the international brand. What began in 1925 as a restaurant chain peaked in the 1970s with more than 1,000 restaurants and 500 motor lodges. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the largest restaurant chain in the United States. Howard Johnson’s presence in Columbia began in 1955 when couples Richard and Sarah Klingbeil and Fred and Dorothea Klingbeil opened and operated a franchise of the restaurant with room for 88 patrons and several more at the dairy bar at 908 Business Loop 70 West. In 1962, the couple added a Howard Johnson Motor Lodge of 59 guestrooms at 900 I-70 Drive SW, described in the 1966 Mobile Travel Guide as having “gay modern décor.”
It replaced a Travelier Motel, which opened in the mid-’50s and was designed by local architect David P. Clark and owned by Charles J. Proctor, a Hickman High School graduate. Proctor also built Travelier Motels in Macon and Fulton, and the Proctor family was well known among lodging proprietors in the region. This ’60s-era postcard depicts Columbia’s Howard Johnson Motor Lodge and boasts its proximity to Columbia College, the University of Missouri and Stephens College, as well as an indoor pool, sauna and whirlpool. In the late ’60s, the company moved away from franchising its restaurants, though it continued to franchise its motor lodges. When the Klingbeils’ franchise agreement expired in 1968, the company began to operate the unit, according to HighwayHost.org. Under the company’s operation, the lodge was expanded to 93 rooms, reported by AAA’s 1968 TourBook as “attractively appointed…
many with color TV.” The property was later expanded to 149 rooms and remained a Howard Johnson’s until 1991, despite the national chain having changed ownership five times between 1979 and 1990. Current owner Wyndham Worldwide, then known as Cendant, purchased the Howard Johnson chain from Prime Motors Inns in 1990. Wyndham added existing motels under the Howard Johnson name, and the distinct and iconic Howard Johnson décor disappeared. The original Columbia Howard Johnson’s lobby was demolished and replaced. It is now a Days Inn, run by George and Leela Jashnani. Days Inn is also a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide. Although there are currently more than 500 Howard Johnson hotels in more than 14 countries, there are only two operational Howard Johnson restaurants — one in New York and the other in Maine. Howard Johnson maintains a presence in Columbia with its hotel at 3100 I-70 Drive SW. CBT
➜ We love Columbia business history. If you have any interesting photos and stories, please send them to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com 74 \\\ July 2014
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