Columbia Business Times - June 2015

june 2015

smart house

Millie Lovett Page 36

Page 54

a profile of this year's small business week winner

Page 42

the hot zone: Tensions rise on downtown zoning Page 50

Safe in the city?

Page 36

JAMES PIRTLE Chief Engineer - Broadcasting, University of Missouri

She’s so rock steady and she’s always ready. Whoa, Black Betty.

MEET BETTY. She’s a 2014 Ultra Classic and my third Harley Davidson motorcycle. Awhile back, I stopped by Mid-America Harley Davidson to get a quart of oil for my old 2009 Ultra Classic. When I walked in, Betty was sitting on the show room floor and it was love at first sight. Of course, as I was gaping at her beauty, they told me to take her for a test drive. It was game over after that. From that day on, Betty has always been ready to hit the open road with me. She’s my dream ride.

I STARTED RIDING when I got my first bike at 13 for a Christmas present. I bought my first Harley motorcycle in

1978 and have been hooked ever since. I’ve ridden Harleys in France, Italy, Germany, England and Brazil. I’ve traveled thousands of miles by motorcycle. The longest ride I’ve taken was from D.C. to California – 3,000 miles of just me and my bike. There’s nothing like it – riding with Betty is exhilarating.

The sound of the wind is like music and the unobstructed view of the scenery is incredible.

WHEN IT’S BETTY AND I getting lost on the road, I’m not just riding a motorcycle.

It’s so much more. You won’t understand why until you ride a Harley. It’s kind of like “Oh, Black Betty. BAM-BA-LAM.”

DISCOVER YOUR REASON TO RIDE AT MID-AMERICA HARLEY DAVIDSON 5704 Freedom Dr. Columbia, MO 65202 | 573.875.4444 | www.MidAmericaHD.com

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 7

3 NOTEWORTHY WINES AT EXCEPTIONAL VALUES

The best selection … the absolute best prices … and the very best service Open 7 days a week Drive through and delivery available

Aaron Saeler, Wine Manager

A REALLY GOOD WINE IS THE ONE YOU ENJOY THE MOST. HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS ...

FORCE OF NATURE TEMPRANILLO

Our low price $20.84 Tempranillos are arguably the most famous of Spain’s native grapes. Vibrant, lush and well balanced, this small batch wine is a do-not-miss label. And even the label itself is noteworthy!

Spicy, red fruit aromas and flavors with a rich and powerful finish. This smooth textured wine has considerable complexity and will not disappoint.

A TO Z ROSE’

Our low price $13.88 This Rosé leads with aromas of strawberries, tangerine, watermelon and grenadine with hints of thyme and hibiscus. Not overly complex yet full of flavor and well balanced. Summertime is officially rose season and this is one that provides great pleasure … in taste and in the wallet!

STEELE STYMIE MERLOT

Our low price $36.12 This is one of only 2 “reserve” wines from Steele and is actually named after a racehorse from the 1950’s. Revealing layers of red currants, anise, chocolate covered cherries and just a hint of coffee, this merlot is aged three years prior to its release. The concentrated fruit flavors and lingering finish make it highly enjoyable now and will only continue to improve for another 10 years.

THESE ARE JUST THREE EXAMPLES but with over 3,200 wines to choose from, we’re certain to have your new favorite.

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10 \\\ june 2015

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 11

TOP

CBT ’s

OF THE

TOWN

12 \\\ june 2015

INVITES YOU TO CELEBRATE COLUMBIA’S TOP B2B PRODUCTS AND SERVICES! WHERE

Logboat Brewing Co. 20

WHEN

July 1, 2015 from 5-9 p.m.

HOW

Buy tickets online at

www.columbiabusinesstimes.com

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 13

14 \\\ june 2015

From the Editor

Editorial Erica Pefferman, Publisher Erica@BusinessTimesCompany.com Sarah Redohl, Editor SarahR@BusinessTimesCompany.com Katrina Tauchen, Copy Editor Katrina@BusinessTimesCompany.com

Small City, Big Changes ›› When attorney Skip Walther was a kid, he says downtown was Columbia’s only retail area. Then came Broadway Shopping Center, Parkade Plaza, Crossroads and Columbia Mall.

For a period of time, downtown was mostly banks, offices and a couple restaurants. Although that remains true for a great many cities, Columbia is now an anomaly.

Whether you go downtown on a Saturday morning for the Farmers & Artisans Market, Sunday evening for dinner or Friday night for the bars, Columbia’s downtown is alive and well.

In some ways, we’ve returned to our roots, with small businesses downtown at the heart of Columbia commerce.

“For so many years, we tried to figure out ways to increase density downtown; every study said we needed that,” says Adam Dushoff, co-owner of Addison’s and Sophia’s. But, he says, we didn’t consider what else might happen as a result of that density: that there’d be infrastructure problems to solve; Photo by Anthony Jinson that it might divide our city into pro-growth and slow-growth factions; that there’d be protests or moratoriums; or that we might lose the original Shakespeare’s.

Because downtown development has been a topic of such heated debate, you’ll notice many features in this issue — our Real Estate and Construction Issue — pertain to downtown development. On page 50, Matthew Patston outlines potential new zoning ordinances downtown, and on page 46, Claire Boston dissects the vacancy rates of Columbia’s newest student housing complexes. On page 36, we discuss downtown’s 31 percent increase in calls for service and police reports since 2010 and what’s being done to curb crime.

We also celebrate Columbia’s small-business community. On page 42, we profile this year’s Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year, Plaza Dental Group, and honor the four other finalists, TrueSon Exteriors, Buchroeder’s Fine Jewelers, Kilgore’s Respiratory Services and Manor Roofing & Restoration. In case you hadn’t heard, Columbia is also home to a couple regional Small Business Week distinctions. Jack Miller, president of True Media, won Small Business Person of the Year for eastern Missouri. Two of the top three community bank SBA lenders in that region are in Columbia. The Bank of Missouri provided 57 loans, totaling $20,044,800, and Hawthorn Bank, 21 loans totaling $15,984,500.

Our city has gotten so much right, and people are taking note. Between 2000 and 2030, the population of Boone County is expected to grow by 50 percent, compared to 21 percent statewide during that same period, according to the Missouri Office of Administration. I’m proud to live in a city that people want to move to.

So this time, instead of asking for feedback (you’re still welcome to share: @sarahredohl or sarahr@businesstimescompany.com), I’m going to close with this note to our readers, community members and business leaders: Thank you for your continued commitment to making Columbia a great place to live and work.

Best,

Sarah Redohl, Editor

Millie Lovett, entertainment and programming director at the Tiger Hotel, will serve on the Transformation Team during the Downtown Community Improvement District’s consultation with Responsible Hospitality Institute. Read more about crime and safety in downtown Columbia on page 36. Thank you to Elly’s Couture for supplying Millie with lots of clothing options for our cover shoot! Photo by Anthony Jinson.

JUNE 2015

SMART HOUSE

Millie Lovett

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PAGE 36

PAGE 54

A PROFILE OF THIS YEAR'S SMALL BUSINESS WEEK WINNER

PAGE 42

THE HOT ZONE: TENSIONS RISE ON DOWNTOWN ZONING PAGE 50

SAFE IN THE CITY? PAGE 36

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 /// 15

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About The Last Times What's happening online Marie Newell @marie_newell Feeling #almostfamous this morning... several people have mentioned seeing my name in @ColumbiaBiz May issue. #tweetinprint #readership Jeff Branscom @jeffreyowen8 Great piece by @torkatross on @Launch_Code's upcoming information session at @ColumbiaColg via @ColumbiaBiz #CoMo Columbia Art League @CoArtLeague Thanks @ColumbiaBiz! Great feature on the arts in CoMo & some of the businesses which support them.

MidMoBBB @MidMoBBB Our regional director had an interview with @ColumbiaBiz where he shares about himself and keeping up with the times.

Eyes On Freight @EyesOnFreight @EyesOnFreight to present at Las Vegas tech conference #Freight #Startups Thanks for the support @ColumbiaBiz!!

Around the office Top of the Town voting has closed! Stay tuned to hear about the winners when our July issue hits the stands June 25. Tickets for our Top of the Town celebration July 1 will be going on sale soon. This is one party you won’t want to miss!

TOP

CBT ’s

OF THE

TOWN

Congratulations to Plaza Dental Group, this year’s Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year. While we’re at it, three cheers for all our finalists: TrueSon Exteriors, Manor Roofing & Restoration, Buchroeder’s Jewelers, Plaza Dental Group and Kilgore’s Respiratory Services.

COMO Fuse @comofuse Congrats @TinCanTech! Very nice article in @ColumbiaBiz! Keep up the success!!

Missouri Theatre @motheatre Thanks for the feature! @ColumbiaBiz @the_district #mizzou #motheatre Job Point @JobPointMO Cheers to @ColumbiaBiz for the awesome story about 100 Percent Wine.

Tony Richards @tonyrichards4 Today a story is included in the latest @ColumbiaBiz Times in which I am interviewed by Monica Pitts of @MayeCreate

Why the heck did the CBT borrow $2,000 in $1 bills?

Looks like you’ll have to wait until the July issue to find out!

Word Marketing @WordMarketing Check out this @ColumbiaBiz article featuring an interview with our very own @tonyrichards4! #marketing #success Write to CBT editor Sarah Redohl at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 17

18 \\\ june 2015

June 2015

Vol. 21, Issue 12 columbiabusinesstimes.com

36

Downtown Safety

Downtown Columbia is not the same place it was 50 years ago, but does the public’s perception of downtown safety offer an accurate portrayal of what actually goes on there?

42 The Winner’s Circle Meet the five Small Business of the Year finalists from the Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Week, including this year’s winner, Plaza Dental Group.

46

Departments

15 From the Editor 17 Letters to the Editor 21 Movers and Shakers 22 Briefly in the News 25 A Closer Look 26 Business Update 31 P.Y.S.K. 35 Opinion 60 Nonprofit Spotlight 62 Celebrations 65 Did You Know?

69 Marketing 71 Technology 73 Organizational Health 75 Sales 76 Economic Index 77 Deeds of Trust 78 Business Licenses 79 By the Numbers 80 5 Questions 82 Flashback

50

54

Ready to Burst?

Zoning Out

Smart House

As University of Missouri enrollment growth slows and student housing development keeps popping up, some experts fear the bubble is about to burst.

Columbia’s aging zoning ordinances, established in the 1950s, are no doubt in need of some updating, but how far should the city go in reshaping development downtown?

Take a look at the latest and greatest in smart home technology that will have you saying: “Goodbye, Joneses.

Hello, Jetsons.”

Movers and Shakers ›› Professionals grow, serve and achieve

cox

colgrove

wilson

moravchik

BELL

➜ Are you or your employees

making waves in the Columbia business community? Send us your news to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com

QUIROZ JIRA

kalista

naumann

›› David Kurpius

›› Julie Moravchik

›› Great Circle

Kurpius was hired as the next dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, replacing Dean Mills, who will retire in August. Kurpius was selected from four finalists for the position. He is coming to Columbia from Louisiana State University, where he is vice chancellor for enrollment management and a professor in the School of Mass Communication.

Moravchik brings 20 years of broadcast journalism experience to her new position as news director at CBS affiliate KRCG. She previously worked as the news director at stations in South Dakota and Wisconsin, where she helped expand station operations and garnered several Emmy Awards.

The children’s charity announced new members of its board of directors: Peggy Gordin, vice president of patient care and chief nursing officer at St. Louis Children’s Hospital; Julie Thomas Sward, president at Moneta Group; Jasmine Davis, vice president and senior product manager at Wells Fargo Advisors; and Jack Gillis, executive director with J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Gillis will also serve as chair of the board.

›› Boone County National Bank Jill Cox was promoted to senior vice president of commercial banking. Several other BCNB employees were also promoted: Jason Germany and Kristin Sidel were named managers, and Joann Gao was named an assistant manager; Tyler Pagano was promoted to a financial associate; Kristin Petty, Jane Beck and Susie Conrad were made senior tellers; and Madison Hart and Megan Daly were promoted to teller II.

›› Ann Barber Colgrove Colgrove became The Callaway Bank’s new vice president in March. She is a past president of the Southern Boone County Chamber of Commerce and will work from the bank’s new facility on West Broadway in Ashland. Colgrove will be responsible for finding and executing lending opportunities for the bank.

›› MU Office of Advancement The fundraising division of the university announced three new hires: Sherry Wilson, who will be the executive director of advancement for corporate and foundation relations; Bruce Broce, who will be director of development in Kansas City; and Kristen Thayer, who will be the advancement officer for the College of Arts and Sciences.

›› Karin Bell Bell was promoted to senior vice president and small business administration manager at The Bank of Missouri in Columbia. Bell has worked in the bank’s SBA department for five years.

›› Andrea Quiroz Jira The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau announced Quiroz Jira as a convention sales manager. Her main responsibility will be marketing Columbia as a destination for event planners in various markets. Quiroz Jira previously worked at the Missouri Artisans Association, the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and the University Concert Series.

›› Columbia Hospitality The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Columbia Hospitality Association announced their Star Performers: Anthony Sims of Hampton Inn and Suites and Shelby Virmilye of The Broadway were named Rising Stars of the Year; Jean McCurren from Hampton was named Salesperson of the Year; Leela Jashani of Budget Host Inn and America’s Best Value was named General Manager of the Year; Richard King of Thumper Entertainment was named Hospitality Star of the Year; and Brigette Allen of the Tiger Hotel was named Hospitality Employee of the Year.

›› Brandon Kalista Kalista has been promoted to commercial loan officer at Hawthorn Bank. A 2012 graduate of Missouri State University, Kalista has worked at Hawthorn Bank since May of 2012 and was a credit analyst in the bank’s commercial loan department prior to his promotion. He has more than four years of banking experience.

›› Joan Naumann Veterans United Home Loans added Naumann as chief operating officer. She will oversee more than 450 employees and set the company’s strategic direction, and she is charged with improving client satisfaction and operational delivery. Naumann joins Veterans United after 12 years at CitiMortgage in St. Louis, where she recently worked as managing director of mortgage operations.

›› Melissa Boukezzula Visionworks Marketing Group hired Boukezzula as office and traffic manager, where she’ll monitor content produced for Visionworks clients, handle vendor bidding, manage projects and coordinate community outreach for 12 area McDonald’s.

Before joining Visionworks, Boukezzula worked in consultation and training for several agricultural companies throughout North America. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 21

Briefly in the News

›› A rundown of this month’s top headlines

$10 Million Music Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield gave a $10 million gift, the largest gift ever given to support the arts at the University of Missouri, to help fund the proposed new MU School of Music building.

student startup Columbia College business administration student Adam Smith took first place in this year’s Fishman Entrepreneur of the Year pitch compeRaja Bhattacharya tition with his idea, Solar Nomad. The project would “allow people to construct their own solar panels, helping reduce monthly utility costs,” according to a press release.

“It was exciting to see the number of student startups participate in the competition,” says Raja Bhattacharya, director of the Fishman Center for Entrepreneurship. “Really, all of these students are winners, as each will receive a year’s worth of guidance from the Fishman Center.”

As the winner of the competition, Smith received $3,000 to help get his project started, and he will serve on the Fishman Center for Entrepreneurship advisory board for one year.

joining forces

stroke care MU Health Care was recently named one of Missouri’s first Level I Missouri State Time Critical Diagnosis Stroke Centers, which is the highest designation for stroke care.

Wings, Wings, Wings

LINCO Bancshares Inc., the parent company for Providence Bank, and Community First Bancorp, the parent company for Community First Bank, announced that Community First Bank will be merged into Providence Bank. The merger will add Community First Bank’s headquarters at 4600 N. Illinois St. in Fairview Heights, Illinois, to Providence Bank’s existing banking network located throughout Missouri and Texas. The combined financial institution is expected to have total assets approximating $900 million.

Pedestrian Power The Columbia Police Department and GetAbout Columbia teamed up to conduct a Pedestrian Safety Campaign in April. During the warning phase, 30 contacts were made for various pedestrian violations. During the enforcement phase, 30 contacts were made, and around 12 citations were issued.

Leadership 500 The new downtown Columbia restaurant Wingin Out took over the former home of SubZone, located at 916 E. Broadway. This is its second location, with its first being located in Champaign, Illinois.

22 \\\ june 2015

The MU Trulaske College of Business was recognized by the 36th Annual Telly Awards for its Centennial Speaker.

“We featured 10 of our distinguished alumni and friends to talk about the current state of business and what’s around the corner and, in particular, how we’re preparing our students for the future of those industries,” says Joan Gabel, dean of the Trulaske College of Business.

In addition to the Telly Awards, the Trulaske College of Business was also one of the recipients of the Leadership 500 Awards for outstanding achievements in leadership development and programs at the LEAD2015 forum in Dallas.

What’s happening

Moore Hair Salon Katrina Moore established Moore Hair Salon LLC Home Hair Care Service to help people who are physically or mentally confined to their homes feel pampered and beautiful. Currently, Moore Hair Salon Home Hair Care Service offers services for individuals including senior citizens, people who use wheelchairs, individuals with mental or developmental disabilities and individuals suffering from a temporary disability from surgery. Services that the traveling salon provides include haircuts, a wet roller set, hot-iron set, up-do or braids, cosmetic consulting, facial waxing and special accommodating shampoo services or bedside shampoo services.

Hastings+ Chivetta Hastings+Chivetta, a St. Louis firm that provides architectural planning and design services, opened its first office in Columbia in the historic Hamilton-Brown Shoe Factory building on Wilkes Boulevard.

Autism Friendly The MU Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders recently launched a new training program for local businesses that want to be more welcoming to individuals and families affected by autism. The Autism Friendly Business program consists of training employees on how to welcome and support customers affected by autism. The program also acts as a roadmap for incorporating strategies and procedures to support customers with autism and how to establish long-term relationships.

“The goal of our training is to make communities across Missouri more inclusive,” says Karen O’Connor, an assistant research professor at MU and one of the lead developers of the Training Experts in Autism for Missouri program at the Thompson Center of Autism at MU.

Our Heroes The Columbia Daily Tribune’s 14th annual Hero Awards took place on April 13. Here’s a look at this year’s winners: Individual Volunteer of the Year: Mary Burger; Group Volunteer of the Year: Calvary Episcopal Church; Youth Volunteer of the Year: Danny Harre; Outstanding Volunteer in the Arts: Mellodie Wilson; Outstanding Volunteer in Health Care: Gerald Harrington; Outstanding Volunteer in Community Protection: Nanette Chun-Ming Ward; Outstanding Volunteer in Education/Literacy: John T. Conway.

assist app Assist (Community), created by Vincent Vitale and Evan Leong in 2015, is an app that uses LinkedIn to match entrepreneurs in the immediate area. Users can narrow their search by entering skills they can offer and what kind of services they are looking for.

The free app is available for iPhone users with iOS 7 and 8.

“Our goal for Assist is to create a platform that allows people to network to create a contact list to allow any business to succeed,” Vitale said in a press release. “Too many great ideas fail because entrepreneurs can’t get in contact with the people and services they need.”

The Connection Exchange Co-creators Cara Owings and Jennifer Schenck recently launched the Connection Exchange as a way to “provide a warm welcome to new business owners to the Columbia business community and in turn produce effective and affordable lead gen to its sponsoring businesses.”

“We actively connect professionals on a daily basis,” Owings says, “so this was a natural fit, and the business model quickly took shape. We just defined a business process around our strengths and the interest of putting people together that would benefit from each other’s services.”

The Connection Exchange is currently seeking sponsors who would like to participate in placing marketing materials and promotional items in its gift baskets. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 23

24 \\\ june 2015

A Closer Look

New Businesses in

›› A quick look at emerging companies

Columbia

1. Black and Gold Ice Cream

3. Seoul Taco

Residents of Columbia will be seeing a new food truck cruising the streets beginning in early June.

Black and Gold Ice Cream will offer ice cream, chips and other snacks to the public. Owner Johnathan Brown established the business because he wanted to support the community while connecting with other people. “I want to do good things for the community and not just sell ice cream,” he says. “I plan on giving out free popsicles to kids who don’t have money for ice cream.”

Brown also says Black and Gold Ice Cream will be available for catering events such as birthday parties, family reunions and barbecues.

Contact: Johnathan Brown, 573-881-7327

Originally a St. Louis food truck, Seoul Taco has opened a new location in Columbia. The restaurant puts a twist on tacos, quesadillas and burritos by including different ingredients such as kimchi fried rice and Seoul Sauce and by marinating its meats for 24 hours in natural herbs, spices and fresh vegetables. Seoul Taco also offers a gogi bowl, made of white rice, fresh veggies, fried egg, sesame oil and spicy gochujang sauce. Seoul Taco is located at 1020 E. Broadway.

Contact: 573-441-8226

5. Candlewood Suites Hotel Extended Stay

2. Pepperjax Grill Pepperjax Grill is now open and offering its famous Philly sandwiches to Columbia residents. Its Phillies, made grilled to order, are made of steak, shrimp, chicken or veggies and include sautéed peppers, onions or mushrooms piled over a cheese lining on an authentic Philadelphia hearth roll. “Nobody is doing Philly sandwiches as their flagship product like we are,” says Mark Burrus, vice president of operations for Pepperjax Grill.

“We cook the Phillies right in front of the customer, so it’s true customization of the food because the customer can control how many peppers, onions or mushrooms they want.”

The restaurant’s menu also includes rice bowls, burritos, loaded nachos and salads. The new Pepperjax Grill in Columbia is located at 2900 Trimble Road.

Contact: Kyle White, 573-442-2117

4. Purefit Meals Columbia Strength & Conditioning and Bleu Restaurant have collaborated to create Purefit Meals, a new healthy meals pickup or delivery service in Columbia that offers residents the opportunity to live healthier lives. Purefit Meals are made fresh locally and never frozen.

Members can choose from a variety of six meals offered every week and can pick between regular protein meals at $10.50 each or highprotein meals at $12.50 each. Members will experience a month of new meals before a meal is ever repeated. “The biggest issue my clients have is time,” says Scott Schutte, owner of Purefit Meals. “Planning and prepping meals can take up a lot of time, so our members use Purefit Meals as an aid to fill that gap and to begin living healthier lifestyles.” Members can pick up their meals for free at Bleu or have them delivered to their doorstep at a $6 delivery fee.

Contact: Scott Schutte, 573-289-2806

Candlewood Suites Hotel Extended Stay recently opened at the intersection of Highway 63 and Interstate 70. The hotel has four floors with a total of 96 guest suites and five accessible suites.

Each suite at Candlewood includes a flat-screen TV, wireless Internet and a spacious kitchen with various amenities including a full-size refrigerator.

“Our guest rooms are like efficiency apartments,” says David Wallace, director of sales. “We also have a competitive advantage because we are within walking distance from several different restaurants.” The hotel also offers laundry services, a fitness center, an outdoor gazebo grill, a specialty appliances lending system, a pantry stocked with food and toiletries and a business center.

Contact: David Wallace, 573-356-0200

6. Strange Donuts Another St. Louis original has brought a unique, new flavor to Columbia. Strange Donuts, operating in a shared space with Seoul Taco, offers donuts that will satisfy even the craziest cravings. For $1, customers can enjoy Original Classic Donuts such as glazed, Rainbow Pony and Fat Steve. New Creation Donuts for $2 include maple bacon, Campfire and Gooey Butter Donut.

The Stranger Donuts for $5 are made in house and include crazy creations such as Sloppy Joe. “You’ll find really good, made-from-scratch doughnuts, and you won’t find our flavors anywhere else,” says Stuart Abrams, general manager of Strange Donuts in Columbia. Strange Donuts is located at 1020 E. Broadway.

Contact: Stuart Abrams, 573-441-8226 CBT

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➜ Are you an entrepreneur? Are you sprouting a new business? Tell us about it at Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 25

Pictured: Phil Steinhaus Photo by Anthony Jinson

26 \\\ june 2015

Business Update

›› Transformed, trending and up-to-the-minute

growth m o d e

Room to Grow

The Columbia Housing Authority begins a $22 million renovation project.

By Matthew Patston The lobby of the Columbia Housing Authority has floor-to-ceiling windows on the front and back. The front gives a view of the waterslides and basketball courts at Douglass Park on the other side of Providence Road; the back windows show a concrete walkway with a well-kept lawn that leads from the main office to Providence Townhomes, a 294-unit public housing project built 50 years ago.

When the CHA was first established in 1956, this location would have been roughly in the middle of Flat Branch Creek. “Once they undergrounded Flat Branch and built public housing here, it’s really a great location,” says Phil Steinhaus, CEO of the CHA. “It’s right in the heart of town. You can walk downtown; you can walk to MU; you can walk to Columbia College. It has great schools. We’re not on the wrong side of the track.”

Since taking over as CEO in 2006, Steinhaus has been intent on removing the stigma that has plagued public housing since the concept was introduced in the late ’30s: that the complexes are dilapidated and corrupt, a hotbed for crime and a cyclical trap for low-income residents. Columbia’s public housing will step forward this spring as the CHA begins a five-phase, $22 million renovation project that will bring its units into the 21st century — and hopefully give low-income residents the solid foundation needed for mobility.

Moving in, up and out When Steinhaus applied for his job, after spending 13 years as the community services manager for the city, the CHA was in poor shape. He remembers hearing from one woman shortly after he arrived at the CHA who said she would rather take her 10 children and live on the street than live in public housing. “That really had a deep impact on me,” Steinhaus says. “I just thought: ‘How can that be? We want to help you.’”

Plans, renderings and photographs of previous projects hang on the wall of the Columbia Housing Authority’s office at 201 Switzler St.

Social services are now a core part of the CHA; their mission is as much about creating mobility as it is about putting roofs over heads. They offer job training, money-management classes, early child care services and afterschool programs. Despite growing cutbacks in federal subsidies, Steinhaus has expanded the CHA resident services budget from $100,000 a year to $1.5 million.

Wilma Blair, a CHA resident since 2010 and member of the Resident Advisory Board, says these services are suited for residents, many of whom are elderly or without access to resources of their own. “They help take people to different appointments, and we have onsite help,” Blair says. “They have cameras in place to keep us safe. It’s geared for people who don’t have much means for income.”

Their new philosophy is simple: If we take care of the housing, the residents will take care

of themselves. “If you feel you have nowhere to turn, no way to feed your kids that weekend, then you might make some bad choices that you regret later,” Steinhaus says. “So if you have the opportunity not to make bad choices, you’ll make good choices. We want residents who can move in, move up and move out.”

Public housing residents pay 30 percent of their household income for rent, with the CHA covering the balance. All units have strict crime-free policies in their contracts, and the CHA grants an additional 1,062 Section 8 housing vouchers to qualified applicants, which allow them to rent from any area they want to live in, not just from public housing.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which funds the country’s public housing, has been trying to privatize local operations for the past decade. It has slashed grant money to individual organizations and made housing authorities switch to a new columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 27

Patriot Place will include 25 one-bedroom apartments for homeless veterans participating in the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program and new facilities for Welcome Home. This facility is located at 2112 Business Loop 70 E.

project-based asset-management system, which calls for the authorities to prove their worth; if they manage their properties effectively, they could keep any saved money to put toward improvements.

The CHA has capitalized on this, making management efficient and professional. In Paquin Tower, the CHA’s largest building, they installed a new geothermal heat pump system to replace the aging hot water circulation units. Steinhaus says the move saved more than $200,000 in the past two years.

“Who else to be a better leader in affordable housing in Columbia than the Columbia Housing Authority?” he asks. “If we can’t do that, I don’t think we’re really fulfilling our mission.”

RAD and running a tight ship Steinhaus’ first two proposals as CEO — of 39 and 42 units, respectively — didn’t get funded.

To be cost effective, such housing projects need to qualify for low-income housing tax credits, which allow developers to cut construction costs in exchange for keeping rent manageable for low-income residents.

“The folks at HUD said, ‘Look, we want housing authorities to be able to apply for low-income housing tax credits,’” Steinhaus says. “But we could never predict how much money we were 28 \\\ june 2015

“Who else to be a better leader in affordable housing in Columbia than the Columbia Housing Authority? If we can’t do that, I don’t think we’re really fulfilling our mission.” — Phil Steinhaus, CEO, Columbia Housing Authority going to get.” HUD grant money varies from year to year; without a guaranteed income, the CHA was a bad investment.

The proposed solution was the Rental Assistance Demonstration program. Introduced by HUD in 2014, the RAD program allows housing authorities to convert their federal subsidy to a long-term, project-based rent contract, which stabilizes funding and eases the tax credit application process.

Through RAD, the CHA was able to secure the initial funding for the $22 million renovation project that will begin in May. Currently, only the first two of five phases are funded: one part is a

lighter touchup of Paquin Towers, coupled with a complete rehab of the nearby Stewart Parker Apartments; the other is a moderate rehab of the 78 units at Bear Creek Apartments.

These are being funded by 4 percent tax credits, which offer more modest help than the lucrative 9 percent tax credits sought by most developers.

“By giving us the opportunity to do a few projects with the 4 percent tax credits, we can show the Missouri Housing Development Commission that we know what we’re doing and can follow through on a project, and we’re going to have to,” Steinhaus says. “We have three more 9 percent projects lined up, and we can’t do them any other way.”

In one sense, the CHA isn’t a business; it doesn’t operate for profit, and it’s funded by federal grants. Poor business savvy, however, is what earned public housing its bad reputation, and solid business sense is the first step in turning that reputation around.

Blair sees her community changing for the better: “People think we’re just geared for lowincome, but we have a lot of different people here. We have a lot of different cultures. We can learn how people do things differently, and that’s really amazing.” CBT

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 29

Jennifer Davidson, General Manager

Bill Rajewski, Owner

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P.Y.S.K. Person You Should Know

Job description: I provide buyers, sellers, owners and tenants with solutions to achieve their commercial real estate goals. For buyers and tenants I achieve this by combining demographic and market data toward properties that will best facilitate their business. If a property doesn’t facilitate their business, they shouldn’t be there, even if the property is free. Advising business owners so they can make the most educated decision for their location is crucial to their success. For sellers, providing accurate market data, instead of rumors, exceptions and wild guesses, provides the base to market their property using international commercial real estate networks. Also, actual face-to-face contact between me and other commercial real estate professionals, investors and business owners remains essential to success even in this age of electronic communications.

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Years lived in Columbia/midMissouri: Four Original hometown: Piedmont, Missouri Education: B.A. in history/political science, Culver-Stockton College; J.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law

Photo by Sarah Redohl

Community involvement: I’m active in the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Columbia Board of Realtors and the Central Missouri Referral Network BNI Group. I’m also a REDI member and supporter of Great Circle.

›› Why I’m passionate about my job: I’ve traveled in 14 nations and seen firsthand the effects that a lack of business opportunity has on societies. Few Americans realize how unusual it is to live in the U.S., where it is legal and relatively easy for people to open and operate a business without paying bribes to government officials or extortionary gangs. Providing businesses and investors with the real estate solutions for their operations in Columbia is a fulfilling way to play a role in this land of opportunity.

Professional background: Prior to my career in commercial real estate, I served in the Marine Corps Infantry, was an associate dean of admissions at VMU School of Law in Lithuania, worked as a catastrophe insurance claims adjuster for residential and commercial real estate and practiced law in Texas and Missouri.

What people should know about this profession: Commercial real estate has very little in common with residential real estate. The knowledge base is very different. As with most tasks, the correct tool kit gets the job done most efficiently and with the best outcome. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 31

A Columbia businessperson I admire and why: Although I’ve only chatted with him briefly, it’s Bill Turpin, who is president and CEO of the Missouri Innovation Center. I admire that Bill is a Missouri boy who grew up to play a key role in development of the Internet in the ’90s and also races sailboats for fun. Or maybe I’m just jealous.

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A favorite recent project: I’m currently in the middle of locating space for a recreational climbing facility in Columbia. It’s challenging to find this type of specific-use property but really great to work with people combining their passion with business that can teach others a positive lifelong activity such as climbing.

If I weren’t doing this for a living, I would: Do just about any career available that would allow me to live in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

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I just returned from an ATV-riding and camping trip in southern Missouri.

Spring is such beautiful time of the year to be in this state.

Family: My wife, Vamsi, is a pulmonologist at MU Health Care. Our daughter, Mira, is 15 months old.

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Accomplishment I’m most proud of: Passing the Texas Bar Exam

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34 \\\ june 2015

Roundtable › Al Germond

point-of-view

‘The Sky Is Falling!’

One begins to believe it’s envy or jealousy that brings out all the opposition to construction on whatever project happens to come along for which approval by various municipal bodies is required. So Park7’s second request for permission to build apartments on the city’s east side is defeated, picked apart by six city counselors who trot out specious prejudices, some of them personal, to justify their opposiAl Germond is the tion to a seemingly meritorious use of othhost of the Columbia erwise vacant land.

Business Times According full respect to planning, zonSunday Morning ing and building code regulations now in Roundtable at 8:15 The icehouse building is located on the southeast corner of Broadway and Providence Road. force, how about giving developers and their a.m. Sundays on KFRU. fiduciary agents a freer hand to make investHe can be reached at ever. The Hetzler brothers come to mind, with an ironic twist when it comes to ments in this community? There are too al@columbia business the preservation of buildings deemed “historic.” William and John Hetzler were many boards and commissions, some would times.com. butchers from Canton, Missouri, who came to Columbia in 1905 and built the ice argue, typically meeting in the evening when plant and meat locker the following year at 320 E. Broadway. This was followed a what nags some participants at home may few years later by the terra cotta-faced grocery and meat store they built at 706 E. be transferred to actions designed to annoy Broadway. Both buildings still survive. They sold the ice plant on March 31, 1927, the community at large. For example, a recent suggestion to step up the regulaa few weeks after John Hetzler was elected mayor, mindful of the appearance of tory power of the Historic Preservation Commission represents a power-flexing electric refrigeration that eventually obviated the need for the iceman. exercise that would be better worked off in the weight room.

The grocery store at 706 E. Broadway became the earliest Columbia footReason did prevail recently for the brick building Ned Gordon built in midhold for the J.C. Penney Co.’s Store No. 757, which opened a few months later.

1927 that has most recently housed Shakespeare’s Pizza. No crocodile tears of One would not dare tear down that iconic building. Where are the zealots of preservation were shed for Gordon’s little shack of a restaurant called Mutt’s local history and historic preservation when it comes to saving the Hetzler Hut after it caught fire in the early morning hours of Feb. 21, 1927, after cook brothers’ ice plant? Ingloriously attached to a forgettable splotch of architecCharles Vaughn tossed gasoline on the stove for some reason. The fire spread tural wreckage at the corner CVS has been craving with lust, the sturdily built to a rooming house next door filled with University of Missouri students; 1906 ice plant is an iconic structure of coneveryone miraculously escaped serious siderable historic significance. injury, but what replaced Mutt’s little hut The sky over Columbia is not falling, Free-market libertarian capitalist tenwould have to be fireproof. dencies have strongly swayed us to allow The sky over Columbia is not falling, but but a small, overactive group that’s CVS to build its emporium at the southeast a small, overactive group that’s brushed up brushed up on Henny Penny from corner of this busy intersection across the on Henny Penny from their days in nurstheir days in nursery school wants to street from archrival Walgreen’s. On second ery school wants to defeat the developers and investors who wish to do business here. defeat the developers and investors thought, though, maybe not. With talk of an eventual “gateway” structure proximate to Housing for students has become the latwho wish to do business here. this controversial intersection, maybe there est bête noire for the Chicken Little crowd. is wisdom in not allowing CVS to headquarThey’re legitimately questioning the future ter there at what is already a very busy and somewhat challenging nexus of cenof higher education both in purpose and enrollment trends, many while generter-city Columbia. Those who favor preserving the old icehouse while extending ously suckling at the breast of the growth-driven institution that employs them Flat Branch Park northward to include the controversial corner may be thrown — MU — and conveniently forgetting that these apartment buildings and the in the stocks for harboring such thoughts, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t at beds they house can always be repurposed or ultimately replaced. least be thinking about it. The Hetzler brothers’ ice plant building could easily be Columbia has long been occupied by individuals who applied their ingenurepurposed into something significant at the corner. CBT ity, curiosity and capital to develop something, be it an enterprise, idea or whatcolumbiabusinesstimes.com /// 35

36 \\\ june 2015

Like Mom always said, Nothing Good Happens After 1 a.m.

Downtown Columbia is not the same place it was 50 years ago, but does the public’s perception of downtown safety offer an accurate portrayal of what actually goes on there?

By Sarah Redohl | Photos by Anthony Jinson

It was about 1:30 a.m. Millie Lovett, then director of operations at The Blue Note, was about to lock up the venue for the night.

For most of her six years working at The Blue Note, she’d leave around 2 or 3 a.m., but that night's show ended earlier than usual, around 11 p.m. With all the other employees gone by midnight, Lovett had time to wrap up some last-minute work before heading out.

“I always tried to park my Jeep right in front of doors so it was only about 10 feet

away when I’d leave,” she says. With her overstuffed work bag tucked behind her, her car keys in her right pocket, a small pocket knife she often used to open boxes in her left pocket and her car only feet away, Lovett locked the three front doors and walked by to check each one, one last time, when she heard people talking loudly behind her. As she turned to walk to her car, they crossed the street toward her and asked for a light. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 37

“I was already smoking a cigarette, so I couldn’t really say no,” she says. But as he got closer, Lovett began to get nervous. “I could tell they were pretty intoxicated.” She passed him the light. The larger man was in front of her, one man was between her and her vehicle, and the third man walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Then the man in front grabbed her arm, and they began steering her toward the alley between The Blue Note and Coffee Zone. Lovett continued to resist and talk back when she remembered her pocketknife.

She opened it in her pocket, cutting her leg in the process, and pulled it out.

“That’s when I started acting crazy,” Lovett says.

She waved her knife in the air and began alternating between speaking gibberish and screaming at the top of her lungs. “I just went ballistic.”

The men called her crazy and ran off in three different directions.

“I ran to my Jeep, locked the doors and cried until I could drive,” Lovett says. As she headed home, she heard police sirens south of Broadway.

When she arrived home, she posted about her ordeal on Facebook.

“The next day, the chief of police called my cell,” Lovett says. So she told him the story, and he told her that officers would stop by The Blue Note later that evening to take a statement. “And he asked me why I didn’t call the police. But I knew they were busy, and I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”

On the rise?

From 2010 to 2014, calls for service and reports taken by the Columbia Police Department in beat 70D, which basically aligns with the boundaries of downtown Columbia, have increased by 31 percent, according to Columbia Police Department statistics.

Many of the crimes that have seen the most statistically significant increases include vandalism (up 97 percent between 2010 and 2014), assistance to citizens (120 percent), peace disturbances (107 percent), parking violations (95 percent) and checking on suspicious persons or activities (134 percent and 152 percent, respectively).

“You see certain things stay very stable, like assaults and burglaries,” says Sgt. Chad Gooch, supervisor of the CPD’s downtown unit. Other things, like shots fired, are statistically immaterial. In 2010, there were no incidents of shots fired, then four in 2011, three in 2012, four in 2013 and one in 2014 in beat 70D, for a 100 percent increase over five years.

38 \\\ june 2015

Perception versus reality To better serve residents and business owners downtown, CPD and the Downtown Community Improvement District Board, also known as Downtown CID and The District, are working to conduct a survey of crime perceptions downtown. Gooch, who has been in his role since August 2014, says it’s something that has worked well for his predecessors.

“I think that’s how I’m going to be judged as far as the success of our unit: by perception,” he says.

“Any crimes that occur downtown are going to be perceived so much differently than somewhere else in Columbia. Downtown receives more attention; more people have a vested interest in it.”

Skip Walther, an attorney at Walther Antel & Stamper downtown and member of the Downtown CID board, agrees.

“If [anything] occurs downtown, people develop a fear about coming downtown, whether that’s rational or not,” he says. Although Walther can’t recall the last time he’s been downtown after 10 p.m., he’s worked downtown since 1979.

“Crime downtown isn’t the problem that a lot of people think it is,” he says.

Adam Dushoff, co-owner of restaurants Addison’s and Sophia’s, has been on the Downtown CID board for more than six years.

“I think it’s funny how in a town of little more than 100,000 people, there are actual geographic distinctions of where people would and would not go,” he says. Dushoff says he’s never felt unsafe downtown. Although he says he’s “been out of the business of being downtown at 2 a.m.” for almost a decade, he hasn’t heard of any latenight issues from his employees at Addison’s, which is located downtown at 709 Cherry St. “But it’s not like I walk down dark alleys when I am downtown.”

Lovett offers a different perspective of safety perceptions downtown. Some people often have to walk down dark alleys; workers must ensure doors are locked and take out the trash. She thinks much of the perception is in response to high-profile people, like her, posting about their experiences downtown. Her post to Facebook after her incident garnered nearly 200 comments. She also cites a couple friends who have posted similar experiences to social media.

“But people have to realize that my thing happened at almost 2 a.m.,” she says. “I had people acting like they were afraid to go downtown for dinner at 7 p.m.

“It’s like Mom always said: The crazy stuff happens after 1 a.m.,” she continues. “The after hours are where it gets hairy.”

Lovett says what she’s seen the most during the past two years is an increase of people lingering on the streets after bars close. She says even if only a small number of those people are looking for mischief, there are so many intoxicated people that are “easy prey for the small percent who want to do people harm.”

But Lovett emphatically says she doesn’t want people to think downtown is unsafe for them.

“Taking out the trash in a dark alley at 3 a.m. is very different from walking down Broadway at 9 p.m.,” she says. “I will always live and work in downtown Columbia.”

Ultimately, the response to various perceptions of crime downtown will be based on the upcoming Downtown CID/CPD survey.

“We have over 400 businesses, so to try to speak for them would be really difficult because every one of them will have a different perception,” says Katie Essing, executive director of the Downtown CID. She hopes whatever appears in the news around the time people take the survey doesn’t color the results. “Surveys can often get swayed by recent news, so then that becomes the main topic of conversation.

“It all depends on what happens to individuals,” she continues. “If something makes them feel unsafe, and they tell their friends, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t go there,’ that is very harmful for an economy, so we want to make sure that people feel safe in any situation downtown.”

Why can’t we all agree?

One topic everyone seems to agree on is that daytime and nighttime downtown are very different, and that has changed significantly during the past 50 or so years.

When Walther was a kid, he says downtown was the only retail area in Columbia. With the addition of Broadway Shopping Center, Parkade Plaza, Crossroads and the Columbia Mall, that all changed.

“For a period of time, Columbia was just offices and banks, with a few restaurants,” he says. “You didn’t have a lot of activity at night, which is when most criminal activity occurs.”

Now, he says, Columbia has seen a resurgence of retail and entertainment business, as well as an ever-increasing student population.

“You have more people coming downtown, more people living downtown and a lot more activity after 10 p.m., and criminal activity is more likely to occur in those later hours,” he says.

Gooch says there’s also a difference in perception of safety based on the time of day someone tends to visit downtown.

“The perception of safety may be different for those heading to lunch downtown and those coming here to go out to the bar,” he says.

Although most of the members of the Downtown CID board are more likely to see the aftermath than the storm — for the most part, they operate daytime businesses — Mike McClung, who owns Tonic and Quinton’s, also sits on the board to represent those latenight concerns. The board also gathers a lot of information from police officers during board meetings and tries to keep all channels of communication open.

“The leftovers definitely get people's attention,” Walther says. “You can just imagine what’s left on the street after a loud night. It’s a byproduct of an awful lot of younger adults occupying downtown.”

Years ago, when people were in transit between bars, they would regularly tear up the planters placed on the side of Walther’s building. Walther would arrive the next day to find them in the middle of Seventh Street. “After this happened for several weekends, we bought barberries with little thorns,” he says. The next Monday, one was halfway out of the planter, and that was the last time they had that issue.

“It’s a silly example, but you can take matters into your own hands to some degree for some issues.” His office building also has motion-activated lights, “so if someone wants to do something to our building, they will be doing it in full view.”

“We have two very different and healthy economies that need to coexist,” Essing says, “and there’s a vastly different audience of customers who are here during the day than are here at night.”

The priorities between these two groups are also different. One main issue is vandalism, which increased by 55 percent between 2013 and 2014.

Gooch expects the increase to be even more pronounced in 2015, as most of the vandalism picked up at the end of 2014.

Removing graffiti is a responsibility that often falls to business owners and can take a significant amount of time and effort to remove.

At one point, downtown was getting hit with graffiti at several locations every couple of days.

The Data Behind Downtown Crime The Columbia Police Department’s beat spanning downtown, 70D, has seen an increase in total number of calls for service and reports between 2010 and 2014 by 31 percent.

The CBT calculated the percent change of all categories the CPD tracks, and have included those percent changes for the 50 most common crimes in that beat, out of the 89 the CPD tracks. Although some percent increases seem very large, please note the total numbers next to percent change for context.

Crime 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 % change Watch in passing 8 20 49 34 75 838 Check building 26 48 51 90 99 281 Suicidal subject 4 9 9 14 15 275 DWI 10 24 28 17 32 240 Suspicious incident 63 67 81 100 159 152 Assist medics 27 38 41 49 67 148 Traffic hazard 20 35 36 29 49 145 Suspicious person 41 58 56 60 96 134 Assist citizen 61 87 88 81 134 120 Missing vehicle 33 45 43 50 69 109 Peace disturbance 69 86 118 143 143 107 Civil matter 22 36 29 36 45 105 Drugs 9 16 20 31 18 100 Vandalism 62 85 97 79 122 97 Parking violation 191 346 338 385 373 95 Abandon bike 6 11 12 3 11 83 Traffic control 7 13 6 6 12 71 Shoplifting 10 8 19 10 17 70 Disturbance 336 377 444 450 542 61 Bicycle stop 15 20 51 31 24 60 Careless driving 34 22 28 27 54 59 911 checks 479 563 515 607 759 58 Follow-up 312 396 425 476 489 57 Harassment 40 60 84 65 61 53 Warrant 33 39 30 32 49 48 Try to locate 22 24 28 17 32 45 Check subject 912 866 1,176 1,203 1,313 44 Robbery 8 3 11 10 11 38 Assist officer 14 17 24 24 19 36 Larceny 162 218 198 225 218 35 Solicitor 20 25 46 39 27 35 Special assignment 151 203 229 302 201 33 GRAND TOTAL 6,844 7,445 8,162 7,984 8,992 31 Trespass subject 169 194 186 188 213 26 Suspicious vehicle 57 58 56 62 68 19 Fraud 54 49 52 40 61 13 Assault 82 78 85 111 90 10 Trespass subject 169 194 186 188 213 26 Suspicious vehicle 57 58 56 62 68 19 Fraud 54 49 52 40 61 13 Assault 82 78 85 111 90 10 Trespass vehicle 152 212 186 183 166 9 Traffic stop 1,042 874 935 942 1,111 7 Stalled vehicle 32 28 29 30 34 6 Law alarm 245 238 229 302 254 4 Recover property 59 51 77 54 61 3 Accident 189 176 188 183 166 2 Foot patrol 409 438 391 359 389 -5 Leaving the scene of an accident 71 71 68 61 68 -6 Exhibitionist 12 15 21 9 13 -8 Check open business 672 718 838 441 613 -9 columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 39

“The problem with graffiti,” Walther says, “is that if it’s allowed to remain in place, some people think it emboldens the graffiti artist to expand on their work.”

CPD has also begun a bike and pedestrian safety initiative, as well as an initiative to improve lighting in some of downtown’s darkest alleys.

Essing took a walk with CPD officers to review and prioritize alleys and try to work with building owners to install LED lights.

“One of the biggest deterrents of crime is light,” Essing says.

Lovett has an even larger initiative. She would like to see more police officers in the downtown unit.

Several years ago, Lovett says she would often ask for a police escort to her car when she felt unsafe.

“Now, I don’t want to do that because I know they’re so busy with other issues,” she says. “The police are doing their jobs. They’re just understaffed.”

So she often walks to her car alone. She also instigated an informal escort service from The Blue Note and would appreciate some sort of escort option for her and others who leave work after midnight or a downtown safety ambassador program of some kind.

Adding officers In November 2014, Columbia’s Proposition 1 failed at the polls. The proposition, which called for a 30-cent increase of the city’s property tax levy, would have generated an estimated $6 million per year to hire, train and equip additional public safety personnel, including police officers.

“I think people were going through a rather difficult period in municipal government where there was a vocal group of people who expressed dissatisfaction and mistrust with City Hall,” Walther says. “I think to some degree, that sentiment spilled over into [that] vote.”

Walther says the CPD staffing issue doesn’t stop with downtown, and Gooch agrees.

“Manpower is our biggest concern, and we’re trying to do better on that by offering overtime and hopefully expanding our unit,” Gooch says, “but that’s needed department-wide.”

The downtown unit has six officers, one during the day, Gooch as supervisor and four at night. The beat has had an opening for a few months, though it’s currently working to incorporate a new officer.

40 \\\ june 2015

of the population and the likelihood of in-prog“Meanwhile, it’s getting harder and harder to ress calls, it’s pretty active. It takes a lot of work tell the difference between a Saturday night and a and sacrifice, a lot of weekends and late nights.”

Wednesday night,” Gooch says.

When Gooch became supervisor of the downJames Kanne is the owner/operator of 9th town unit in August, nearly all the downtown offiStreet Public House, and he’s lived in Columbia cers also rotated. The unit also handles some of for more than a decade. On April 28, 2015, Kanne the difficulties of dealing with intoxicated people. says he heard shots fired right outside his win“A good portion of the late-night population dow. He lives across the street from The Blue downtown is students, and they’re going through Note, where a crowd had gathered after a show. a learning process of what’s appropriate, what’s “It was a Tuesday, but now, there’s something allowed, and it cycles every four years, so we’re going on every night of the week,” he says. “Downconstantly educating these people,” he says. town is also our entertainment district, so there are a lot of people concentrated in one area at a time when tensions are already higher, but that’s the case in any city.”

To meet the ever-changing needs of a rapidly evolvHe says he began hearing people first talk about ing downtown landscape, the Downtown CID has downtown being unsafe eight years ago. He says brought in a consulting firm, RHI (Responsible now, people have a much better grasp.

Hospitality Institute), to evaluate downtown this summer and recommend infrastructure improve“We understand now that, yeah, crime is going to increase because we’re becoming a bigger ments to initiate prior to students’ return in the fall. city,” Kanne says. “It’s a growThe board has selected a ing pain.” small Transformation Team, including Lovett, to get Gooch says it makes sense Walther says when the started with the first round of that an increase in calls for Downtown CID tax meathe evaluation. service has correlated with an sure was passed, pubincrease in population, and The group went out on the lic safety wasn’t a stated Dushoff agrees.

Thursday night before the Unigoal. “It wasn’t omitversity of Missouri’s Read“For so many years, we tried ted because there was a ing Day, a night well known to figure out ways to increase belief that it wasn’t necessary,” he says. “It was for partying, with a checklist density downtown; every omitted because of priof things to look for, such as study said we needed that,” vacy concerns at the time police activity, sidewalk conDushoff says, “but we never regarding security camgestion, dimly lit passageways, really considered what we eras downtown. We didn’t security cameras and disrupwere going to do, police-wise, if want the sales tax initiative behavior, among others. we did get that density. tive to fail because people In June, each member of the “As that population thought the money would team will be asked to select 10 increases, it’s completely reabe spent on things that or 12 people for roundtable dissonable for more officers to be affect their privacy.” cussions, which will continue added to that force,” he adds. through July.

With more officers, Gooch Essing says safety, along with transportation, says community policing, where officers attempt noise and other concerns, will certainly come up to be more proactive and a part of the community during those conversations. She appreciates the rather than just reactive, would be possible. idea of a late-night security escort service, creatBut it’s also important for businesses to ing a public safety ambassador program downcommunicate even the little things to the town and other unique measures to improve police so they can make informed decisions safety, and she’s sure these ideas will be discussed about their efforts, Dushoff says. To provide in the upcoming roundtable discussions. an outlet for this, the police are present at In August, the Downtown CID and RHI conevery monthly Downtown CID board meeting sultants will put together action steps and recomto provide an update on trends. “And we help mendations to keep downtown a safe and attracpass information between [the businesses] tive place to live and work. and the police,” Essing says.

“It takes community involvement to create a But downtown officers face another issue: safe city: volunteer work, paying attention, lookturnover. ing out for your neighbor,” Kanne says. “It isn’t “[Downtown] is a pretty intense assignjust a police job; it’s the whole city’s job.” CBT ment,” Gooch says. “Just because of the density

Moving forward

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 41

W In the Winner's circle For Small Business Week winner Plaza Dental Group, communication, quality and a team approach are the keys behind its growing list of satisfied patients.

By Taylor Wanbaugh | Photo by Anthony Jinson 42 \\\ june 2015

Front: Stuart Pickens and Sherry Cawley.

Back: Melissa Olvera, Senthil Arun, Kyle Lisenby and Mindy Hayward.

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 43

F

From braces to baby teeth to checking on those pearly whites, this year’s Small Business Week winner, Plaza Dental Group, has you covered. With a wide variety of services ranging from general dentistry, oral surgery and pediatric dentistry to orthodontia, the dental office offers a multispecialty group all under one roof.

Matt McCormick, president of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, says Plaza Dental stood out from its competitors in its “growth, management, community involvement, marketing and human capital.”

“The panel felt that they brought a little bit more in each of those categories,” McCormick says. “We’re proud to have them as committed and involved chamber members.”

Small Business Week 2015 was held May 4 to 8 and included five free seminars, given by each of this year’s finalists, that highlighted the inner workings of the businesses, the products and services offered by each finalist. The finalists were chosen by an anonymous panel of peers out of a series of submitted nominations.

“It’s a fun week to celebrate all small businesses,” McCormick says. “Small Business Week is a great time to remind people that Columbia is a community built on thriving small businesses.”

This year’s other finalists included TrueSon Exteriors, Manor Roofing and Restoration, Buchroeder’s Jewelers and Kilgore’s Respiratory Services.

“It’s one of those awards we wish we could give to all the finalists,” McCormick says. “Each and every one deserves to win, and it’s hard to select just one. All the businesses that were nominated and the finalists are dynamic businesses that bring a great amount to the community and the chamber.”

Mindy Hayward, office manager at Plaza Dental Group, says the team was surprised but grateful to be recognized as a finalist in the competition.

“We just felt like it was a really big honor to be recognized,” Hayward says. “There are a lot of great dentists in this community. To be recognized and stand out amongst them is pretty extraordinary.”

The practice In the seven years since it opened at 303 N. Keene St., Plaza Dental Group has grown from only having one general dentist to hosting 35 employees including doctors and serving 105 to 120 patients a day. Dr. Walt Pfitzinger and Dr. 44 \\\ june 2015

Kyle Lisenby, who both provide services at the office, own the dental practice.

“The vision of this office was to bring together general dentists and specialists to work as a team,” Pfitzinger says. “Using the newest technology available makes that possible.”

“Our goal is to take the atmosphere here with proven modern technology and provide dentistry for people of all ages in mid-Missouri and staying on the forefront of our profession,” Lisenby says.

Hayward attributes some of the company’s growth to its network of almost all major insurance companies. She says it gives customers more freedom and a choice in what insurance they can use at their office.

“We can appeal to a lot of patients,” Hayward says. “We are in network with almost all major insurance companies, which is not always the norm with all dental practice offices.”

Going to the dentist can make some people drag their feet with dread, but Hayward says Plaza Dental Group makes the extra effort to make patients feel comfortable and welcome within the doors of the office.

“Every single person that works here cares about the patients and their experience,” Hayward says. “They want to make them feel comfortable. So many people have a phobia when it comes to the dentist.”

Lisenby says he strives to treat every patient who comes through the door as if they are family.

“Sometimes that takes a lot of work if it’s a challenging situation,” Lisenby says. “I like to try and set an example for the staff in trying to treat each person as if it’s yourself and the way you’d want to be cared for. In dentistry, that motto works really well because you end up creating a positive experience for the patient. They might be nervous or unsure of what the doctor is going to say or do, but in this office, there is a lot of continuity of quality care.”

“It is competitive in Columbia,” Hayward says. “The only way to really differentiate yourself is through service, and that’s something that we hold very high and have very high expectations for our staff.”

Because Plaza Dental offers a wide range of services under the same roof, patients are able to get multiple services without ever having to leave the office.

“Intercolleague communication is a really great thing to have,” Lisenby says. “Reviewing a patient’s treatment plan and being able to send them to a specialist without them having to leave the office or transfer their records is really nice. The dentist office, naturally, is a little bit of

an anxious place to attend for just about everybody. You can turn that into a positive experience; I think that’s what we do really, really well.

We have a pediatric dentist, so that relationship and rapport can begin at a very early age and continue through adult dental treatments.”

Communication and quality With more than 100 patients shuffling in and out of the doors at Plaza Dental Group every day, it’s hard to imagine how the staff can keep up with all of the work. Hayward says the keys to a successful small business are communication and the staff’s ability to work as a team.

“It’s all about the patients,” Hayward says.

“With seeing so many patients in a day, it’s super busy. Our staff really works well together as a team. From the front desk to the dental assistants to the hygienists, communication is crucial. If you don’t have that team environment where everyone is working together and communicating, it affects the overall experience for the patient; it affects how well the doctor does his job. It has to be a really close-knit, unified group that works really well together. Our environment is fast-paced, but it’s also very professional. We hold that as a very high standard.”

Patients at the practice seem to appreciate this mentality. Hayward says Plaza Dental has a system in place for which every patient who comes in for an appointment or service receives an email to rate his or her experience.

“Ninety-five percent or more are complementary and go out of their way to write a really good response, rate us very well and say that they were impressed with our facilities and impressed with our assistants,” Hayward says. “What’s really rewarding to me is that nine out of 10 patients not only give the dentist a good review but also compliment the staff. Obviously, the doctor’s role is important; however, having patients give positive feedback regarding the staff, whether they are in an assisting role or administrative role, is huge for me as a manager.”

At the end of the day, the staff at Plaza Dental agrees that patient care and being able to help other people are the most rewarding parts of the job.

“Our focus will always be on quality,” Lisenby says. “As we grow, we stay grounded in the sense that we provide our patients with the best quality dentistry.”

“Your smile and your teeth can impact a person’s confidence, so being able to work in an industry in which we can improve that for our patients is really rewarding,” Hayward says. CBT

Buchroeder’s Fine Jewelers

TrueSon Exteriors

By Sarah Berger

By Alisiana Peters

Although Buchroeder’s Fine Jewelers has been around since 1896, the company is anything but vintage. Buchroeder’s has remained one of the top jewelers in the city by consistently providing jewelry that sparkles and stuns. It was recently named one of five Small Business of the Year finalists.

Founded in 1896 by Otto Buchroeder, the business originated as a general store in St. Louis but later moved to Columbia and began solely offering highend jewelry. In 1972, Michael Menser bought the business from the Buchroeder family and in 2007 sold the company to his son, Mills Menser, the current owner.

“Buchroeder’s is a staple in Columbia and is the premier shopping destination downtown, being in continual operation for 119 years,” Mills Menser says. “Only 6 percent of independent jewelry stores nationwide fall into our annual revenue category. The vast majorities of these stores have significantly more staff and operate in large metropolitan areas.”

By offering customers a luxury buying experience while maintaining wholesale prices, Mills believes Buchroeder’s has a competitive advantage and will continue to succeed.

“Few businesses operate with the same drive and intensity as our organization, nor do they have the unwavering dedication of forever improving the customer experience,” Mills says.

Five years ago, TrueSon Exteriors founder Barry Roewe decided he wanted to go into business for himself. After consulting his wife and receiving the support he needed, the couple took the money they’d saved and started TrueSon Exteriors out of their Ashland home for three and a half years before moving to their current located at 3930 S. Providence Road, Suite B. TrueSon Exteriors specializes in exterior remodeling for homes in central Missouri, specifically in Columbia and Jefferson City. Their specific services include decks, screened porches, siding, doors, windows and residential and commercial roofing.

Roewe says it was an honor to be one of five finalists for Small Business of the Year. “The other companies…are definitely companies I consider very successful and impressive and even look up to.”

TrueSon Exteriors also does a lot of community work, such as supporting Chamber of Commerce events and local entities that help raise money for women and children’s hospitals.

“We like to get out in the community and meet people, and I would like to think we have a really good relationship with our community and customers,” Roewe says. “The reality of it is we win regardless, so we’re really happy and honored.”

Manor Roofing and restoration

Kilgore’s Respiratory Services

By Matthew Patston Manor Roofing and Restoration doesn’t want customers coming back for more. They want to use products that will last a long time. Sustainability is the focus of the business, and it’s earned Manor a finalist spot for Small Business of the Year.

“The highest percentage of our customers have been through at least one other roof replacement and chose a product that didn’t really perform well,” says Nick Allen, who founded Manor in 2006. “We won’t put just any product on. We want to encourage people to take a hard look at durable, sustainable products.”

Allen started his business after 15 years in the corporate world, where he worked in marketing and sales for several steel companies, which introduced him to metal roofing. In 2009, Allen took on Larry Herzing as a partner, and the two began planning for long-term success.

Manor expanded its services to include sustainable siding and windows, and it became the contractor for James Hardie siding and Pella windows and doors.

Manor also strives to expand its involvement in Columbia. The company has been involved in the Ronald McDonald House, Tigers on the Prowl, the Rootin’ Tootin’ Chili Cookoff, Boys & Girls Clubs and JobPoint.

By torie ross Licensed respiratory therapist Kelly Bietsch always knew she needed more from her career than working for someone else. So when the opportunity arose in 2003 for Kelly and her husband, Fred Bietsch, to open a respiratory center, they jumped at the chance.

They started Kilgore’s Respiratory Services in the Chapel Hill location of Kilgore’s Pharmacy, which is owned by Kelly’s brother, Bob Kilgore, and several others, followed by a small office at the pharmacy’s Providence location. Their current office on West Broadway opened in 2007.

Kelly, Fred and their 17 employees specialize in breathing and respiratory problems. From education to sleep apnea screenings to setting clients up with necessary devices, Kelly says they pride themselves on being there for clients throughout the entire process. She credits this approach with making them the preferred respiratory clinic among doctors. “If they send patients to us, they know they’ll be taken care of,” she says.

To provide such scope and quality of service, Kelly says a business owner needs to be all in. “If you sign up to be a small-business owner, that’s what you’re signing up for,” Kelly says. “It bleeds into every facet of your life, but in the end, you are building something you’re proud of.” CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 45

housing 46 \\\ june 2015

boom Even as University of Missouri enrollment growth is expected to slow, student housing developments keep popping up.

But will the bubble burst?

BY claire boston | photo by ben meldrum

It’s impossible to ignore Columbia’s student housing boom.

Waves of student housing complexes dotted U.S. Highway 63 and Rock Quarry Road when the University of Missouri’s enrollment first began to swell in the mid-2000s. In recent years, developers have moved closer downtown and erected major projects along College Avenue, Locust Street and Ninth Street.

In fall 2015, two new housing developments will add hundreds of beds even closer to downtown. District Flats, The Opus Group’s hotly debated downtown housing project, will spread 259 beds in six stories on Eighth and Locust streets. Not far away, Todd Apartments will add about 350 beds in 103 units on Fifth Street and Conley Avenue. An even bigger complex with 718 beds at Turner Avenue and Providence Road is slated for an August 2017 opening.

The steady clip of Columbia’s student housing development comes at a time when the future of MU’s enrollment remains uncertain.

Although the university admitted a record of 35,441 students in fall 2014, a projected slump in high school graduates nationwide and fierce competition for talent from other state schools means it’s likely MU’s enrollment won’t grow much in the immediate years ahead.

UM System projections suggest MU’s undergraduate enrollment will grow by about 1 percent annually between 2015 and 2019, a slower pace than the 2 to 6.5 percent growth MU had between 2007 and 2012. But even as enrollment growth slows, housing developments keep popping up.

Some, including prominent developers Jon and Nathan Odle, who developed the Brookside Apartments and Townhomes that span three locations around Columbia, have predicted a student housing bubble that’s about to burst. But vacancy rates at many complexes remain low, and some community planners say even higher rates would still signify a healthy local real estate economy.

‘Do we really need all these buildings?’

In the past decade, Columbia has gained more than 23,500 new residents and about 6,200 new apartment units. Much of Columbia’s growth came from a surge in MU’s student population. Fall 2014 enrollment at the university was 35,441 students, up from about 27,000 a decade ago. MU’s Department of Residential Life, howcolumbiabusinesstimes.com /// 47

ever, has not grown at a pace that matches enrollment. In fall 2003, MU had 5,683 beds available for students and 374 apartment units, most of which were restricted to graduate students or students with families. A decade later, MU had added about 8,000 students but only 627 residential beds and 70 apartments. Developers took notice, opening dozens of housing complexes designed for students.

“People say, ‘Hey, do we really need all these buildings?’” says Anthony Holmes, secretary and treasurer of the Columbia Apartment Association, an industry group that represents about 80 property managers, owners and developers who control about 3,000 student and family units in the city. “But it comes directly from the university. We’ve added in almost 10,000 students. MU has less apartment units than they had five or 10 years ago. That’s 10,000 people that needed to be accommodated.”

So far, luxury student housing complexes have boasted low vacancy rates. According to a study conducted in late 2014 by local real estate appraisal company Moore and Shryock LLC, student housing complexes were 4.72 percent vacant in fall 2013. At least 10 complexes were 95 to 100 percent occupied at the start of the 2013-2014 school year, according to Planning and Zoning Commission documents.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, the 4.72 percent student housing vacancy rate was higher than Columbia’s overall rental vacancy rate, which sat at 2.92 percent in 2013. The Moore and Shryock report suggested nonstudent rentals were 3.17 vacant, for an average vacancy rate of 3.61 percent citywide.

Although the overall vacancy rates were up from the 2 percent rate Moore and Shryock found in a 2011 study, student and residential rentals in Columbia are far more occupied than state and national averages. Statewide, rental vacancy rates were between 9.2 and 13.5 percent in 2013. In 2014, rates ranged from 9.4 to 10.3 percent.

Early estimates show the 2014-2015 school year has so far had simi-

larly high student housing occupancy rates, even with the addition of The Den, a 552-bed property on Grindstone Parkway. Its occupancy rate for the current year is 97 percent, according to a commercial real estate financer that provided its developers with a loan of more than $23 million.

Even if occupancy rates were to dip, Holmes says more vacancies don’t automatically spell trouble for property owners. He says developers don’t always go after 100 percent occupancy rates. Some consider full occupancy to be a sign that they’re undercharging for their apartments.

“It depends on the philosophy of each individual business,” Holmes says. “There’s a lot of mix there. Some think zero [vacancies are] best, but obviously that’s not always realistic. People need room to move.”

3 8 7 9

4 5

1

‘We need to wait and see’ Developers, including Paul Levine, a principal at the New York-based Park 7 group best known for since-scrapped plans to build a 24-story high-rise student housing complex downtown, don’t see the student housing market drying up any time soon. Levine says the company considers student population and enrollment growth when considering future developments.

“Looking around the country, [Columbia] is definitely one of the strongest markets we’re looking at right now,” Levine said during a Planning and Zoning meeting.

Local developers Jon and Nathan Odle reached a different conclusion. To them, the 4.72 percent vacancy rate recorded in 2013 represented an oversupply of more than 902 beds. By their estimates, MU enrollment could swell to 38,000 students — a figure the UM System suggests MU will be just shy of by 2019 —without creating more demand for student housing.

“Every university market we have visited in the past two years states they will increase enrollment by recruiting out of state,” they wrote in the report. “Obviously, not all universities are going to be successful due to the decreasing pool of graduating high school seniors nationwide.”

“It depends on the philosophy of each individual business. … Some think zero [vacancies are] best, but obviously that’s not always realistic.

People need room to move.” — Anthony Holmes, secretary and treasurer, Columbia Apartment Association

48 \\\ june 2015

2

6

Levine disagrees with the Odles’ assessment.

In one Planning and Zoning meeting, he said he suspects MU’s enrollment will hit 38,000 in the next five years, especially as MU continues to attract international and out-of-state students.

“It is a very compelling school to come to, and that is why we are seeing [enrollment rise],” Levine said.

He dismissed the Odles’ report, saying there were “several things wrong with that” and noting that high school graduation numbers fluctuate, though the share of high school graduates who go to college has increased. Park 7 group was waiting in April on City Council approval to build an 849-bed student housing complex on Cinnamon Hill Lane.

The Odles decided to cancel a 1,200-bed complex in south Columbia and instead focus on smaller projects closer to campus. They say it will be at least four years before they consider building any large projects.

In the city, Moore and Shryock found that south Columbia, which has seen the highest concentration of new construction in the past two years, also has the highest vacancy rate despite historically being one of the leastvacant sections of town. The Odles cite these rates as among the reasons they called off the south Columbia development.

“Mizzou has a great track record and is definitely attractive, but as it pertains to undergraduate growth, we need to wait and see what happens,” they say. CBT

New Student Housing in 2014 Sources: Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission, Columbia City Council *Under construction

= 50 beds

1. the den 1412 Grindstone Plaza Drive 552 beds

6. bengal ridge townhomes 5557 S. Bethel Church Road 184 beds

7. Lofts at Beals on 9th 114 S. Ninth St. 43 beds 2. Log Hill off College 1322 Paris Road 108 beds 8. District Flats* 127 S. Eighth St. 259 beds August 2015 3. Brookside Midtown (new portion of existing development) College Avenue and Walnut Street 224 beds

4. Todd Apartments* Fifth Street and Conley Avenue 350 beds August 2015

9. American Campus Communities project* Providence Road and Turner Avenue 718 beds August 2017 (estimate)

5. The Avenue at Columbia* 1202 Cinnamon Hill Lane 849 beds 2017 (partial construction, if approved) columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 49

Zonin Columbia’s aging zoning ordinances, established in the 1950s, are no doubt in need of some updating, but how far should the city go in reshaping development downtown?

By Matthew Patston | Photo by Anthony Jinson

50 \\\ june 2015

ng Out columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 51

In the fall of 2014, the University of Missouri announced it had broken its enrollment record: 35,441 students now attend the university, which is 30 percent of Columbia’s population and a 31 percent increase in enrollment over the past decade.

In 1950, Columbia’s population was 31,774: almost 4,000 fewer people than MU now enrolls.

During that decade, the city configured its zoning ordinances to guide the growth of a blossoming college town. MU enrollment had risen sharply with the adoption of the GI Bill and a shift toward affordability in public universities. For a time after World War II, college towns flourished, and Columbia was no exception.

In this 1950s zoning, the area bounded by Elm, Walnut, Providence and Hitt was classified as C-2: the central business district. The ordinances were tailored to create a vibrant downtown, one that was close to campus and accessible for all the new students.

Sixty years later, the C-2 zoning has become a point of contention in the debate about Columbia’s continued growth. After MU responded to funding slashes by pumping up enrollment in the mid-2000s, downtown has been flooded with development. Student housing complexes have fixed themselves among retail shops and restaurants, and they have easily found tenants willing to pay to live in The District. A 2014 report from the Columbia Vision Commission listed the downtown vacancy rate as 5 percent, which seems microscopic compared to the 25 percent the report listed for downtown in 2003, before MU began more aggressive recruiting efforts.

The city is now in the process of bringing downtown zoning up to date.

Opinions are mixed. All this growth has inflamed passions and concerns from various perspectives.

Some say the proposal is too flexible; others say it’s too rigid. Many aren’t really sure what effect the new ordinances would have. Zoning can be complicated.

Last fall, a failed petition gathered 5,400 signatures wanting to halt development of District

Flats, a 259-bed student housing complex being constructed on Locust Street. More recently, the impending demolition of Shakespeare’s Pizza spurred a proposed moratorium that would have halted any demolition downtown for six months.

The proposal failed in City Council by a vote of 5-2.

A similar proposal, intended to stop demolition of the Niedermeyer apartment building, the oldest building in Columbia, failed in 2013; that building was only saved from demolition when an MU math professor, moved by protests, purchased the property. Shakespeare’s purists had no such luck.

This summer, the city will draft ordinances based on suggestions from a consulting firm, Clarion Associates, and gather public comments about the new zoning, all to answer the hottest question around: What should we do about downtown?

The gist The proposal currently on the table will replace C-2 with M-DT, standing for mixed-use downtown. It’s a form-based code, which puts emphasis on the type of street a building is located on rather than the current use-based code. “It’s a little bit of a different code,” says Tim Teddy, director of community development.

“It’s more generalized.”

Under the proposed ordinances, any new residential development would have to provide parking. The area stretching from Locust to Walnut between 10th and Sixth would have a 10-story maximum height — the same number as Columbia’s tallest building, the Tiger Hotel. Outside of the 10-story area, there would be a six-story maximum. Conservation is a major theme of the plan, according to Teddy, and new development would have to be environment friendly. The proposal, he says, “will enforce a more compatible transition” concerning new development’s congruency with existing structures.

The city has already adopted interim zoning based on parts of the proposal, including a two-story minimum height, minimum parking

“Some people say, ‘Oh, I don’t go downtown anymore because of all the students.’ I’m sorry, but you haven’t been going downtown for the last 40 years.

That’s why it died in the ’90s. This is a fear of the unknown combined with a false memory of the past.”

— John John, Columbia real estate agent

52 \\\ june 2015

requirements and an extra layer of City Council review for buildings taller than 120 feet.

“I think people have a lot to say about it,” Teddy says. “But I think there’s been a general agreement that our ordinances need some work. It’s been a need that’s been postponed over the years, and these things tend to fossilize with time.”

The grabbing “I’ll just be really blunt,” says John John. “There is no need for a new zoning ordinance. It’s a knee-jerk reaction from people who want more control over something that they really shouldn’t have more control over.”

John is a local real estate agent who acts as a development intermediary. He finds land for developers to build on, and he sells land for people who want it developed. After some time away from the city, John moved back to Columbia in 1990 and sat on City Council from 1999 to 2004, serving the 6th Ward. He’s alarmed by the new ordinances — and he thinks property owners should be, too.

“It is a taking of value,” he says. “If I could sell Bengals to someone who wanted to put up a 40-story building and pay me $5 million for my half block, and if now I can’t do that, and the only person willing to buy from me is only going to pay me $3 million, then I just lost $2 million.”

John worries about a ripple effect this potential loss, and other limits on development, could bring. If developers are limited in their proposals, he says, they have two options: don’t build, or increase rent to make up for lost profit.

The rent increase, in turn, would limit how many people, especially students, are able to live downtown, which would create a demand surplus, which could push rent up even further.

John estimates there is 3,000-bed deficit in student housing right now, and that number could increase if MU fulfills promises to expand further.

“Some people say, ‘Oh, I don’t go downtown anymore because of all the students,’” John says. “I’m sorry, but you haven’t been going downtown for the last 40 years. That’s why it died in the ’90s. This is a fear of the unknown combined with a false memory of the past.”

John does make some concessions. He says the zoning codes are probably out of date and don’t account for things such as car transportation. Still, he’s no less critical of City Council’s move to revamp the ordinances.

“It’s a disease of the elected,” he says. “You get asked to control things. You’re put in charge, and people come to you and say, ‘I want you to stop them from doing this.’”

The growth Clarion Associates began working on Columbia’s new zoning in January of 2014, having been commissioned by the city for $150,000. During the process, Clarion, partner firm Ferrell Madden and the city have tried to maintain an open dialogue with the public, inviting people to suggest changes and see what’s being changed.

Caleb Colbert has been among the most dedicated followers of this process. When he was interviewed for this article, he had two three-ring binders filled with various documents related to new zoning open on his desk, along with a stapled packet from the latest meeting and several zoning-related tabs open on his computer.

Colbert is a lawyer with Brown Willbrand, a firm located on Broadway, near City Hall.

One of his specialties is housing development; he’s currently getting approval for a new complex to be built near the Stadium Boulevard and Highway 63 interchange. He graduated from MU in 2007 and completed law school there in 2010. Colbert is still sympathetic to students, especially students needing a place to live and even more so if they’re looking to live downtown.

“At the end of the day, students are just consumers,” he says. “Students patronize a lot of the businesses downtown. A lot of those businesses make pretty good money on weekend nights, and that allows us business folks to eat lunch there Monday through Friday.”

Colbert pulls out a map of the proposed M-DT area, color-coded to show which new rules apply to what area. He cites a criticism he’s heard about the breadth of the proposed ordinances, including the interim two-story minimum that’s already in effect. “So now you’re going to say that Jiffy Lube and Plaza Tire have to have two stories?” he asks. “You just can’t apply the same rules to the Jiffy Lubes of the world as you can to all the things on Ninth and Cherry.”

Colbert’s objections with the proposed ordinances boil down to Columbia’s diversity. Different businesses have different needs, and different people have different needs. As he sees it, a strong downtown population translates to more business revenue, which means businesses can develop or not develop based on their individual needs rather than conforming to a new zoning code.

Predictably, Colbert doesn’t buy the notion of a student housing bubble burst, a situation where the flood of development overshoots the demand for downtown housing.

“I don’t think an influx of students are going to change the way downtown operates,” he says. “It’s all just supply and demand. You could see students that currently live in duplexes move downtown, which gives opportunities for affordable housing in the duplexes to lowerincome folks. You’ll never convince me that more housing is bad for Columbia, considering the population growth.”

The good problem The Shakespeare’s building was purchased by McAlester Park LLC, which is jointly owned

by Columbia’s Rader and Odle families. The Odles operate Trittenbach Development, which built the Brookside student apartment complexes downtown.

Shakespeare’s will temporarily relocate while its building is demolished and rebuilt; once the new site is completed, the pizzeria will return.

They’ve promised the original atmosphere of the restaurant will be recreated, down to the last detail, and employees have documented the interior with extensive photography.

For many Columbians, Shakespeare’s is a bitter casualty in the continuing development boom. After the April 1 announcement, the restaurant had to deny claims that it was a cruel April Fools’ Day prank.

Representatives from Trittenbach didn’t respond to requests for comment. First Ward Councilman Clyde Ruffin, who was elected in April, says it’s too early for him to comment on the zoning, as he is still gathering opinions from his constituents.

Colbert says he’s waiting to see a final draft before “digging in our heels.” He acknowledges that zoning is a delicate issue; it involves political ideologies, but it also involves the identity of the city and whether to preserve a small mid-Missouri town or embrace bigger city growth. John commissioned the MU College of Business to conduct a projection report that estimated Columbia would be at 200,000 residents in 25 years.

“We have a fantastic problem on our hands,” Colbert says. “People want to live here. People want to invest here. No matter what happens with the code, no matter what happens with the projects, Columbia is still going to be a great place to live, and people are still going to want to come here.”

Teddy says they hope to have new ordinances in effect by the end of the year, and the time has come to address the aging zoning ordinances.

“Ultimately,” he says, “we’ll have to deal with a changing downtown.” CBT

CBT’s Guide to (Potential) New Downtown Zoning Module documents released by the city concerning new zoning are hundreds of pages long, with thousands of footnotes. For those who don’t have time to read all of that, the CBT distills what you need to know: Areas: The proposal reclassifies downtown into five areas: Urban General, Urban General West, Urban Storefront and Townhouse/Small Apartment. Urban General covers most of the downtown area from Providence to College, with the exception of the Ninth Street corridor. The Urban General area’s purpose, according to the plan, is to “promote multistory buildings, with one or more entrances and windows across the façade.” Each area has different restrictions concerning style and usage: in Urban Storefront, for example, no residential buildings could be zoned, but in Urban General West, regulation is less restrictive, and buildings are permitted for a wider range of use.

Height restrictions: The new zoning code also sets height restrictions for areas downtown. The middle of downtown, from Locust to Walnut between 10th and Sixth, would have a 10-story limit on buildings.

Beyond that, each building would have a sixstory limit. Both of these exclude attic stories, which are permitted for all sites.

Storefronts: The new plan is focused on being conducive to pedestrian traffic in “the most intense areas of downtown.” To be conducive, Clarion suggests emphasizing pedestrian-friendly storefronts that offer easy entrances, lots of windows and plenty of walking space on the sidewalk. Regardless of a building’s use, the first-level storefront should look more or less the same.

Parking: Much of the concern about development downtown stems from a parking shortage. The proposal requires buildings to provide minimum off-street parking, with requirements varying for different uses. A fraternity house would have to provide one space per occupant, whereas a multifamily dwelling would need one space per every unit of two beds or fewer, 1.5 spaces per unit of more than two beds and one space of visitor parking per 10 units. columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 53

54 \\\ june 2015

Smart House Meet the newest smart home technology that will have you saying: “Goodbye, Joneses. Hello, Jetsons.�

By Sarah Redohl and Torie Ross

thinkstock.com

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 55

smart house

the experts

Remember the Jetsons?

Even just 50 years ago, we had grand plans for what the world would look like today. Although we don’t have flying cars, George Jetson’s watch is now available and retails for $549, via Apple, and FaceTime, Skype and the like very closely resemble the Jetsons’ video calls.

And now, our homes can be every bit as Jetson as 1962’s view of 2062. They may not hover, but today’s homes sure pack a tech punch.

“In the past several years, we’ve seen an explosion of ‘smart’ products,” says Cale Kliethermes of Kliethermes Homes & Remodeling Inc. “Most recently, we’re seeing products ‘talk’ across brands, so we have true integration.

“No longer does one company have to create every product for a home,” Kliethermes continues. “They’re working together to specialize in their own wheelhouse but truly create an integrated home.”

Brian Christensen with Christensen Homes has also seen the smart home trend grow.

“Home automation has gone crazy lately,” he says. “With what’s available on the market, you can do just about anything. People love doing stuff remotely.”

Michael McClaren of Tiger Security Service says some of the most tech-forward trends he’s seeing help to create a more connected home, “like door locks and control light switches and thermostats from a smartphone from anywhere.”

“People are putting a lot more thought into their home than we’ve seen previously, especially when it comes to final touches,” says Felicia Tompkins, office manager and design consultant for Tompkins Construction. “Our clients who are a little more tech savvy are getting really excited about the possibilities of this technology.”

2016 or 2062?

Despite an ever-increasing interest in smart home features, particularly those that 56 \\\ june 2015

improve energy efficiency, Mike Imhoff of Imhoff Foundation Co. LLC says many of his customers haven’t been asking for these newfangled features.

“Most of that tech is probably aimed at homes that cost half a million or more,” Imhoff says. “They like those new gadgets, and they can afford them.” Imhoff focuses on homes in the 1,500- to 1,700-square-foot range.

Kliethermes says though they haven’t built any new homes that are fully integrated, he continues to see smart products integrated into their remodel projects.

“Some people are more open to the idea than others, but we’re finding more and more people are recognizing the advantages of these types of products and becoming more open to them...” he says. “But we still have a high number of people who are a little skittish of these changes in technology.”

Jeremy Spillman of Spillman Contracting has a different take.

“I think rising cost of everyday materials, like lumber and shingles, have stalled customers wanting to spend the extra money on smart homes,” he says. “I love the idea, but it seems to fall too low on the priority list to get added by your average customer.”

And that’s exactly who’s driving the bus/ flying car/Delorean toward the future, Christensen says. “It’s usually the homeowners who keep up on all the new stuff coming out.”

“Most contractors would be known as late adopters,” Kliethermes says. “[Just a few years ago], if they had a notebook instead of writing on a 2-by-4, they were advanced.”

However, every contractor, from Kliethermes to Spillman to Christensen, is ready to help outfit your home of the future.

Whether this technology becomes mainstream by 2016 or 2062, one thing is for certain.

This story is sure to have you saying: “Goodbye Joneses. Hello, Jetsons.”

Cale Kliethermes Kliethermes Homes & Remodeling Inc.

Mike imhoff Imhoff Foundation Co. LLC

Felicia Tompkins Tompkins Construction

Jeremy Spillman Spillman Contracting

Michael McClaren Tiger Security Service

brian christensen Christensen Homes

smart house

ooma telo

Not only does Ooma integrate with your Nest thermostat so when it’s set to away, Ooma will forward calls to your cellphone, but it will also notify you when someone doesn’t arrive during a specific window of time (say, the cable guy or your rebellious teen daughter after school).

the sun rises on solar Whirlpool Sixth Sense Washer and Dryer

Now, even your washer and dryer can be controlled by your smartphone. With Whirlpool’s Sixth Sense technology, users can access information about the energy efficiency of their appliances, start and stop the appliances and even see the progress of the washer or dryer cycle from anywhere.

The Smart Front washer and dryer can even be connected to other smart features in the home, such as the Nest thermostat. Whirlpool Sixth Sense appliances are available locally at Lowe’s, Sears and Best Buy. Also in the washer/dryer world is a new series of single-unit washer/dryers running on 110V electricity, rather than 220V, for improved energy efficiency.

“The old-school people said there was no way that was going to work, but it does,” Christensen says.

Whirlpool units also integrate with Nest thermostats for some seriously advanced features, Kliethermes says.

“Since energy rates are higher in the summer during the middle of the day, the dryer will wait to run until nighttime, will run ultra quiet without a beep,” he says. “Oh, and it continues to tumble the clothes every once in a while until you get up. Although you do still have to put the clothes in and take them out to fold them.”

“Even just five years ago, people would check into solar power, but it wasn’t quite there yet,” Christensen says. “Now, we’re there. It was sort of coming of age.”

He says he’s seeing more people put solar power on roofs, incorporating battery backup systems and even selling power back to the grid.

LIFX Bulbs

With LIFX Bulbs, whenever your smart LIFX-integrated smoke detector detects smoke or other dangers, the lights within your home will flash red.

“That way, people outside the house — or even out of earshot — can see there’s something going on and can call for help,” Kliethermes says.

LIFX Bulbs can also integrate with your smart thermostat when it’s on away mode to turn lights on and off so it will appear someone is home.

well insulated

Although a well-insulated home has been a priority since cracks in mud-hut walls were stuffed with hay, insulation technology has converted the idea of insulation from hay to, “Hey, that’s cool!” Literally.

“Now, we’re foaming the whole envelope of the house, so it’s like a cooler sitting out in the sun,” Christensen says. “There used to be only a couple ways to do it, but now there are tons of new foam materials and new ways to think about insulating a home.”

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 57

smart house Get hooked up

Because most of the products are connected via Wi-Fi, once the electrician gets power to the product, anyone can finish setting it up, Kliethermes says. However, he recognizes that some people are more comfortable having an IT specialist set up their systems and maintain the whole system, “oftentimes from another location even.”

“With the advances in wireless technology, we’re no longer tied to the one spot we ran the cat 5 cable,” he says. “If there’s an outlet, we can have our tech anywhere.”

KwikSet Smart Locks

Never question if you locked your doors again with one of KwikSet’s smart locks. Kliethermes says KwikSet has brought a series of tech-forward locks to the forefront of, well, your front door.

From keyless passcode-powered locks to biometric fingerprint-scanning locks, leave the idea of leaving a key under the doormat in the past. With these options, you can set certain passcodes or prints to only work during certain times, like the plumber on Monday from 2 to 4 p.m. or a housekeeper every other Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

You can lock your doors from your phone from the office, arm your security system from a tablet in bed at night and receive a text when your child gets home from school.

You can also program lights to turn on when you unlock your door at night, your thermostat to kick on and off when you’re there and even music to play when you enter your home. Your biggest home security concern will be what you choose to play as your homecoming theme song.

Front-end Solutions Kliethermes says technology hasn’t just mattered after a home is complete.

Improving technologies has also made getting the home built easier, from improved daily communication with clients to seeing houses in 3-D before even putting a shovel to the ground.

“With CAD (computer-aided design), draftsmen don’t have to redraw the plans of a home for every little change,” Kliethermes says. “The biggest challenge here was finding a person young enough to run one of those newfangled computers.”

58 \\\ june 2015

USB Wall Outlets

USB-enabled wall outlets allow users to seamlessly charge their phones, cameras and other USB-enabled devices directly in the wall outlet. Not only do USB wall outlets delete the need for cumbersome adapters, but also they are more energy efficient than most adapters. Spillman will start to make USB outlets standard issue in his spec homes in the coming months.

Emerson Sensi Thermostat

Emerson Climate’s Wi-Fi-enabled thermostat, Sensi, helps users save energy and cut down on costs by allowing them to schedule their heating and cooling needs remotely from their smartphones. Sensi has the ability to track temperature and humidity levels within the house and local weather reports and allows users to change their heating and cooling schedules on both a day-byday and weekly basis. Tompkins says their clients enjoy the control the Sensi thermostat gives them. “We’ve gotten a great response from clients who’ve had Sensi installed; people like the interactivity,” Tompkins says. According to Emerson, Sensi can help users save up to 30 percent on annual energy costs and is compatible with almost all combined heating and cooling systems.

smart house #Throwback Nest Protect

Nest Protect’s claim to fame is that it’s a smoke detector that gives you information, not just alarms. It tells you where and what the problem is and even offers an in-app “What To Do” guide to a variety of dangers.

It will also notify you of what’s going on when you’re not home and will work with Nest thermostats to turn off your gas furnace in the case of a carbon monoxide leak.

Garage Door Control

“Nothing bothers me more than when I’ve left town for the weekend and wonder if I shut my garage door,” McClaren says. “With the garage door control, you can check your phone to make sure it is shut, and if it isn’t, you just send a command to shut it.”

“We use Lift Master, but [other brands] are also capable of doing this,” he says.

Imhoff says one technology that’s coming back in vogue is the attic fan, a trend that transcends decades. Yes, it’s just a fan you put in the ceiling that will circulate fresh air through your home when the weather is nice, but it’s a new/old trend that’s very in line with customers’ goals of energy efficiency.

“The new ones now are so small and easily pump out a lot of air,” Imhoff says. “It’s an easy way to help on heating bills.”

WaterCop

“This product puts a lot of peoples’ minds at ease,” Kliethermes says. It automatically shuts off the water if there is a water leak.

“You do have to put the sensors in places that would have the potential to get wet though,” Kliethermes says. The sensors will detect a leak and communicate wirelessly with WaterCop to shut off the water before much damage occurs.

“And it’s a Missouri company!” he adds.

Nest Thermostat

Like the Emerson Sensi thermostat, the Nest thermostat can be controlled remotely, but it also offers additional automation options, according to Kliethermes.

For example, it integrates with Mercedes-Benz so the thermostat will know when you’re coming home.

After a short time of getting to know your preferences, Nest will also create a memory based on your behavior. It also communicates with the brand Big Ass Fans to help keep energy costs low.

Let There Be Light

“LED lights are a big thing right now,” Christensen says, adding it probably stems from a greater focus on energy efficiency. Although LED lights began their trek to mainstream popularity a few years ago, Christensen says it's their availability in a wide array of sizes, shapes and color temperatures that has contributed to their spot on any new homeowner’s wish list.

“When they first came out, they were all in the same temperature shade, which was this really bright white, like sunlight,” he says. “Now, they offer different Kelvin ratings, like candle, incandescent and more.”

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 59

Nonprofit Spotlight ›› Pascale's Pals

Making Children Happy

Pascale’s Pals brings joy to kids dealing with chronic disease and long hospital stays.

By sarah berger | Photos by ben meldrum Pascale’s Pals has a simple objective: making children happy. Although that might sound easy enough, for children battling chronic diseases and spending a lot of time in the hospital, making a child smile can be a pretty hefty goal. Still, Pascale’s Pals has been successful in spreading cheer and happiness during some of the most difficult times of a child’s life.

Sylvie Carpentier established Pascale’s Pals in 1995 after realizing the lack of excitement and joy in her daughter Pascale’s life while she was battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Carpentier and a few of her close friends founded Pascale’s Pals Inc. as a nonprofit corporation. Pascale had a relapse in 2000, during which time an anonymous donor provided children waiting for bone marrow transplants with $200 to spend as they pleased. Carpentier saw

Sylvie Carpentier “It is important to help the child feel a little bit of happiness because it helps them heal.”

60 \\\ june 2015

Kevin Pace “I’m proud of working with a fantastic group of volunteers who support a great cause — and being the Easter Bunny!”

how Pascale beamed with excitement, and she realized how necessary it was to bring joy to a sick child’s life.

‘It helps them heal’ Through donations, proceeds from a live and silent auction and other fundraisers, Pascale’s Pals provides children at University Women and Children’s Hospital, as well as children at Rusk Rehabilitation Center, with wish baskets that typically run from $700 to $1,000.

The wish baskets are primarily given to children suffering from chronic diseases and who will be spending significant time in the hospital. Pascale’s Pals is transparent that it’s a Christian-based organization, and each basket includes an age-appropriate Bible, journal and a special gift the child requests. The organization delivers between 15 to 20 wish baskets

Lisa Imhoff “I’m involved to give back to an organization that helped us out when we needed it.”

Michael Imhoff “After we were introduced to them when our daughter was younger, it just felt to fit.”

a year, and the recipients of the wish baskets are patients who are recommended by social workers at the hospital.

“It started back in the day with Game Boys; that was the big thing,” says Lotta Timberlake, a friend of Carpentier and partner of Pascale’s Pals. “Now we get requests for trampolines, iPads and computers, just something we can

“I never thought it would be this big. The first time we all got together, we were doing a bake sale. We have done a lot, but there is still more to do.”

— Sylvie Carpentier, founder, Pascale’s Pals Debbie Betz “I want people to know that we’re all volunteers, so all the money goes to kids.”

Matthew White “I like fulfilling the needs of kids.”

➜ 1511 Chapel Hill, Columbia, MO 65203 573-446-2242

bring them [the children] to lift their spirits and something their parents might not be able to afford. It is important to help the child feel a little bit of happiness because it helps them heal.”

Along with the wish baskets, Pascale’s Pals has made some major donations and renovations to the Women and Children’s Hospital itself; the organization has donated TVs for every room, sleeper beds so parents can sleep next to their children, a playground, a renovated waiting room and a medical machine that acts as a vein viewer and uses a light to show the patients' veins so children are poked less with needles.

Pascale’s Pals is focused on bringing happiness to children’s lives, and it’s also there to provide financial support and help families that are struggling to meet more practical needs.

In the past, the nonprofit has given money for families that need help buying food, airline tickets, propane to heat their homes and, in some situations, funeral costs.

“What’s so unique about Pascale’s Pals is the one-on-one, immediate assistance that we give,” Timberlake says. “We don’t have to go through a board meeting and this or that.

Lotta Timberlake “When Pascale’s parents asked me to help start Pascale’s Pals, there was no hesitation.”

Brent Vootheis “I love growing the event and the amount of money raised, in turn, helping more kids and their families.”

There’s no overhead; every penny we get goes straight to the kids and stays with the kids.”

‘It’s in all of us’ Pascale’s Pals raises money mainly through its live and silent auction held in March. Last year, it had 710 people attend the auction and 50 volunteers helping to run the event. Carpentier and Timberlake both have seen a common trend of former Pascale’s Pals kids growing up and giving back to the organization.

“Last year we had the first kid we helped [in 1995] come to the auction with his baby that he just had,” Carpentier says. “All those families that we had helped are now helping back. Every year at the auction we get a lab puppy from someone in Cape Girardeau; we have never met the donator, but because we brought a basket to her niece, she wants to helps us out, and that puppy raises around $3,000 every year.”

Pascale’s Pals projects last year at the Women and Children’s Hospital included renovating the neonatal intensive care unit, establishing a courtyard, updating the playground, providing educational materials to patients about hos-

Shera Martin “I wish everybody could see the breadth and depth of all the needs that are met throughout the year.”

Quinten Martin “Pascale’s Pals is a great organization.

That’s why I’m involved.”

“The whole aspect of being able to give and help, it’s in all of us. For me to have the opportunity to do that, it’s a gift.” — Lotta Timberlake, partner, Pascale’s Pals pital items and purchasing books for parents about cystic fibrosis.

“I never thought it would be this big,” Carpentier says. “The first time we all got together, we were doing a bake sale. We have done a lot, but there is still more to do. I’m waiting for the next big project. I would like to redo the playroom; I would like it to be magical.”

Although Carpentier and Timberlake work hard to make the children happy and their lives a bit brighter, both women agree the experience of watching Pascale’s Pals grow makes their lives much brighter as well.

“The whole aspect of being able to give and help, it’s in all of us,” Timberlake says. “For me to have the opportunity to do that, it’s a gift. It’s so fulfilling.” CBT

Emily Betz “I’ve been an old friend of Pascale’s and her family. I love hearing children’s success stories.”

Mark Betz “It’s all about the kids! I’m happy just to be a part of Pascale’s Pals.”

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 61

Pictured: Dave Griggs Photo by Anthony Jinson

62 \\\ june 2015

Celebrations

›› Dave Griggs Flooring America

forty y e ar s

‘Bigg’ Business

Dave Griggs Flooring America celebrates 40 years.

Dave Griggs Flooring America won’t sell anything to a married man without written permission from his wife.

“She has a vision, and we work to extrapolate that vision and earn her trust,” Dave Griggs says. “It’s all about building relationships. We want your children and grandchildren to buy flooring from us.”

For 40 years Dave Griggs Flooring America has evolved in its industry while retaining a commitment to customer, employee and community relationships.

The story began in 1967, when Griggs and his brother were building houses. A recession in 1968 forced him to look for additional work, and he landed at Cook Paint, where he moved into management by 1969 to fill a void.

“We had a manager leave the store in Mexico, [Missouri], and I was asked to hold down the fort,” Griggs says. “I held it down for three years.”

“When you think about flooring, want to see what is going in the flooring business, you come see Dave Griggs.”

— Dave Griggs, owner, Dave Griggs Flooring America After working in the Columbia store through the early ’70s, Griggs wrote to his boss asking for a raise.

“I sent it through interoffice mail because we didn’t have email back then,” Griggs says. “After not hearing anything for a few weeks, I figured he wasn’t going to give me the raise.”

Not knowing his boss was on vacation, Griggs purchased the building down the street and started selling paint before moving into flooring. The business has grown and moved to

larger locations throughout Columbia. Part of the growth was developing his brand, including the Dave Griggs TV ads featuring “Mr. Biggs.”

“We had a friend who had a child that could not say ‘Griggs,’” he says. “He would always say he wanted to ride in Mr. Biggs’ boat. The rest is history.”

‘We set expectations’ Two national chains moved to Columbia in the mid-1990s and forced Griggs to rethink his business model. He focused on carrying a wider selection of higher-end flooring products, building relationships with flooring franchises and being part of the largest flooring co-op in the world.

“We would not be in business today without being part of a national organization,” Griggs says.

Griggs’ commitment to his customers is based on honesty and trust. The Internet may show how flooring is going to look but not what the process is going to be like: the noise, the dust and how the floor will fit into your world.

“We tell people the good and the bad; we set expectations,” Griggs says. “We also tell you if the pine floor you want is going to be too soft.

Your wife’s heels will leave a mark with every step in a soft floor.”

Griggs knows not everyone is going to buy from him today, but he’s confident they will refer him or come to see him for another project down the road because of his experienced sales team and the knowledge they carry.

Michele Batye, Dave Griggs Flooring America’s financial officer, says the average employee tenure is more than 13 years, and Griggs has given employees a place to stay while the business grows.

“We have four designers on staff, and we started with one,” she says. “We are a lot of different businesses under one roof doing about 40 percent residential [business] and 60 percent commercial [business].” CBT

By Jason Smallheer

Timeline 1963 › Dave Griggs attends the University of Missouri until 1966.

1967 › Builds houses with his brother 1968 › Joins Cook Paint 1975 › Leaves Cook Paint 1975 › Dave Griggs opens his doors.

› President of the Downtown Optimist Club 1988 › On County Commission until 1990 1993 › Joins Carpet Max franchise 1995 › Member of the Missouri Leadership Council, National Federation of Independent Business, and still serves currently 1996 › Opens current location in Columbia

› Large chains come to Columbia.

1997 › Board member of Regional Economic Development Inc., and still serves currently 1999 › Carpet Max becomes Flooring America.

2000 › Flooring America co-op is formed, the largest in the world.

2001 › Chairman of the Highway Transportation Committee Columbia, Chamber of Commerce until 2006 2003 › Chairman of REDI until 2004 2007 › Receives national recognition for best marketing presentation for Flooring America and Flooring Canada with the Flooring America Marketing Excellence Award 2008 › Wins Flooring America Marketing Excellence Award again 2014 › Participates in The Roast of Dave Griggs by the Greater Missouri Chapter of the Alzheimer Association 2015 › Flooring America recognizes Griggs as the first-ever winner of the Flooring America Lifetime Achievement Award columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 63

64 \\\ june 2015

Did You Know?

›› Fun facts CBT staff discovered while reporting this issue

fast facts

Between 2010 and 2014, calls for service and reports have increased by 31 percent in the Columbia Police Department’s 70D beat, the majority of which is downtown Columbia. For more context, head to page 36.

250,000 200,000

price

A 2014 report from the Columbia Vision Commission listed the downtown vacancy rate as 5 percent, which seems microscopic compared to the 25 percent the report listed for downtown in 2003. Woah!

150,000 100,000 50,000 0

Less Than

1/3

Just 65 years ago, Columbia’s population was less than one-third (31,774) of its current population (115,276).

Pascale’s Pals has a simple mission: to make children happy. However, for children battling chronic disease, that can prove to be a lofty goal. Learn more about Pascale’s Pals on page 60.

2010

2015

year

The average single-family home price has increased from $163,713 in February 2010 to $208,485 in February 2015. For more numbers like this, head to page 79.

Since taking over as CEO of the Columbia Housing Authority in 2006, Phil Steinhaus has expanded the CHA resident services budget from $100,000 a year to $1.5 million. To learn more about CHA, head to page 26.

Did you know Dave Griggs Flooring America won’t sell anything to a married man without written permission from his wife? Sounds like a story to us. Head to page 62 to learn more about 40 years of Dave Griggs Flooring America.

Did you know Jason Gavan, this issue’s P.Y.S.K. (page 31), used to be the associate dean of admissions at VMU School of Law in Lithuania? For those of you who might not know, that’s by Russia.

Did you know you could lock your doors, turn on your lights, receive danger alerts and alerts when your kids come home from school — all from your phone? Learn about these cool new gadgets and more on page 54.

columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 65

66 \\\ june 2015

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68 \\\ june 2015

Marketing

›› Monica Pitts talks marketing trends and tips.

chief creative director at mayecreate design

Social Media Planning Tips What was once considered a passing craze among teenagers is now a staple in many marketing plans. If you haven’t made the decision to jump on the social media bandwagon already, chances are good you’re considering it now. Then comes the million-dollar holdup question: Where do I start? I have business owners ask me this question every day. And every day I give them the same advice I’ll give you. Start small, stay consistent and be yourself.

Start small You don’t have to do it all. Just because you’re on Facebook doesn’t mean you have to be on Twitter. And just because your neighbor is on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you should be, too. Choose the network that best matches your ideal customer so you can write for that specific audience. Look at their demographics, psychographics and lifestyle.

I ran this idea by Collin Bunch, an adviser at the Small Business Development Center. Bunch teaches classes to business owners covering this topic, one of which I’ve attended. “A big thing people miss with social is being extremely targeted and focused,” Bunch says. “You should really ‘get it’ and have some results before trying too many things.”

Taking this approach is about testing and monitoring. All networks display information differently, and not all audiences react to information in the same way. Start small with one or two targeted networks, and master them before moving on to more.

Stay consistent Your social media strategy should consistently promote a targeted and balanced content mix. This starts by setting goals about what to post and how often — and sticking to it.

“Ultimately, what is your strategy?” Bunch asks. “Posting random inspirational quotes is neat, but consistently hitting content and messages that your customers value will grow your business.”

Consider posting a mix of content, including: industry news or advice from outside sources; fun personality-establishing posts such as photos, thoughts or less business-related links from an outside source; brand-promoting posts such as blog posts, event promos or specials.

“It’s a huge red flag when a company’s tweets are all about them,” Bunch says. In his experience, a thriving Twitter audience may appreciate three posts per day and respond better to a content mix with very little brand-promoting posts. Keep track of the type of content your audience responds to best, and adjust your mix accordingly.

Bunch educates his students about consistently creating the perfect post: • Write your posts for a specific audience; your Facebook audience may be different from your Twitter followers.

• Add a visual with each post, such as a picture, infographic or video.

• Further engage your audience with an implicit call to action.

• Always follow up with people who engage with you.

Illustration by Tifani Carter

Strive for frequency consistency as well. One hundred posts in one day and nothing for three months isn’t the same as 100 posts over the course of three months. Consistent posting improves your company’s visibility and develops credibility with your audience. Also, follow up with the people who engage with you. Last but not least, consistently measure, monitor and test.

Be yourself Your business is special because it’s yours. Don’t be afraid to be yourself in marketing endeavors, especially in social media.

“Customers want to hear from the owners and as authentic people, not some mix-up of buzzwords,” Bunch says. “When owners get over their fear/shyness and jump in, they end up owning the space.”

If you have a team contributing to social media, set rules for how you talk about your business and service. Guidelines create checks and balances to keep your business’s voice consistent.

Like all new business endeavors, social media is best tackled one piece at a time. Break down your social media launch into smaller tasks, and as you’re planning, keep in mind: Start small, stay consistent and be yourself.

You can do it! CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 69

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Technology

›› Brant Uptergrove reviews the latest trends in tech.

Account Manager at Midwest Computech

Will Technology Replace Realtors?

As we all know, technology has changed the way most of us conduct business. In sales there is a constant demand to be on top of your game and know about the latest offerings and pricing. This helps you close your next transaction and achieve the best value to your client. This is, of course, no different in the real estate marketplace. Whether you’re a Realtor or a person seeking to purchase or sell a property, you always want to know what your property is worth and which new properties you can truly afford.

RE/MAX Boone Realty Realtor Donna Hrdina sums it up nicely. “Truly technology in our field is continually changing and advancing, and this can be a challenge for some,” she says. “You have to stay educated and up to date on all the options while working with clients on a daily basis.”

Last year my wife and I decided to move to a larger house to accommodate our growing family. We went to the Web to see what was available in our price range. We used Trulia and Zillow. These sites also helped us see what our house was worth. Although this was easy and convenient, we still weren’t really sure what we were doing. We contacted Hrdina and had her list our home.

I noticed Zillow had our house priced higher than a price even I felt comfortable with. Hrdina quickly told me that price disparity was one of the biggest issues with information on demand sites such as Zillow in the real estate realm. Although Zillow can be very accurate in some places, other times it is not.

Zillow does do a great job of removing the emotional/sentimental value that sellers and buyers alike have with a property. Hrdina describes how this technology has helped and hurt her way of doing business. “I feel that the emergence of Zillow and other home sites has mainly enhanced our business by educating the buyers as to the large amount of properties that might be available for them to purchase,” she says. “It provides our buyers resources and the ability to gain knowledge about the details of a home quickly. Unfortunately, as professional Realtors, we also spend a large amount of time helping clients and potential sellers work past the inaccuracies that are present in these programs. This can be very frustrating to everyone involved.”

Despite these shortcomings, technology helps to get the word out in the real estate marketplace. Technology helps Realtors and potential buyers stay up to date on the latest pricing and offerings. Real estate technology advancements have came a long way from manually searching through listings in the paper and requiring you to be current on what other Realtors have listed. Many times real estate sites such as Zillow and Trulia are a great starting point on your journey. Just understand that their potential inaccuracies confirm the importance of seeking out a licensed, local Realtor when you’re ready to get serious about what might be the largest, most important financial transaction of your life.

I don’t want to downplay the role technology plays in enhancing the real estate industry. Successful Realtors use technology daily to improve and market their business, increase their overall influence, communicate effi-

Illustration by Tifani Carter

“I feel that the emergence of Zillow and other home sites has mainly enhanced our business by educating the buyers as to the large amount of properties that might be available for them to purchase.” — Donna Hrdina, Realtor, RE/MAX Boone Realty ciently with their customers and build genuine relationships. Realtors need to find a technology partner that can assist them in accomplishing these goals by putting the cloud, email applications, CRMs and mobile apps in place to work for them. But a website cannot offer the personal touch a Realtor can provide or match their experiential knowledge of the local marketplace. This is a great example of how technology increases awareness but will never fully replace people.

At the end of the day, we are all looking for a great “experience” in our buying decisions. A knowledgeable, personable Realtor might be just what you need to take the guesswork out of the process and make your home-buying experience as easy and satisfying as possible. It was exactly what my wife and I needed! CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 71

72 \\\ june 2015

Organizational Health

›› Pieter Van Waarde helps guide organizations into good health.

senior pastor woodcrest chapel President sidewalk llc

Playing as a Team Excuse me if this sounds cynical, but is anyone else tired of all the hype about teams? Maybe I’ve attended one too many teambuilding conferences.

Don’t get me wrong. I think teamwork is important. Doing work in teams (when they are working well) is both personally satisfying and organizationally synergistic. The problem is that so much of what is spoken about is more theoretical than practical, more inspirational than helpful.

This might not be that big of a deal if they also actually covered the most important part of teamwork. What I have learned is that the magic of teams is how the people in them behave. Teams are different from committees, departments and groups in more than just name.

What makes a team effective and different is the way it operates.

For example, a team may decide that one of its operational practices will be to allow input/advice/correction from all participants regardless of their role in the company. A line worker’s perspective has the same value as the superintendent’s. This would be an unusual practice in a group where the boss always gets his or her way. So articulating the practice and giving permission for its execution is what makes the team a “real” team. People call themselves “teams” all the time, but they don’t operate differently from any other group of people — and I think that is what has made many of us so cynical.

Beating the cynicism To beat the cynicism we have to get busy at defining our own practices.

But sometimes the practices are the last thing we think about.

Early in my own leadership journey, I knew I would need to be committed to the team concept. However, after 10 years of trying to make it work without achieving a predictable outcome, I knew I was missing something. I hadn’t defined the operational practices.

I had to articulate our way of relating and our way of doing what we did. For example, I had to define what it meant to operate with looser hierarchal structures. I had to figure out how we were going to deal with problems, who would have the final say and what made that different from other (more typical) ways of conducting business. In short, I had to delineate how we would play. I knew the game we were in; I just hadn’t defined how we would play it.

Part of what made this such a valuable exercise was that we worked through the arduous process as a team ourselves and determined what would work in our unique context (Woodcrest). We asked ourselves a host of probing questions, such as: • What will fit our context/culture?

• What fits our personalities?

• And maybe most importantly, what do we personally prefer?

We discussed them for hours (actually weeks and months) and

Illustration by Tifani Carter

finally wrote them up as our “21 Highly Debatable Laws of Teamwork” (as a play on the supposed laws of leadership that so many authors/ speakers propose as non-negotiable). Candidly, identifying the practices was harder than we thought. But what a valuable process it was.

Dr. Rod Casey, senior associate pastor at Woodcrest, might have summed it up best: “I had experienced enough failure to know I couldn’t be successful without a team approach. Now I was working on a team with some high-functioning capacity, but I wondered, ‘What are the specific practices that would make it sustainable over the long haul?’ Until we actually took the time to define our methodology as a team, we were left to our own interpretations of what teamwork meant. But once we specifically defined and vocabularized our practices, we went from working as a team to employing principles that kept our team intact and that we could teach to others. The journey has exceeded even my best hopes of what I thought might be possible. We have each known deep personal fulfillment and fulfilled a mission worthy of our best efforts. Life has far exceeded my expectations, and it’s only possible because of a great team.”

Perhaps if you are diligent in doing your own good work in this regard, you, too, will not just have the aspiration of building a great team — you might actually get to play on one. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 73

Sales

›› Tron Jordheim talks business trends and the art of selling.

The Age of Selling Is Over

Head of marketing StorageMart Director PhoneSmart Call Center

If you pay attention to business news, you are surely familiar with all the new terms that describe the process by which people make purchases.

You’ve heard of customer engagement. This is when a business creates content that people who match a customer profile will find interesting so that some of the people will see the business as an expert in the field and become lifelong customers.

You’ve seen the term inbound marketing, when businesses make products or services so appealing to those they wish to engage with that the potential customers contact the business to make a purchase.

If you only read the headlines, you’d believe that consumers control the purchasing process, and businesses can only hope engaged people will buy something.

It would seem from all you see and read that the age of selling is over. No one wants to be sold to, but everyone wants to buy things. No one wants to be a salesperson, but everyone wants to increase revenue. It would seem fitting in the age of mobile devices and technology-induced short attention spans that something as old-fashioned and archaic as selling would be left along the side of the road of progress.

This must be true because big-box retailers complain of show-rooming, when consumers go to a big-box store to look at items they will later order online from another seller. If selling were still alive, the big-box retailers would be able to sell something to the people doing the show-rooming.

As long as people want to buy things, you can increase your share of the global spend if you work on your selling skills.

Illustration by Tifani Carter

If the small and medium-sized businesses stopped trying to sell because they thought people no longer liked to be sold to, then the big retailers would win all the business. Do you really want everyone to buy everything from Amazon and Apple?

They haven’t stopped buying

Sell like you mean it

I have been a salesperson all my life. I sold flower seeds in the first grade as a fundraiser. I started my first business in the sixth grade with a roll of paper towels and a can of window clear. I cold called businesses on the main streets near my home and started a window-cleaning route. I have been a salesperson ever since.

So it is with great sadness that I accept and announce the end of the age of selling.

Wait a minute! Maybe I’m wrong. People haven’t stopped buying, have they? No, of course not. You still need to grow revenue and bill for more products or more services, right? Certainly. Maybe I’m just falling for a ruse. Maybe the big retailers want us to think the age of selling is over so they can make the sales you might have made, had you only believed you could have made them.

That would be the perfect play. While they attempt to overwhelm competitors with expensive marketing campaigns and cool gadgetry, they still have to convert all of those people they engage with and all the people who contact them into paying customers. Converting engaged people into paying people is not that easy.

There is a simple way to take back control of your business destiny. Sell like you mean it. If you haven’t been paying attention to the sales development of your staff because you have been busy with other things, it’s time to get back to it. If you’ve never thought your product or service is something that can be “sold,” then you need to rethink that proposition. As long as people want to buy things, you can increase your share of the global spend if you work on your selling skills.

Look around you at the small businesses that are thriving in Columbia.

Have they stopped selling? Are they only engaging and hoping?

Selling is not for the weak or tender, though good training and coaching can make anyone stronger and more resilient. Selling is a serious art and science that can be learned and taught.

Take a step back, and check yourself. Are you willing to make the commitment necessary to retool and rebuild the selling side of your business? If you are, then start a journey with me. CBT columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 75

Economic Index ›› It’s all about the numbers Housing: Single-family homes sales, March 2015: 185 Single-family active listings on market, March 2015: 689 Single-family homes average sold price, March 2015: $198,144 Single-family homes median sold price, March 2015: $176,500 Single-family homes average days on market, March 2015: 88 Single-family pending listings on market, March 2015: 268

Construction: Residential building permits, March 2015: 91 Value of residential building permits, March 2015: $25,311,313 Detached single-family homes, March 2015: 37 Value of detached singlefamily homes, March 2015: $8,794,612 Commercial building permits, March 2015: 24 Value of commercial building permits, March 2015: $5,560,757 Commercial additions/ alterations, March 2015: 17 76 \\\ june 2015

Value of commercial additions/ alterations, March 2015: $1,170,600

Labor: March 2015 – Boone County Labor force: 101,734 Employment: 97,535 Unemployment: 4,199 Rate: 4.1 percent March 2015 – Columbia City Labor force: 68,538 Employment: 65,872 Unemployment: 2,666 Rate: 3.9 percent March 2015 – Columbia, MO (Metropolitan Statistical Area) Labor force: 101,734 Employment: 97,535 Unemployment: 4,199 Rate: 4.1 percent March 2015 – Missouri Labor force: 3,086,232 Employment: 2,897,824 Unemployment: 188,408 Rate: 6.1 percent

Utilities: Water April 2015: 47,691 April 2014: 47,266 Change #: 425 Change %: 0.9 percent Number of customers receiving service on May 1, 2015: 47,733 Electric April 2015: 48,148 April 2014: 47,841 Change #: 307 Change %: 0.6 percent Number of customers receiving service on May 1, 2015: 48,161 CBT

Deeds of Trust

›› Worth more than $1,170,000 $412,500,000 New TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Bank of America LT 2 Kunzler Sub

$4,303,068 Bluff Creek Investment Group LLC The Callaway Bank LT 1A2 Bluff Creek Office Park Plat 3-I-B

$412,500,000 TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Bank of America LT 1 PT North 63 Industrial Park

$4,107,000 White Knight Limousine Inc. Regions Bank Callaway County

$412,000,000 TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Bank of America LT 3 BL 4 Mid Missouri Industrial Park $412,000,000 TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Bank of America LT 2A PL 2 Bellows Sub Replat Lots 1 and 2 $412,000,000 TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Bank of America LT 1-A Bryans Sub Replat LT 1 $412,500,000 TKG-StorageMart Partners Portfolio LLC Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp.

LT 4E PL 2 Centre West Office & Storage $10,469,849 Crossing-EPC of Columbia The Boone County National Bank LT 1 Crossing-EPC Plat 2 $6,500,000 Clubco LLC Boone County National Bank LT 21 Country Club Village Plat 1

$4,107,000 Littell, Ted James Regions Bank LT 1 Rocky Creek Estates Plat 2 $4,107,000 Littell, Gerald and Shirley Regions Bank LT 1 Fisher Sub $4,107,000 Littell, Ted Regions Bank LT 5 PL 1 Country Woods Sub $4,100,000 Moser Realty LLC Central Trust Bank STR 8-48-12 /N/NE SUR BK/ PG: 442/654 $4,100,000 Show-Me Oil Co. Inc. Central Trust Bank STR 2-48-13 //SE SUR BK/PG: 388/743 AC 3.84 $3,300,000 6th & Elm LLC Landmark Bank LT 16 PT Columbia $3,300,000 Grantwood Village LLC Boone County National Bank LT 12 Grantwood Village $2,778,888 Parkside Estates LLC Hawthorn Bank LT 109 Parkside Estates Plat 1

696 Deeds of trust

were issued between March 31 and April 27

$2,650,000 Ninth Street Properties LLC Boone County National Bank LT 27 PT Columbia $2,514,765 Beacon Street Properties LLC Martinsburg Bank & Trust LT 601 Bellwood Plat 6 $2,000,000 Brink & Ball Land Co. LLC Landmark Bank STR 10-48-12 //NE SUR BK/PG: 256/351 FF W/ EXCEPTION $1,796,250 Hurdle Investments LLC Boone County National Bank LT 120 Linkside at Old Hawthorne Plat 2 $1,442,000 Bristol Care Inc. The Callaway Bank STR 10-51-11 N/NW/SE SUR BK/PG: 400/613 FF W/ EXCEPTIONS $1,363,777 Smiley Lane LLC Boone County National Bank LT 1 Arcadia Plat 9

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$1,363,777 Odle, Elizabeth and Bruce Boone County National Bank LT 1 Arcadia Plat 9 $1,203,947 Brummet, Jeffrey and Jane Maries County Bank STR 10-47-12 //S SUR BK/ PG: 3901/74 AC 10.32 FF TRACT 12 $1,170,000 Fries, Donald Landmark Bank LT A BG 1700 Amelia Penguin Condos CBT

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866-639-1715 7Methods.co columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 77

New Business Licenses ›› Columbia residents and their upstarts

Our Partners...

The Tiger Home Team 573.446.6500 • TigerHomeTeam.com

“We realize the power of teamwork - for ourselves, our clients & our community. By working together, Columbia will be stronger and healthier for all of us.”

A-1 Auto Group 213 E. Business Loop 70 Used car sales

Creative Colors International 5201 Hatteras Drive Mobile service

Mattress Firm 2900 Trimble Road, Suite 101 Retail mattress store

Cricket Wireless 1400 Forum Blvd., Suite 220 Sale of wireless phones

Paw Pals 5504 Gemstone Way Pet sitting

Cries Lawn Care Outside Boone County Basic lawn care and maintenance

Qwikway Dent Technology 207 E. Broadway Paintless dent repair

Ashley Joy Photography 110 Orr St. Photographer

D&D Pub N Grub 6307 Leupold Court Restaurant

Cellairis 2300 Bernadette Drive Phone accessories kiosk

Deepak Mazumdar LLC 4005 Meadow View Drive Engineering consulting service

Royal Treatment 601 W. Business Loop 70, Suite 110A Massage therapy

Allen Designs & Remodeling LLC 4415 W. Rockhampton Circle House remodeling Alpha Office Cleaning, Etc. 106 Loch Lane Office cleaning

Central Pest Control Outside Boone County Pest control

573-875-1144 • WhiteDogPromos.com

Columbia Honda 1650 Heriford Road Automotive sales and parts Comow 1502 June Lane Flooring, lawn care, general maintenance

“Thanks, United Way, for providing the opportunity to partner with other small businesses to make a difference in Columbia! ”

are community partners.

To become a member of the LU365 Small Business Circle visit uwheartmo.org/live-united-365 78 \\\ june 2015

Corporate Safety Solutions LLC 303 N. Stadium Blvd., Suite 201 CPR safety training Courtney Tompson Photography 1123 Wilkes Blvd., Suite 201 Photography services and products

Epoch Health 2900 Trimble Road, Suite 107 Men’s health clinic Great Southern Bank 3200 S. Providence Road Bank Human Solutions Inc. 1407 Vandiver Drive Computer and music sales Lips and Curls 220 S. Eighth St. Hair salon Lot 6 2505 Carnation Drive Painting, no home sales, farmers market Luster Insurance Group 2100 E. Broadway Insurance sales and service

Surf Mild Mo LLC 3303 Belinda Court Software development The Green Card Café 124 E. Nifong Blvd., Suite B Food truck The Social Room 222 N. Eighth St. Tavern/bar There’s No Place Like Home Health 812 Claudell Lane, Apt. 201 Home health care Timberwood Homes LLC 1212 Rainbow Trout Circle General contractor Top to Bottom Cleaning Service 1706 Parkside Drive, Apt. 3 Cleaning service CBT

By the Numbers ›› Boone County statistics

city tree inventory

Columbia’s housing market is trying to keep up with the growing population, but how effectively? CBT went to the numbers to learn more about houses, jobs, history and trees.

2012

Source: City of Columbia Development Department

Number of properties 0

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

2,356

11

1998

2000 2001

average hourly wage of city arborist, according to city documents. A 2012 Columbia Daily Tribune article listed Herwald’s yearly salary as $43,645.

91

trees inventoried in area bound by Stadium, Providence and Broadway

1999

$22.78

was the last tree inventory, made possible by a $10,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and overseen by city arborist Chad Herwald.

Notable Historic Properties, designated by year 1

Source: gocolumbiamo.com

141

different species identified

1,692

trees recommended for removal

trees recommended for cleaning/pruning

2002 2003

Total deeds recording volume in Boone County, by year

2005

Total housing units in Columbia

Source: Boone County Recorder’s Office

2006

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

total deeds

2007

20,000

0

2008

40,000

37,229

2006

35,205

2007

2013

2008

2014

2009

27,876 28,558

2012

Construction laborers, $30,560

330

Plumbers, steamfitters, pipefitters, $49,330

32,538

0

2010

2011

24,490

Average single-family home sold price in February Source: Columbia Board of Realtors

Source: Columbia Board of Realtors

100 208,485

150,000

186,172

176,252 182,262 176,042

163,713

84

87

93

80

74 75

70

60 40

100,000 0 2010

2013

Average days single-family homes spent on market, Feb. 10 to 15

250,000 200,000

2012

YEAR

average days

580

10,000

31,236

2014

650

20,000

25,588

2013

Carpenters, $43,860

30,000

32,224

2011

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2014

47,450

31,552

2010

Columbia’s top Construction Occupations

units

year

2012

46,507 47,069

40,000

37,784

2005

2011

45,971

51,003

2004

2010

50,000

60,000

2003

2009

average price

year

2004

2011

2012

YEAR

2013

2014

2015

0 2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

YEAR columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 79

5 Questions

›› Get to know your professionals

➜ 1902 Corona Road, No. 200, Columbia, MO 65203 573-446-2222

Building Dreams

Cale and Dan Kliethermes, Kliethermes Homes & Remodeling Inc. 1. How has technology changed the homebuilding industry?

Cale: How hasn’t it? I remember when my dad got his first computer, which he primarily used for accounting. Then he got a drafting program. And I remember when he had a phone that was attached to his truck! Now we can communicate through our online client portal, and we can see our houses in 3-D before we’ve ever put a shovel in the ground.

Technology has also made our houses safer, and the codes have become stricter as product development has become more advanced (some may say too strict).

Dan: With ICR, we know to the penny our cost to build. Computers have made accounting much easier and the information more available. Everyone should know their cost, especially the overhead cost to run your business, which really kills most companies. You can always tell which builders don’t understand or know their true overhead. They always say, “I’ve worked all year, and I don’t have any money left.”

2. What recent advancements in technology have made building homes easier, simpler or better?

Cale: Communication. Sounds crazy, right? Now we’re provid-

ing several avenues to allow clients to communicate in a format that’s comfortable to them.

Some people don’t want to know what’s going on day to day; others want to know every single task that’s going to be done. Clients can choose how much or how little they see each day during their project. Keeping all that information in one spot to be accessed from anywhere allows us to offer that to our clients.

Dan: Programs that work with the cloud system. Our clients now have access to all their selections, contracts, plans and schedules, warranty and much more right at their computer, 24/7.

3. What might surprise the average person about your profession?

Cale: That a bathroom remodel can’t be done in a weekend, and it is nearly impossible to build a new home for $100 per square foot. By working with clients to determine their desires and dreams, we can specialize a project to their budget, and once we have the project planned, we can create a schedule that tells us when we will be done with it.

Dan: That we are 100 percent focused on them having the best building experience — even better than they thought. I love it when people say, “It even exceeded my biggest dream.”

4. Overall, what are the most significant current trends in homebuilding?

Cale: Sustainability is the greatest trend in building right now.

We have clients who don’t want to redo what we’ve just done in 10 or 20 years. Our clients would rather have the best-built home over the spiffy countertops.

Granted, they normally have the spiffy tops, too, but we have to start with great bones.

Dan: Insulation products, LED lighting, HVAC equipment.

5. What are the biggest challenges facing homebuilders today?

Cale: HGTV! Just kidding — sort of. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and it confuses people. Shows on TV talk about renovation budgets, and clients see a super fancy kitchen remodel for $20,000, and all the homeowners had to do was rip out the cabinets. They don’t talk about the fact that the hosts of the show aren’t charging for their time because the show is paying them or that the furniture they put in isn’t part of the cost because it’s just staging.

Dan: Keeping costs in line with clients’ dreams. Every day they come out with new products. Our job is to help the client discern what is important to them and get the most out of their budget to meet those needs. CBT

Photo by Sarah Redohl

Fun Fact: 80 \\\ june 2015

Kl i e t h e r m e s H o m e s & R e m o d e l i n g I n c . w a s f o u n d e d i n 1 9 7 6 . ➜➜ Fxxxx

Accounting Plus............................................................................................. 83 Anthony Jinson Photography �������������������������������������������������������������������� 7

Member SIPC

ADVERTISER INDEX

Baer & Edington LLC..................................................................................... 14 Boone County National Bank ������������������������������������������������������������������33 Brown Willbrand............................................................................................. 41 Budget Blinds.................................................................................................. 29 Caledon Virtual..................................................................................................4 Carpet One.........................................................................................................9 City of Columbia Water & Light �����������������������������������������������������������������6 Columbia Regional Airport ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 18 Commerce Bank...........................................................................................68 COMO Connect............................................................................................. 34 Dave Griggs Flooring America ���������������������������������������������������������������� 29

Mark Richardson, CFP® Financial Advisor

Deck The Walls............................................................................................... 76 Edward Jones................................................................................................... 81 GFI Digital...........................................................................................................10 Gibbs, Pool, Turner........................................................................................ 16 Hawthorn Bank...............................................................................................84 Heart of Missouri United Way ����������������������������������������������������������������� 78 Hub&Spoke......................................................................................................64 Inside The Lines..............................................................................................74 Landmark Bank................................................................................................. 2 Logboat Brewing Co...................................................................................... 16

Change doesn’t

always have to be hard.

Sometimes it’s smart.

Macadoodles.....................................................................................................8 Magnolia Med Spa......................................................................................... 34 MayeCreate Web Design ��������������������������������������������������������������������������66 Mid America Harley-Davidson ������������������������������������������������������������������ 3 Midwest Block & Brick ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14 Midwest Computech................................................................................... 67 Missouri Employers Mutual ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 5 Modern Litho/Brown Printing �������������������������������������������������������������������72 Naught-Naught Insurance Agency ������������������������������������������������������ 34 PCE Inc..................................................................................................................11

Your life is always changing and consequently, so are your needs and preferences. As your trusted partner and advisor, it’s my role to ensure that your portfolio is reflective of your current financial goals.

Your personal needs and preferences are always at the center of our relationship.

Personal Touch Cleaning Service ��������������������������������������������������������� 67 PhoneSmart - 7 Methods ��������������������������������������������������������������������������77 Quality Drywall Construction �������������������������������������������������������������������24 Ram Jack of Mid-Missouri �������������������������������������������������������������������������49 Starr Properties..............................................................................................70 State Farm Insurance - Stephanie Wilmsmeyer

70

Superior Garden/Rost Landscape �������������������������������������������������������68 Tech Electronics............................................................................................. 41 The Bank of Missouri....................................................................................30 The Connection Exchange ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 The Village of Bedford Walk ����������������������������������������������������������������������32 Wilkerson & Reynolds Wealth Management

70

Wilson's Fitness.............................................................................................20

Mark Richardson ,CFP® 2415 Carter Ln Suite #104 Columbia, MO 65201 573.442.1276 mark.richardson@edwardjones.com columbiabusinesstimes.com /// 81

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 BEN MELDRUM

During its nearly 50-year history of operation, the University of Missouri Research Reactor, or MURR, has proven to be a substantial stimulant of scientific research.

But when former MU President Elmer Ellis proposed the idea in the late 1950s, it was considered novel. The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, with a mission to promote and control peacetime development of atomic science and technology, was little more than a decade old at the time.

Huber O. Croft, former dean of the College of Engineering, suggested the idea of a university research reactor to Ellis, who then cast the vision for the reactor as we know it today. Ellis appointed a committee that spent months surveying faculty, estimating costs and possibilities and meeting with federal and state agen-

cies to determine the effect a research reactor would have on scientific innovation at MU. The results of that study showed overwhelming support for the initiative.

“New vistas of a nuclear age have touched every field of science, from agriculture to medicine, from geology to zoology and from engineering to veterinary science, in addition to the important discoveries being made in chemistry and physics,” Ellis said in a press release following the study’s release. “All those fields are a part of the University of Missouri’s educational responsibilities to our youth and to all our citizens. We have to move forward with the nuclear age, lest we fall hopelessly behind.”

The Missouri Legislature passed an appropriations bill that was signed by Missouri Gov. James T. Blair in June 1959. On Nov. 21, 1961, the

Atomic Energy Commission issued a construction permit for the university’s reactor.

By the fall of 1966, MURR was completed and fully operational at a cost of $3.4 million. And the predictions of Ellis’ committee proved accurate. Today, the 10-megawatt internationally recognized reactor supports the research of hundreds of faculty and students each year in dozens of disciplines. It is also the largest of its kind in the United States and the most intense neutron source of the approximately 27 other research reactors located on university campuses.

MURR is located about one mile southwest of the university’s main campus, just off Providence Road on Research Park Drive, and supports a variety of projects that benefit Missourians and other universities, industries and agencies nationwide. CBT

➜ We love Columbia business history. If you have any interesting photos and stories, please send them to Editor@BusinessTimesCompany.com 82 \\\ june 2015

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