Inside Columbia's Summer CEO

SUMMER 2016

www.ColumbiaCEO.com

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CONTENTS

Inside Columbia’s CEO • www.ColumbiaCEO.com • Volume 7, Issue 4

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Opening Bell: The Buzz On CoMo Biz

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The Reading List: 5 Business Books To Read This Summer

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Up & Coming: The Ladder Report

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Cutting Edge: CoMo’s Health Care Pioneers

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Regional Roundup

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Data Bank: Show-Me Jobs

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Momentum: Mark Fenner Energizes MFA Oil’s Aggressive Growth Plan

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Entrepreneurial Spirit: Dan Latham Grows Pulse Medical Staffing With 24-Hour Service

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Shopping: Executive Travel

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CEO At Play: 3 Questions

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The Conference Room: Citizen McDavid

55 Networking

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Transitions: Primaris Moves Into The For-Profit Sector

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Market Outlook: Consolidation Is The Name Of The Game In Health Care

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Business Basics: How To Create An Employee Wellness Program

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Publisher’s Note

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Closing Quotes

on the cover: MFA Oil President and CEO Mark

Fenner has orchestrated an aggressive growth plan since he took the reins of the farmer-owned energy cooperative in 2014. Read more on Page 44.

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STAFF Publisher Fred Parry fred@insidecolumbia.net Associate Publisher Melody Parry melody@insidecolumbia.net Chief Executive Officer Cathy Atkins catkins@insidecolumbia.net Managing Editor Kathy Casteel kathy@insidecolumbia.net Editorial Assistant Peg Gill peg@insidecolumbia.net Contributing Writers Porcshe Moran, Richard Ziegner Photo Editor L.G. Patterson lg@insidecolumbia.net Contributing Photographer Kayla Wolf Graphic Designers Trever Griswold trever@insidecolumbia.net Joe Waner joewaner@insidecolumbia.net Operations Manager Kalie Clennin kalie@insidecolumbia.net Marketing Representatives Adam Brietzke adam@insidecolumbia.net Joshua Huber joshua@insidecolumbia.net Rosemarie Peck rosemarie@insidecolumbia.net Kourtney Pickel kourtney@insidecolumbia.net Sales Assistant Paxton Jobe paxton@insidecolumbia.net Director of Customer Retention Gerri Shelton gerri@insidecolumbia.net Finance Manager Brenda Brooks brenda@insidecolumbia.net Distribution Associate Darren Dawson darren@insidecolumbia.net Inside Columbia’s CEO magazine 1900 N. Providence Road, Suite 324 • Columbia, MO 65202 Office: 573-442-1430 • Web: www.ColumbiaCEO.com Inside Columbia’s CEO is published quarterly by OutFront Communications LLC, 1900 N. Providence Road, Suite 324, MO 65202, 573-442-1430. Copyright OutFront Communications, 2016. All rights reserved.

Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Postage paid at Columbia, Mo. Annual subscription rate is $19.95 for four issues.

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Please Recycle This Magazine.

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OPENING BELL

THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

MATCHMAKER Cynthia Chapman (left), a fourth-year medical student at the University of Missouri, celebrates with her mother, Robyn Koerselman, at the School of Medicine’s Match Day this spring.

All of the 85 members of the class of 2016 received a residency program match, determining where they will spend the next several years in their first jobs as physicians while training in their chosen specialties. MU’s 100 percent residency placement rate exceeds the national average of 94 percent.

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The new crop of doctors received their medical degrees during MU commencement ceremonies May 14. Many of the physicians — 30 percent of the graduating class — will remain in Columbia to complete residency training on the MU campus, and 40 percent will practice in Missouri. Some 42 percent of the class selected high-need primary care fields such as internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine for their specialty training.

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OPENING BELL

THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

MFA Oil Buys 2 More Fuel Suppliers

Logboat Brewing Co. (left to right): Nick Hardy, Tyson Hunt, Andrew Sharp, Judson Ball, Josh Rein

Logboat Brewing Co. Wins Business Of The Year The Columbia Chamber of Commerce capped off Small Business Week in May by naming Logboat Brewing Co. the 2016 Small Business of the Year. The craft microbrewery — in business just two years — was founded by friends Tyson Hunt, Judson Ball and Andrew Sharp. The taproom at 504 Fay St. offers four year-round beers plus seasonal brews. Earlier this year, the company doubled production and expanded sales into the St. Louis market.

Other finalists for the chamber award were Bluetail Medical Group, Boone Central Title Co., EasyPC IT & Computer Repair and Simon Oswald Architecture.

Boone Hospital Solicits New Lease Proposals

The Board of Trustees at Boone Hospital Center has issued a request for proposals, soliciting management groups interested in operating the 397bed county hospital when its current lease agreement with BJC HealthCare expires in 2020. Under the current lease, the board must notify BJC of its intention to renew or discontinue the lease agreement by the end of 2018.

St. Louis-based BJC has operated Boone Hospital since 1988 when Christian Health Services (now part of BJC) assumed management of hospital operations. The current lease agreement went into effect in 2006 and was amended in 2012.

Proposals are due June 30. The trustees will host open forums with employees and community members in the fall. An announcement on how the board will proceed is expected by year’s end.

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MFA Oil Co. recently acquired fuel suppliers in Missouri and Oklahoma, as the farmer-owned cooperative continues to expand its operating footprint.

In Moberly, the company added Brownfield Oil Co., a refined fuels and lubricants supplier, to the MFA Oil fold.

The purchase includes a Sinclair gas station in Shelbina and a Sinclair card-lock fueling facility in Kirksville.

“Brownfield Oil serves an area where MFA Oil has a large market presence, making it a natural fit,” says Don Smith, MFA Oil director of mergers and acquisitions. The purchase will also provide substantial growth to MFA Oil’s wholesale petroleum distribution division, APM, and adds Sinclair fuels and branding options to its offerings, Smith says.

In Washington, Okla., the acquisition of propane supplier Terry’s Propane Inc. complements the cooperative’s other Oklahoma City holdings, Smith says, and solidifies the cooperative’s presence in Oklahoma. MFA Oil is the seventh-largest propane retailer in the United States.

StorageMart Expands In California StorageMart has acquired Store More America in Watsonville, Calif., a facility with 110,000 square feet and 832 storage units. It is the sixth StorageMart store in Northern California and the 171st in the company’s portfolio of properties in the United States and Canada.

“StorageMart will continue to fill in gaps in our existing markets with strategic acquisition,” says CEO Mike Burnam. “We’ll continue to move into new markets as opportunities for portfolio transactions present themselves.”

Founded in 1999, Columbia-based StorageMart is the largest privately owned storage company with 11.5 million square feet of self-storage in 171 facilities.

KRCG Unveils New Set KRCG-TV 13 launched a new, high-tech set in May. The new studio features stand-up and video presentation options including a hightech weather center, interview area and multi-screen video wall, all controlled by a state-of-the-art broadcast booth.

Set design was by Devlin Design Group Inc. of Crested Butte, Colo.

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THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

BioPharma Scores $20 Million FDA Grant

Boone Electric’s Solar Farm Takes Shape

Boone Electric Cooperative broke ground on its community solar farm in April.

Joined by partners Shelter Insurance Cos. and Dogwood Solar, cooperative officials said they hope to have the 100-kilowatt array operational by August.

Shelter is a tax equity partner in the project.

“As a tax equity investor, we are helping Boone Electric and its member owners get involved in solar at almost a 50 percent reduction in cost with our commitment,” says Shelter spokesman Jay MacLellan.

Shelter will be a 95 percent owner of the project for more than six years, MacLellan notes. At some point in the seventh year, Boone Electric will buy the project back and assume full ownership.

Local contractor Dogwood Solar LLC will install the ground-mounted solar array on the Boone Electric property at 1413 Range Line St. “Given we are two local, longtime businesses partnering, we were comfortable pursuing this once Boone Electric asked us to do so,” MacLellan says.

“With the addition of Dogwood Solar as the bid winner — another local business — we are very pleased with the way this project has turned out.”

Once the array is operational, cooperative members will have the option of purchasing the energy output it produces. This provides another energy option for those who would like to install solar at a home or business but are unable to, due to roof space or shading from trees.

Inquire about solar power purchases by contacting Boone Electric Cooperative, www.booneelectric.coop.

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BioPharma Services USA Inc. has been awarded a five-year, $20 million contract with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, a division of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The contract is to conduct in vivo studies of generic drug products in human subjects over a period of five years, from 2016 through 2021.

The FDA expects the BioPharma studies to address scientific questions in developing generic approval standards and ensure post-market safety and efficacy of approved generic drug products.

BioPharma, a Toronto, Canada, firm, opened its U.S. clinical research facility in Columbia in 2014. The FDA studies will be conducted in the local facility on Portland Street.

BRIEFLY …

The U.S. Census Bureau says BOONE COUNTY is Missouri’s fastest-growing county. With nearly 175,000 current residents, the county grew by 7.2 percent from 2010 to 2015, according to Census Bureau population estimates.

MFA INC. has announced a joint venture with MFA OIL CO. to construct a shuttle-loader facility on the Union Pacific Railroad approximately five miles east of Hamilton in Caldwell County. The grain-handling facility will consist of 2 million bushels of permanent storage and 1.5 million bushels of temporary storage.

Regional Economic Development Center Inc. opened the newly renamed INNOVATION HUB in April.

Formerly known as the Downtown Incubator, the renovated space on Walnut Street offers private workspaces, collaborative furnishings, improved audiovisual capabilities and other amenities, as well as a structured series of business development and support programs.

The INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTER at the University of Missouri received the President’s “E” Award for Export Service in May. The presidential award is the highest recognition for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced $8.8 million in payments to boost the production of advanced biofuels in 39 states, including MID AMERICA BIOFUELS LLC of Mexico, Mo. The Audrain County producer — a joint venture of MFA Oil Co., Ray-Carroll County Grain Growers, Growmark Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co. — will receive $62,892 to produce an advanced biofuel from biodiesel transesterification.

Women’s Business Center Opens

The Missouri Women’s Business Center opened June 1 at 800 N. Providence Road, Suite 210. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the center is a new program of Central Missouri Community Action and will support women who want to start their own business or expand an existing one. It is the second women’s business center in Missouri and will include offices in both Columbia and Fulton, serving clients in eight surrounding counties For information on training programs, call 573-777-5276.

The UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE received a top ranking in family medicine by U.S. News & World Report in its 2017 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The medical school ranks seventh in the nation for the specialty of family medicine.

DANA HOLDING CORP. has been named to Forbes magazine’s list of America’s 100 Most Trustworthy Companies. Dana was one of three companies in the automobiles and auto parts category to make the 2016 rankings.

Dana’s Columbia facility manufactures lightvehicle axles.

The 2016 GOVERNOR’S CONFERENCE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT will focus on work readiness, the skills gap, tech corridors and industry clusters when it convenes Sept. 7–9 at Crown Center in Kansas City. Register and check for updates at www.ded.mo.gov/governors-conference.

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OPENING BELL

UP & COMING

THE LADDER REPORT Look Who’s Moving Up In Business Women’s Network honored DIANNE LYNCH and MICHELE SPRY in April with Athena International Awards, recognizing their career success, community involvement and support of women in business.

Lynch, president of STEPHENS COLLEGE, received the Athena Leadership Award.

She currently serves as president of the American Midwest athletic conference and is on the Academic Standards Committee of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, plus the board of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication. She is a peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association and writes for The Huffington Post.

Spry received the Athena Young Professional Award.

The president of MIDWAY ELECTRIC INC., she is a past winner of numerous local and state awards for her community contributions. Spry is active in Honor Flight, Partners in Education and the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors; she published a children’s book in 2013.

The EXCELLENCE IN MISSOURI FOUNDATION has named SHERRY MARSHALL CEO. She replaces Raina Knox, who left in April 2015. Marshall previously served as a health care executive for Cerner Corp. and vice president of quality for Saint Luke’s Health System in Kansas City.

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The Steve and Barbara Fishman Center for Entrepreneurship at COLUMBIA COLLEGE has announced the inaugural class of Fishman Faculty Fellow Entrepreneurs.

Two-year fellowships were extended to Columbia campus faculty members DANIELLE LANGDON in the art department and BRANDI HERRMAN in the business department.

Langdon and Herrman will collaborate on their proposal to create an on-campus marketing agency to serve student entrepreneurs. Other faculty fellows are George Thompson of the Crystal Lake and Elgin, Ill., campuses, and Jamie Currier of the St. Louis campus.

The degree in entrepreneurship is one of the newest and fastest-growing degree programs at Columbia College.

ROGER DE LA TORRE has been named section chief of bariatric surgery at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI School of Medicine. De la Torre, an associate professor and the John A. Growden Endowed Professor of Surgery, joined the surgery department in 2004. He also serves as director of the MU Biodesign and Innovation Program; de la Torre holds more than 65 patents on products in use worldwide.

MIKE J. SUKUP has joined CRIPPS & SIMMONS LLC as an associate attorney. Sukup will focus his practice on estate planning, elder law, guardianships and conservatorships. He previously practiced estate planning in the Kansas City area.

JOHNNY EAKER and JEFF BRANSCOM have launched COSMIC SAUCE, a Columbiabased video marketing agency. The agency, which focuses exclusively on creating video content and social media advertising, specializes in branding through video storytelling, and then devising a social media advertising strategy to propel video content.

Video director/producer Eaker is the storyteller; Branscom guides the project’s strategic vision and serves as copywriter.

SHELTER INSURANCE has hired BRIAN JONES as its new manager of diversity. Jones has been with Shelter since 2012. He has an extensive background in recruiting, development and management, serving in similar positions with Chase Investment Services, The Centennial Group and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

The American Clinical and Climatological Association has inducted UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI Medicine Dean PATRICE DELAFONTAINE into its ranks. The association, whose interests cover all aspects of internal medicine, limits active membership to 250 physicians. Delafontaine is the only ACCA member at MU and one of only eight members from Missouri.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has appointed JAMES STEVERMER to a four-year term on the AAFP’s Commission on Health of the Public and Science.

Stevermer is a professor of clinical family and community medicine at the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI School of Medicine, and serves as medical director and a primary care physician at MU Health Care’s Family MedicineCallaway Clinic in Fulton. The AAFP represents 120,900 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

TIM RILEY is the new director and chief curator of the NATIONAL CHURCHILL MUSEUM on the Westminster College campus in Fulton. Riley has spent the past year as painting curator for the museum. He came to mid-Missouri from La Crosse, Wis., where he taught arts management at Viterbo University and directed the La Crosse Public Education Foundation.

Riley has also worked at The Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, Wis., and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters, in New York City.

KEVIN McDONALD has joined the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI as the UM system’s firstever chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. McDonald comes to Missouri from Rochester Institution of Technology, where he served as vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion. He has held similar posts at Virginia Tech, John Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.

Share your business news with Inside Columbia’s CEO. Email the editor at kathy@insidecolumbia.net.

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OPENING BELL

Northwest Missouri Joins Viticultural Area Missouri has picked up a fifth American Viticultural Area for wine production. The 12,897-square-mile Loess Hills District Viticultural Area spans sections of western Iowa and northwestern Missouri, along the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers from Hawarden, Iowa, to Craig, Mo. AVAs, designated by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, allow vintners to better describe the origin of their wines and help consumers better identify wines they purchase.

Home to the nation’s first AVA in Augusta, Missouri also has designated AVAs of Hermann, Ozark Highlands and Ozark Mountain.

Mid-Missourians Top Ingram’s A-List Four Columbians have found themselves on the 2016 Ingram’s list of 50 Missourians You Should Know. The 18

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REGIONAL ROUNDUP

Kansas City business journal’s annual list pays tribute to the A-listers of the Show-Me State. Columbians honored include: u Mark Fenner, president and CEO of MFA Oil Co. u Gary Kremer, director of The State Historical Society of Missouri u Barry Orscheln, CEO of The Orscheln Group, Moberly u Attorney Marvin E. “Bunky” Wright Other mid-Missourians on Ingram’s list include: u U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, 4th District congresswoman, Harrisonville u Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, Jefferson City u Lisa McKinzie, broker/owner of McKinzie & Co. Keller Williams Lake of the Ozarks Realty, Osage Beach u Greg Surdyke, owner of Surdyke Yamaha, Osage Beach

Phoenix Manufacturing Sold, Set To Grow Illinois-based Turnkey Processing Solutions, a bulk-material handling and mineral processing company, has acquired Phoenix Manufacturing and its operations in Glasgow and Cole Camp. The company plans to invest $1.25 million in improvements at the two facilities and add 45 new jobs over the next two years. It will retain the Phoenix Manufacturing name for the facilities where workers make original equipment end products for air pollution control, asphalt production and tanks for liquid and dry storage. The two facilities also offer custom industrial fabrication for parts used in a wide range of other companies’ end products, such as water treatment and food services products.

SBA Honors Hermann Wurst Haus

The U.S. Small Business Administration named Hermann Wurst Haus the

Rural Small Business of the Year for eastern Missouri in May. Owner Mike Sloan accepted the award during Small Business Week in St. Louis. Sloan and his wife, Lynette, have operated the hybrid German-style deli for four years, specializing in more than 47 varieties of award-winning bratwurst, German sausage and grand-champion housesmoked bacons and summer sausage.

The business also offers gourmet foods, gifts Wurst Haus beers, craft sodas and an online store. Sloan has won more than 400 awards of excellence for his hams, bacons, summer sausages, jerky, snack sticks and other German specialties.

St. Mary’s Makes Top 100 List For Neurosciences

SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City has made the latest list of “100 Hospitals and Health Systems With Great Neurosurgery and Spine Programs,” published by Becker’s Hospital Review. The list includes hospitals and health systems that are national leaders in neurosciences, providing treatment for various brain and spine conditions. Only two other Missouri hospitals made the list: Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis and Cox Medical Center South in Springfield.

Moberly Employers Expand Operations

Three Moberly employers have announced expansion plans in the Randolph County city, adding 129 jobs to the local economy.

Denmark-based Fiber Vest, which produces fiberglass components for the wind energy industry, is nearly tripling the production space at its facility at 1800 Robertson Road to keep up with customer demand. The company plans to hire 30 additional full-time employees.

Cardinal Health, a medical products manufacturer based in Dublin, Ohio, is expanding its facility on Highway 24 and hiring 50 people to work as maintenance technicians, machine operators and material handlers. When complete, the expansion will increase the company’s Moberly workforce to 175.

The Walmart distribution center in Moberly went on a hiring binge last winter, adding 45 full-time-equivalent positions to the facility’s base level staffing. In addition, the center will add four new salaried positions this fall.

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OPENING BELL

DATA BANK

SHOW -ME JOBS The Missouri Department of Economic Development found much to celebrate in a spring report of employment statistics. April data revealed a record number of Missourians with jobs — 2,816,200 on the Show-Me State’s nonfarm payrolls. Unemployment is 4.2 percent statewide; Columbia’s jobless rate is 2.9 percent.

The jobs report followed the final accounting of Missouri’s Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth, begun by Gov. Jay Nixon in 2011. The five-year plan for maximizing the state’s economic competitiveness identified seven industry sectors with high-growth potential: advanced manufacturing, bioscience, energy solutions, financial and professional services, health sciences and services, information technology, and transportation and logistics. Here’s a look at employment in those targeted industries in Boone County and how they grew over the past five years.

COMO EMPLOYMENT: 97.1% TARGET INDUSTRY EMPLOYMENT GROWTH IN BOONE COUNTY

Advanced Bioscience Manufacturing (1,226 employees)

Energy Solutions

(4,243 employees)

(3,521 employees)

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+20%

Financial & Professional Services (6,152 employees)

+9%

Health Science Information & Services Technology

Transportation & Logistics

(12,680 employees)

(3,725 employees)

+15%

(2,545 employees)

+24%

+17%

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ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

BUSINESS IN A HEARTBEAT

Dan Latham Grows Pulse Medical Staffing With 24-Hour Service

by PORCSHE N. MORAN • photos by KAYLA WOLF

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an Latham doesn’t embrace the 9-to5 workday. By 4 a.m., the CEO of Pulse Medical Staffing is on the phone fielding calls from health care facilities. His company provides temporary supplemental staff and medical professionals to more than 300 hospitals and long-term care centers nationwide. The 48-year-old says he works 60 hours per week. But in reality, he is always on the clock.

He prides himself on making good on his company’s motto of being “just a heartbeat away” from solving a client’s staffing problems.

“This business is nonstop,” says Latham. “Hospitals and long-term care facilities never close. They always need our services. There have been times when I’ve traveled to Kansas City and St. Louis and then back to Columbia all in the same day. I already have 50,000 miles on the new vehicle that I purchased in January.”

Long hours and a demanding schedule are nothing new to Latham.

He graduated from the practical nursing program at St. Louis College of Health Careers in 1994. He has worked as an emergency medical technician, operating room technician, human tissue and transplant coordinator, and a licensed practical nurse.

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“Nurses are tough and hardworking,” Latham says. “We work at all hours and in all conditions.”

Latham was a traveling nurse for six years. That career gave him the opportunity to work in health care facilities in Florida, California, Texas, South Carolina and Washington. In 2003, the Sikeston native landed a travel nurse contract with University Hospital in Columbia. Latham worked there until 2007. His next job was as vice president of recruitment and hospital liaison for a local medical staffing agency.

In the summer of 2010, Latham decided to open his own firm. In the last six years, he has grown his team of nationwide workers from less than 10 to more than 260. In 2012, the company’s revenues were around $230,000.

Today, they are close to $1 million.

Sales have grown nearly 100 percent each year since 2013. Just last March, the University of Missouri Extension Business Development Program honored Latham with its Rising Star Award. Latham credits many of his accomplishments as an entrepreneur to the experience he gained as a nurse.

“Being a nurse helps me to be calm and caring in business instead of cold and calculating,” he says. “The wholebody approach of caring for a patient is something that I apply to my business. I listen to and validate my employees and my clients.”

“The wholebody approach of caring for a patient is something that I apply to my business. I listen to and validate my employees and my clients.”

—Dan Latham

Bounding Over Hurdles Professional mentoring has also contributed to the success of Pulse Medical Staffing. Before he started his company, Latham used the resources available through the BDP. Virginia Wilson, director of the local Small Business & Technology Development Center, has assisted Latham with all aspects of business development from market research and financing to writing a business plan and managing employees. The Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Center is another BDP program that helps businesses win government contracts. Latham secured a five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals with the help of MO PTAC counselors.

“The staffing industry is very competitive,” Latham says. “I can’t call another staffing company and ask them how they do it. The right resources are crucial for business owners. Virginia is my go-to person when I have questions. She has helped me through the hurdles.”

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One of those hurdles is the issue of cash flow. Latham says this is one of his biggest challenges. He pays his staff once a week, but hospitals pay him within 30 to 45 days, depending on the contract.

“Cash flow is so important,” he says. “I often have to float salaries for four weeks. I would tell aspiring small-business owners to have a wellestablished line of credit through a reputable bank with low interest rates.”

Meeting Demand Another challenge for Latham is finding enough temporary medical staff to fill the high demand. By 2025, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing expects that the U.S. nursing shortage will grow to 260,000 registered nurses. Latham says a single facility has requested as many as 25 nurses at one time. On occasion, he has gone back into the field as a nurse to help meet a client’s needs.

“It is hard to meet the demand,” he says. “I can’t hire enough nurses.

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the huge, growing nursing shortage.

Nurses are leaving the profession at an alarming rate due to the demands and stresses of the job.”

Latham operates Pulse Medical Staffing from an office suite at 620 Trade Winds Parkway. He has an administrative staff of four people.

They advertise the company’s services through word-of-mouth and social media, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Latham and his employees provide 24/7 service and support to their clients. The company pays personal liability and offers basic life-support certification and renewal courses for medical professionals. When Pulse Medical Staffing employees report for duty, they already have the proper certifications, immunizations and workers’ compensation. Latham says he often goes above and beyond to ensure that his team of medical professionals has more than the minimum qualifications that the client requests.

“I judge every contracted employee on whether or not I would want to work

with them,” Latham says. “I can’t be onsite to micromanage my team, so good communication is important. We have an elite group of professionals working with us. I want to raise the bar and exceed expectations.”

Latham says he sometimes misses the bedside interaction with patients that he had as a nurse. Yet, he has been able to find purpose in his role as a business owner.

“Now, my focus has shifted to making a difference in the lives of my employees and the house supervisors at the medical facilities that we staff,” he says. “I enjoy being a mentor, a teacher, and sometimes even a mom and dad to my staff.”

Living His Passion His mentor, Wilson, says Latham’s dedication to his staff is one of the strengths of his business.

“Dan is very passionate about his business,” she says. “He loves what he does. He cares about his staff and does everything he can to create an accommodating workplace where the staff has everything they need to succeed.”

With so much time spent at work, Latham says the business can take a toll on his personal life. He remembers the year his son asked him to not answer his phone for the entire day as a birthday present. Although it is hard for him to leave the office, he made time for a vacation with his son to Yellowstone National Park last year.

“I try to make sure that my family and friends know that I’m not just doing this for me,” he says. “I’m doing it for every single client and every single person who works for us. If I don’t answer the phone, a hospital doesn’t have the staff it needs, a medical professional doesn’t have a job and people might not be able to pay their bills.”

Despite the ups and downs of being a small-business owner, Latham says maintaining a positive outlook is essential.

“We are in the business of caring for the sick, elderly and critically ill,” he says.

“We have to be in a good mood every day.

We need to have a positive, energetic attitude no matter what is going on in our personal lives. I don’t focus on negativity. I’m grateful every day.”

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THE CONFERENCE ROOM

CITIZEN McDAVID

Columbia’s Newly Retired Mayor Reflects On Six Years At City Hall

by KATHY CASTEEL • photos by L.G. PATTERSON

B

ob McDavid presided over his last Columbia City Council meeting on April 4 and moved out of the mayor’s office later that week. When he passed the gavel to newly elected Mayor Brian Treece on April 18, the 69-year-old retired obstetrician closed the book on his two terms as the city’s CEO. McDavid had announced last winter he would not seek re-election.

McDavid entered office in 2010 as the self-styled “energetic and convincing salesman for clean economic development.” His campaign’s top priorities included public safety, maintaining Columbia’s livability and reversing the decline in city revenues. In the conference room, he looks back on his six years as mayor and assesses how those priorities fared.

Looking back, what would you say was your greatest accomplishment as mayor of Columbia?

I was a volunteer participant in a terrific, energetic, growing community.

The citizenry accomplishes more than individual government leaders. Mayors can lead, but the citizens provide the momentum and direction of the city. My greatest accomplishment is knowing that the city moved forward in many, many different and far-reaching initiatives. As I left office, 81 percent of citizens were satisfied with municipal services. I left office with improved city finances, a low crime rate, budget surpluses and a growing city.

Any regrets?

No regrets.

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ILLUSTRATION BY JOE WANER

How would you grade your administration on progress with these issues?

Economic Development During my first term, CoMo grew rapidly, added many jobs and thrived. I am honored that Columbia was ranked No. 1 in 2013 for job creation and economic growth among U.S. cities under 200,000. Columbia added IBM, Beyond Meat, Nanova, BioPharma and Northwest Medical Isotopes.

Columbia retained Kraft Foods when the corporation underwent a dramatic restructuring and downsizing.

Columbia witnessed the expansion of 3M and American Air Products and we watched the explosive growth of Veterans United Home Loans. I am proud that Columbia had the eighthlowest unemployment rate in the country last year. I relished the scores of ribbon-cuttings as small businesses opened throughout the city.

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I believe this momentum slowed during my second term. Unfortunately, job creation and economic growth are not priorities for a large segment of Columbia’s citizens, as well as some members of Columbia’s municipal government. I expect to see Columbia fall in national benchmarks for job creation.

Columbia Regional Airport I am proud of our air service initiative.

In 2010, Columbia’s commercial air service was in decline. Columbia was served by an airline that did not take our calls. This airline was cutting back commercial service to Columbia.

We put together a comprehensive, rigorous, detailed analysis of passenger demand in mid-Missouri. We put $3 million of public and private money at risk in a revenue guarantee to American Airlines. Our analysis was right-on and our initiative was successful. We now have multiple commercial flights to the second- and fourth-busiest airports

in the United States. Planes are full. I expect growing passenger demand will yield more commercial flights to more destinations in the near future.

Infrastructure Columbia citizens showed enough confidence in this City Council and in city administrators to approve several ballot proposals. I am proud that the City Council successfully provided $35 million for parks through two ballots.

I am proud that we funded more than $120 million in new infrastructure improvements through a series of ballot proposals — sewer, stormwater, electric.

Columbia has grown 2 percent annually since 1960. Should that growth continue, Columbia will have 200,000 citizens in 2040. People want to live in great cities. Columbia is a great city.

City Employees’ Pension Fund Shortly after taking office, I led an initiative to repair the substantial

Bob McDavid Unplugged Columbia’s former mayor sounds off on these recent local controversies:

CVS Rejection: Disagree with City Council’s 4-3 decision to deny.

Development Fees: Disagree with City Council. Columbia’s construction costs exceed surrounding communities.

Businesses, job creation and home construction will be driven away to lowercost locations.

Enterprise Zones: Columbia has added lower-paying service jobs as well as high-paying tech jobs. We lack the manufacturing jobs that could sustain the 40 percent of Columbians who do not make a livable wage. We are failing to add manufacturing jobs because those companies move to communities that incentivize. Surrounding communities have enterprise zones. Austin, Texas, has nine enterprise zones.

I was surprised at the failure of lowincome advocates to support job creation.

Columbia’s lack of incentives is the main reason the $4 million industrial park the city purchased in 2010 remains vacant.

Gateway Entrances To Downtown:

Great idea. Let’s see what we can afford.

Plastic Bag Ban: I expect the City Council to bring the bag ban back up. In a citywide vote, I will vote against the ban.

Red-Light Cameras: Not shown to

improve safety.

Roll Carts: Automated systems will come when the citizens accept them. They will lower trash fees long term.

Security Cameras Downtown:

Security cameras are widely used throughout the world.

Student Housing Boom: Overbuilt.

Market forces will react by lowering rents; investors will be at risk. Let the market decide.

Revisiting The Route Of HighVoltage Transmission Lines: Utility

professionals tell us electricity service to south Columbia is uncertain and insecure because of inadequate transmission capacity. Council actions tell us that council members are not taking this problem seriously.

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Crime Rate/Citizen Safety Crime has always been too high.

Unfortunately, crime is part of the human condition and will always be too high.

The FBI has published its Uniform Crime Report annually since 1985. Violent crime in Columbia reached a historic low in 2014. In 2015, violent crime went back up to the 31-year average because of a spike in assaults. Total crime in Columbia, however, is at a 31-year low.

Crime will always be too high, just as public safety staffing is too low.

The arrival of IBM in 2010 was hailed as Columbia’s entry into the high-tech job market. It didn’t quite turn out that way. Why do you think IBM could not maintain its employment targets here? Was it a mistake for the city to become entwined in the future of one business?

IBM is undergoing reassessment, realignment and restructuring. Such is the case with all businesses and corporations. Obviously, we’d be delighted if IBM had 800 employees in Columbia. However, the more than 350 IBM employees are a huge plus to Columbia’s economy. Because of the terms of the 2010 IBM agreement, IBM will stay in Columbia and thrive.

deficits to firefighters and police officers’ retirement funds. Similar to many states and other cities, Columbia city administrators and past city councils had made promises to city workers we were failing to keep. Our police and firefighter pension assets were only 50 percent of funds needed to keep the promise.

We brought together six privatesector financial experts and three city employee representatives to hammer out pension reform. My charge to the Pension Reform Task Force was simple: Columbia had a $100 million math problem. Solve the math.

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The reforms from this task force were unique and historic. We achieved changes here that have not been achieved elsewhere. We see that Columbia’s police and firefighter pension funding has increased from 50 percent to 59 percent in just four years. A trajectory is in place to stop the financial drain and city service reductions these pension deficits create. City employee retirement is now secure. Citizens and government leaders need to understand unfunded accrued actuarial liability, how to measure it, and how its impact drains city resources and services.

Declining sales tax revenue motivated city officials to get creative with the budget process.

Can public agencies really budget like a private business?

Public entities have little incentive to cut expense. Private-sector business will cut expenses to increase profit, invest in capital, and increase pay to employees.

Despite shrinking tax revenues, as measured in per-capita inflation-adjusted dollars, the city of Columbia ran budget surpluses. During a brainstorming session, Mike Matthes and I initiated the incentive-based budget concept that has

lowered government expense. We used those one-time surpluses to fund needs such as roads, community policing, the “Blind” Boone home, Maplewood home, pension deficits, homeless veterans and the Cradle to Career Alliance.

What is the greatest challenge facing the current City Council?

Loss of sales tax revenue because of e-commerce.

What advice would you give to new Columbia Mayor Brian Treece?

Mayor Treece is smart and will do well with his priorities.

What will you miss most about serving as mayor?

I will miss the interactions with Columbia’s passionate, creative and innovative citizens, and Columbia’s city staff.

What won’t you miss?

Acrimony. Spending pre-council weekends reading hundreds of pages of material.

Suzanne and Bob McDavid

What’s next for Bob McDavid?

With three grandchildren and another one imminent, I’ve got some catching up to do. Suzanne and I are looking forward to spending time together traveling.

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TRANSITIONS

PROFITABLE CONVERSION

Primaris CEO Richard Royer

Primaris Completes Its Journey To For-Profit Status

by KATHY CASTEEL • photos by KAYLA WOLF

S

ummertime is a sweet season for the leadership team at Primaris this year.

The health care consulting firm is celebrating its new status as a private company, marking the end of its journey to convert from nonprofit organization to a for-profit company.

For new owners Richard Royer, Joel Kaplan and Mike Levinger, closing the deal on the purchase of Primaris Holdings Co. means the end of an 18-month journey to transition the 33-year-old organization into a privately held consultancy and set a course for health care solutions of the future.

“Health care providers are scrambling to cope with today’s regulations while planning for five years from now,” says 32

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Primaris CEO Richard Royer. “The bar always gets higher.”

Founded in 1983 by the Missouri State Medical Association and the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons, Primaris began its organizational life as the Missouri Patient Care Review Foundation. The nonprofit foundation sought to establish and coordinate uniform, high standards of medical care and health services by the associations’ members, and conducted peer review of patient care delivery for Medicare. In 2004, the foundation changed its name to Primaris and moved from Jefferson City to Columbia.

“We are the utility for Medicare quality management in Missouri,” Royer says. “As the state quality improvement organization, we work directly with the medical provider

community to improve the organization and improve care. The government is our customer, because it’s paying the bills, but the work is patient-focused.”

As regulations have evolved, and legislation such as the Affordable Care Act enacted, quality control has moved from measuring processes to measuring outcomes, Royer says. “This is the modern approach to quality,” he says.

In 2014, the two physicians associations began looking for a way to exit the quality control business so they could concentrate on the foundation’s educational mission.

They formed a C-corporation with the shell of a nonprofit and sold it to the management group; the new owners began the process of converting to a forprofit operation. Although Primaris is now a privately held for-profit company,

Step By Step

Converting a nonprofit organization to a for-profit company requires a bit more effort than simply relinquishing tax-exempt status to the IRS. These steps are common to the process.

1. Consult a tax adviser.

Review tax returns and assess income potential to prepare for discussions with your board. Survey the relevant market to determine value of the organization and its assets.

2. Meet with the board of directors. Address positives and negatives of the conversion. Record the board vote and prepare a notice of intent for employees, members, donors and partners.

3. Notify the IRS. Compose a “statement of nonprofit conversion” that provides the reason for nonprofit termination. Include a certified copy of your liquidation and asset disposition plan. Be sure to list the organization’s fair market value and any asset recipients.

4. Register your new status with the state. For-profit businesses pay state taxes, too. Contact the Missouri Secretary of State and the Department of Revenue for the appropriate paperwork.

5. Communicate. Notify employees, members, donors and affiliates about the change.

6. File a final nonprofit tax return. The IRS wants this return within four months and 15 days from the termination of nonprofit status. Depending on gross receipts, you can use e-Postcard Form 990N (less than $25,000), Form 990-EZ (less than $1 million) or Form 990 (all others).

For more information, visit www.irs.gov/ charities-non-profits.

it still produces nonprofit services as Primaris Foundation, a 501(c)(3 ) organization within the shell of the for-profit Primaris.

With paperwork filed and documents signed, Primaris begins the summer as a newly structured company with 120 employees in 15 states. The owners serve as the management team — Royer as CEO, Kaplan as chief financial officer and Levinger as chief operating officer.

The three-tiered business plan offers services through federal and state Medicare contracts as well as the company’s private consulting work. About 20 percent of Primaris’ business comes from its contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for quality review. Another 15 percent of business stems from the company’s Missouri CLAIM contract, a state health insurance assistance program administered through the state Department of Insurance.

Growth has come in Primaris’ third area of business, Royer says. “Two-thirds of our business is in private consulting now,” he says. “That’s a complete flip from what it was in 2013. We have a client list of 30 to 40 health systems nationwide, ranging from large systems with multiple hospitals to large group practices to small rural hospitals. It’s a value-based payment group.”

Such rapid growth — five-fold in three years — presents challenges for the former nonprofit.

“We had to learn marketing,” Royer says, “and expand our online presence — a website, social media, webinars. We send out mass mailings, speak at conferences, sponsor trade shows and publish articles. I published nine articles last year — before 2015, I published zero.”

Primaris launched a sales department this year and hired its first commissioned sales person. Royer expects to hire additional sales staff next year.

“We’re looking to grow business, but not only in sales,” Royer says. “We have a major grantwriting division. A Centers for Disease Control grant funded our work with University of Missouri Health Care when we rolled out electronic recordkeeping to public health agencies.”

There are growing pains, Royer concedes.

“Mistakes cost money. When you are a new organization, that can be painful.” One of the advantages he sees in converting to a for-profit operation is flexibility. “This is wonderful ground to be working in, simply because of the change that’s demanded,” he says.

Royer calculates the company’s growth at $1 million per year. “We could go from a revenue base of $7 million to $10 million in three years,” he says. “We’ll probably add 10 employees a year as we grow. It wouldn’t surprise me if we went from 120 to 150 full-time equivalents by then.”

He plans to offer financial involvement to Primaris employees through a stock purchase program or profit-sharing. “I want employees wedded to the fate of the company,” Royer says.

“The people here are my only asset — I want maximum involvement from them.”

Primaris faces challenges as the owners pick their way through the volatile landscape of the health care market. The company faces newfound challenges in competition as well as market unpredictability and a speedily consolidating industry. “We’ve learned some early lessons,” Royer notes. “Consultants have to constantly reinvent themselves so they don’t work their way out of a job.”

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MARKET OUTLOOK

CRITICAL MASS

Consolidation Is The Name Of The Game In Health Care

by RICHARD ZIEGNER

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t is no surprise that health care is one of the most important topics this generation — and those to come — will face. According to the World Health Organization, America spends more money per person on health care than any other country in the world. In 2014 alone, U.S. health care spending grew 5.3 percent, reaching more than $3 trillion — approximately 17.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, as measured by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ National Health Expenditure Accounts.

The data holds great potential for change as the full implications of the Affordable Care Act take hold and we begin to see what it means for health care providers, patients and the industry at large.

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Quality Control One of the more interesting — and possibly unintended — consequences of the ACA is that it has generated increased merger and acquisition activity throughout the health care industry.

Estimates run as high as 25 percent of hospital executives currently involved in M&A transactions while more than 50 percent are exploring potential deals. Currently, credit risk researcher Standard & Poor’s rates 625 hospitals; S&P analysts believe this number will decrease to 500 by the end of this consolidation cycle.

Why the sudden need for health care providers to consolidate? Under the ACA, hospitals and other providers are no longer being reimbursed for volume; now, reimbursement rates are pegged to the quality of care they provide. That’s a

very big shift from how the system used to work. To increase revenue in the past, hospitals and other providers simply had to do more — treat more patients, run more procedures, attract more business. Now, it’s all about quality of care. If health care providers fail to meet quality care benchmarks set by the ACA, then Medicare, Medicaid and eventually private insurance companies will hit the providers with a penalty.

This puts a number of hospitals in a challenging situation. Many of them may not be prepared or may not have the software or technology to report outcomes the way the ACA requires. Or they may not have the ability to provide the quality outcomes the law demands — a shortfall that may require bigger hospitals or better experts to help them provide that higher quality of care. The result is that smaller hospitals are being driven to partner with larger hospitals

for their services and outcomes. If those smaller hospitals cannot find a partner, many will cease to exist.

The trend toward consolidation has also hit physician practice and long-term care space as health care providers try to consolidate revenue. By purchasing physician practices, hospitals are locking in physician referral patterns, or simply buying practices to lock in patients.

Hospitals are also buying long-term care facilities or rehab hospitals, positioning themselves to offer the full continuum of care — from a physician’s referral to a patient’s hospital visit to rehab or long-term care. By owning the full spectrum of care, hospitals are better able to control the quality each patient receives and in turn, the most reimbursement for that care.

Strategies For Success As the health care industry continues to change, so do the financial strategies surrounding it. Success comes down to quality care and access to capital. Today’s reality is that health care bankers have become even more careful about which hospitals and which health care providers they lend to, given the rapidly changing environment. Bankers are now looking at measures beyond financial performance — including readmission rates, quality benchmark performance and how the hospital fits within the community — to determine financial viability.

Across the spectrum, efficiency is increasingly more important today than it was yesterday. Experienced health care bankers can work with providers to identify efficiencies, ensuring that the capital structure is efficiently constructed and financing is well-organized. These financial specialists can also review efficiencies on the accounts payable and accounts receivable sides. The prevailing thought is, “How can you do it faster, better and at lower cost?”

The best way to answer that question is by partnering with those who understand the business and the road that lies ahead.

Richard Ziegner is director of health care banking at UMB Bank, where he is responsible for leading the bank’s efforts in the health care sector.

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BUSINESS BASICS

HEALTHY & HAPPY

How To Create An Employee Wellness Program

by KATHY CASTEEL

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o you think you might want to start an employee wellness program for your business. Good idea! The benefits of wellness programs have been welldocumented in study after study — credited with significant reductions in health care costs, sick leave absenteeism and worker’s compensation/disability management claims. Companies with a wellness culture have found it easier to retain employees and recruit new ones.

The Affordable Care Act blesses wellness programs as well. Provisions of the ACA increase the maximum permissible reward in a health-contingent wellness program from 20 percent to 30 percent of premiums and reduce the amount employers contribute; the reward can be as 36

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much as 50 percent for smoking cessation programs. Return on investment for such programs can vary. Studies estimate the ROI on employee wellness programs ranges from $1.50 to $5.81 for every $1 spent. The University of Michigan Health Management Research Center estimates that an organization saves $350 annually for each low-risk employee who remains low risk and $153 each year a high-risk employee reduces health risks.

Here are some tips for designing your own employee wellness program.

1. Assess your needs.

Whether you form an advisory committee, task your human resources department or tackle the program yourself, the first item on the to-do list is a needs assessment.

Survey employees about concerns, preferences and schedules. Determine space availability, employer liability and

clarify insurance requirements. Look for partner organizations that can contribute to your program.

2. Develop your program’s components.

Create a document that lays out the details of the program and the expected outcomes.

Consider carefully what you can offer.

Three proven components of wellness programs are tobacco cessation, cancer screening, and fitness and nutrition. Some businesses have expanded the wellness concept to include financial wellness, employee assistance, counseling and other whole-life components.

Fitness programs are the most popular with employees, but that doesn’t mean you have to build a gym at the office. This is where partnering comes in — hook up with local gyms or recreation centers for group rates in a voluntary exercise program. If you

have the space in a meeting room on-site, you might offer a modified exercise class or other fun activities. Look into additional options to encourage wellness: u Screenings u Workshops u Health fairs u Healthy snacks for meetings and breakrooms u Activity breaks during the workday u Walking groups u Pedometer challenges u Smoking cessation classes u Safe storage for bicycles u Wellness newsletters Incentives add fun to the program, and competitions build team spirit. Reward your employees’ accomplishments with inexpensive swag such as water bottles, tote bags, stress balls, pedometers and cookbooks.

3. Notify employees.

Set your implementation date and allow plenty of time to inform all employees through a variety of outlets — meetings, fliers, email, kickoff events, etc.

4. Implement the program.

With employees on board — based on survey results earlier in the process — roll out your wellness program. Encourage a supportive environment and have fun.

Provide a method of feedback to make sure the program is meeting its promises.

5. Evaluate the program.

Take time to evaluate your wellness program annually and plan for the next year. Look at participation levels, satisfaction levels, behavior changes, metrics, productivity and the return on your investment. Harder to quantify — but no less important — is the effect of a wellness program on your company’s culture. Those intangible benefits may be immeasurable, but attitude and atmosphere go a long way in determining the impact on company health and wellness.

On May 16, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued final rules on wellness program compliance with federal discrimination and privacy regulations. For more information, visit www.eeoc.gov.

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THE READING LIST

5 Business Books To Read This Summer

America’s Bitter Pill

By Steven Brill (Random House, 2015)

Steven Brill has looked at changes in the health care industry from several distinctly different angles: as an attorney, as a journalist and as a patient.

In America’s Bitter Pill: Money, Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System, Brill’s readable narrative meticulously chronicles the creation of the Affordable Care Act and its implementation.

Compelling personal stories, insider details, backroom wheeling and dealing, drama and intrigue — it’s all here for the political junkie. And there’s a twist. Shortly before Brill finished the book, he entered the hospital to undergo open-heart surgery. As the reporter became the patient, he found himself rethinking all he knew about health care policy, colored by his newfound view from a hospital gurney.

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The Purpose Effect

Rise of the Robots

No, this isn’t the sequel to Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. But those who have read Warren’s best-seller may want to pick up this new release as well. Flat Army author Dan Pontefract defines purpose as the “why” in our lives: Why do we work? Why do we work where we work? Why do organizations work the way they do? The answers hold the key to purpose — personal and organizational, and our role in it all.

Where those purposes overlap and align is what Pontefract calls “the sweet spot” — a place where we can find balance and meaning and joy.

Through stories and case studies, Pontefract offers leaders and team members alike the tools to fill our work, our organizations and our lives with a sense of purpose.

What hath technology wrought? There’s some bad news coming on that front, according to software developer Martin Ford. In his book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, Ford sounds a warning about the impact of technological progress on our economic security. He argues that America’s “economic Goldilocks period” has come to an end — the same smart machines that serve as tools to make our lives easier and our work more productive today could become the workers that eliminate our livelihoods tomorrow without so much as a by-your-leave.

Filled with examples, Ford’s book plots a course for employers, scholars and policymakers to address the implications of this digital revolution, but be forewarned: you may not like his solution.

By Dan Pontefract (Elevate Publishing, 2016)

SUMMER 2016

By Martin Ford (Basic Books, 2015)

The Storyteller’s Secret

By Carmine Gallo (St. Martin’s Press, 2016)

Everyone has a story.

How we tell that story determines our success.

Communications author Carmine Gallo profiles a collection of more than 50 of the world’s most successful people — all gifted storytellers — and breaks down their techniques to offer tools that anyone can use to improve presentations, branding, sales pitches, product launches and other business communications. Every chapter starts with a story — Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Mark Burnett, Joel Osteen, Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousafzai and others — followed by a list of storyteller tools and the chapter’s core lesson, the storyteller’s secret of success. This book is a good read for the mesmerizing stories alone, but the valuable lessons will help anyone transform their passion (what makes your heart sing, Jobs said) into a good story.

Tension: The Energy of Innovation

By Chris Wasden & Mitch Wasden (Scipio Press, 2016)

Most people equate tension with stress — and who needs more stress? The Wasden brothers are big proponents of tension.

University of Missouri Health Care CEO Mitch Wasden and his brother, University of Utah professor Chris Wasden, believe tension is what drives innovation in the business world. The tug-of-war between the status-quo collective and the enterprising individual forms a tightrope that nearly every CEO must walk — encouraging the creative solutions of tomorrow while tending to the routine of today’s business. Using a bicycle metaphor, the Wasdens provide the tools to create a dynamic balance between routine and creativity. Tension is an engaging mixture of anecdotes, research and practical advice to encourage the creative genius that resides in us all.

ADVERTISEMENT

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Cutting Edge

CoMo Pioneers Showcase The Future Of Health Care Forget for a moment the mind-numbing arguments that blanket discussions about health care these days. Let’s get back to the real reason this industry is so fascinating: the ever-evolving advances in medicine that save lives, restore health or just make our days on this earth a little more comfortable.

In Columbia, these “Eureka!” moments are coming at a fast clip from clinicians and researchers alike. Little wonder mid-Missouri is often called the medical mecca of the Midwest.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MU HEALTH CARE, MURR & BOONE HOSPITAL CENTER 40

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Getting To The Heart Of The Matter

The way to a man’s heart may not be through his stomach — nor to a woman’s either, it turns out.

Todd Vogel prefers to use 3-D imaging and a catheter to open up those pathways blocked by a patient’s peripheral artery disease. The chief of vascular surgery at University of Missouri Health Care is the first surgeon in Missouri — and one of the first in the United States — to use new imageguided technology to treat the condition marked by narrowing of the arteries that carry blood to limbs.

Peripheral artery disease is a common circulatory problem in which plaque builds up inside the arteries of extremities — usually the legs and feet — and blocks blood flow. Common risk factors include aging, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and inactivity. If left untreated, painful symptoms that hinder daily activities can progress to an inability to walk even short distances.

Eventually, gangrene sets in, leaving amputation as the only option. The new system Vogel uses allows physicians to see inside an artery and simultaneously remove plaque buildup.

“It’s the first time we’ve been able to visualize an artery from the inside to precisely guide the catheter and remove a blockage at the same time,” Vogel says.

The minimally invasive procedure does away with traditional reliance on X-ray imaging combined with touch and feel to locate the blockage and stents to keep the artery open.

“Now,” Vogel says, “we can pass through a blocked artery and remove the plaque buildup.”

Imaging technology known as optical coherence tomography powers the system to capture real-time 3-D images physicians can view as they maneuver a catheter to the precise site of a blockage, where they can remove the plaque to restore blood flow.

Other advantages include decreased operative risks, shorter procedural and recovery times, and no need for general anesthesia, Vogel says. He adds that the process minimizes or eliminates radiation exposure as well, because X-ray imaging is unnecessary.

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An Eye For Comfort

Personal trainers, personal diets ... personal eye drops?

In the anonymous age of mass marketing, an individualized approach to a medical need can make all the difference to patients.

For those who suffer from dry eyes, trial and error is the usual means to seek comfort, with many patients visiting up to five doctors before they find relief. Ophthalmologists at University of Missouri Health Care’s Mason Eye Institute have devised autologous serum eye drops, made from properties found in a patient’s own blood, that offer longlasting relief without the irritation found in commercial eye drops.

According to Mason Eye Institute Director Frederick Fraunfelder, the personalized eye drops start with a blood draw at an MU Health Care lab. The blood goes to Saving Sight, a local eye bank, where technicians extract the viscous serum from the patient’s blood and mix it with a saline solution. Less than a week after the blood draw, patients have uniquely fashioned eye drops, suited to their personal body chemistry.

“The results are tremendous,” says Fraunfelder, chairman of the

ophthalmology department at MU School of Medicine. “These really are the ultimate in personalized eye care.”

Each batch of autologous serum eye drops lasts about two or three months, depending on the severity of eye dryness. The drops are preservative-free, and must be stored frozen; thawed drops last a week under refrigeration.

Dry eyes are a natural occurrence with aging, although patients with diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis or Sjögren’s syndrome are more prone to severe dryness, as are people who take antihistamines or blood pressure medicine. The dryness is uncomfortable, and if left untreated, can result in ulcers; infected ulcers could cause vision loss.

The drops work because blood contains several proteins and lubricants that benefit the eye. Since the drops derive from a patient’s own blood serum, those proteins and lubricants don’t irritate but soothe — and can even help heal the eyes over time.

Saving Sight is a nonprofit organization that introduced eye donation to Missouri. Founded in Columbia in 1960, the group operates several vision health programs and works with physicians across the state to provide autologous serum eye drops to patients.

When Hearts Go Pitter-Patter

Machine vs. machine: Sometimes advances in modern medicine can get crosswise with each other when the innovations are not compatible. Such was the problem for patients implanted with cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators who need diagnostic work via magnetic resonance imaging. Although as many as 40 percent of defibrillator patients will need an MRI within four years of receiving the device, most could not undergo MRI scans because of the risk from potential interaction between the MRI and the device.

That all changed last spring, when Missouri Heart Center cardiologist Dan Pierce implanted an MRI-conditional CRT defibrillator in a patient at Boone Hospital Center. Pierce is the first physician in mid-Missouri to offer the treatment.

The new devices free heart patients to access MRI scans, which are used to diagnose conditions such as stroke, cancer, and muscle, bone and joint pain.

“With these new devices, patients with defibrillators are able to get the testing they need,” Pierce says.

Hailed as a significant development for heart failure patients with CRT-D therapy, MRI conditional defibrillators were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration just last February, making Boone Hospital Center one of the first in the country to provide them.

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Have Mammography, Will Travel

The “Mamm Van” is on the prowl.

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center debuted its new mobile mammography van in April. The 38-foot-long, fully inclusive clinic provides women in rural areas access to the same mammography screening services available at Ellis Fischel in Columbia. Dubbed the “Mamm Van,” the mobile clinic’s equipment includes 3-D breast screening technology, or tomosynthesis, and a private mammography suite and changing room. The all-female clinical staff provides mammograms, clinical breast exams and breast health education to women throughout the state.

Appointments generally take 30 minutes from check-in to completion, and if follow-up care is needed, the Mamm Van team makes the appropriate arrangements.

Full support of the Mamm Van is through a pledge of $765,958 from the David B. Lichtenstein Foundation, a private foundation that contributes to charitable organizations in Missouri.

The Nuclear Option

Researchers are going nuclear in the fight against cancer.

University of Missouri researcher Silvia Jurisson and her interdisciplinary team recently received a U.S. patent for a new delivery method that uses nuclear isotopes to help target, diagnose and treat cancer. The patented method could prove invaluable in battling prostate, pancreatic, breast and small-cell cancers in the body.

Jurisson, a professor of chemistry and radiology and a research investigator with MU Research Reactor, works with radiotracers, which are isotopes in extremely low concentrations that can be used to image and treat cancer.

“They provide the delivery vehicles necessary to get treatments into the nooks and crannies of the body where cancer cells usually hide,” she says.

The research team worked with Arsenic 72, an imaging and diagnostic isotope, and Arsenic 77, a radiotherapeutic isotope. They attached one of the arsenic isotopes to trithiol, a stable radioisotope. The trithiol package then can be combined with medicine or diagnostic molecules; when injected, it “seeks out” and binds with cancer cells, delivering the proper substance to where it is specifically needed.

Early-stage results of Jurisson’s research are promising. If additional studies — including in vivo studies in mice — are successful over the next several years, the research will progress to working with physicians at MU.

A Doggone Good Fix

A recent study might make you wonder if University of Missouri orthopaedic research has gone to the dogs.

Veterinarian James Cook, director of the division of research at MU Health Care’s Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, has validated a technique that promises a better knee repair. Working with a canine research model, Cook and his team tested a suspensory fixation repair for torn anterior cruciate ligaments, the most common knee injury. Instead of a traditional ACL repair — where

surgeons create a tunnel in the upper and lower bones of the knee joint and secure a ligament graft to the bones with screws — the suspensory system uses sutures to pull the graft into sockets created in the two bones; a button on the surface of the bones holds the graft in place.

Cook likens the graft-to-bone attachment of traditional ACL repair to a spot weld rather than a fully integrated repair. The pressfit mechanism of the screws can cause cell and tissue damage in the new graft, he adds, resulting in a knee repair that’s prone to failure.

“With this newer suspensory method, the graft fills the entire socket like a potted plant, allowing the graft the best opportunity to fully integrate into the bone like a normal ligament,” Cook says. “The suspensory method also reduces cell and tissue damage to the graft.”

The researchers found that only four of the six dogs treated with the traditional screw-fixation method achieved full functional healing, and none of the grafts fully integrated into the bones like a native ligament. Of the dogs treated with the newer suspensory system, all six achieved functional and natural healing.

“This newer method provides the best option for achieving graftto-bone integration,” Cook says. “And, it may allow patients to return to a more active lifestyle with a new ACL that is less likely to fail.”

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››

MOMENTUM Mark Fenner Energizes MFA Oil’s Aggressive Growth Plan

by KATHY CASTEEL • photos by L.G. PATTERSON

At the tender age of 20, Mark Fenner had an epiphany: he would never play professional football.

A scholarship football player at Missouri Western State College for two years, Fenner’s athletic career had ended with an injury in 1983. He needed a backup plan.

After transferring to the University of Missouri and earning a degree in agricultural economics, he went to work building a three-decade career in cooperatives.

Circling back to Columbia four years ago, Fenner now helms MFA Oil Co., the 18th-largest cooperative in the country and seventh-largest U.S. propane retailer.

Not bad for a backup plan.

The farmer-owned energy cooperative Fenner leads has been in growth mode for the past 3½ years, with 38 acquisitions on the books and untold more to come.

MFA Oil has momentum, Fenner says, the very best kind of energy.

“We’ve bought 38 companies and still have cash in the bank and no debt,” he says. “There’s plenty of room for more growth.”

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FENNER ARRIVED IN COLUMBIA in 2012, hired by thenpresident and CEO Jerry Taylor as chief operating officer.

It was a homecoming of sorts for the Richmond native who left Columbia when he graduated from Mizzou in 1985.

Fenner brought decades of cooperative experience with him. He’d gone to work for agricultural cooperative giant Farmland Industries right out of college, selling fuel in Iowa. As he worked his way up the company ladder, Fenner moved into markets in Kansas City, Wichita and back to Farmland headquarters in Kansas City. In 1998, Farmland formed a joint venture with Cenex Harvest States called Country Energy and tapped Fenner to head up marketing and sales. When CHS bought out Country Energy two years later, the transition was smooth.

“We started out as equals,” Fenner recalls. “It was a great way to go about merging companies.”

Fenner spent 12 years at CHS, serving as the national account director for the cooperative’s south region. When Taylor brought him onboard at MFA Oil, he put him in

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charge of day-to-day operations of the refined fuel, propane, Petro-Card 24, American Petroleum Marketers, Break Time and Jiffy Lube operations.

“The focus, though, was on the growth of company operations,” he says. “The two years I had here before Jerry retired allowed me to get to know all of MFA Oil’s operations. We ordered analytics and metrics for every department.”

The analysis was not pretty. “Co-ops are customer-intimate,” Fenner says. “That can be a good thing, until it becomes too much of a good thing. Customers like the intimacy, but there’s a balance — you have to be more efficient. When I got here, there were many great things going on — good people, great philanthropy, great customer relationships. But we were so inefficient in our bulk fuel and propane businesses, that it just had to change. We’re trying to achieve a more efficient business culture here while retaining the important customer intimacy.”

He’d heard the stories from the “bad old days,” as Fenner puts it. In the early ’80s, the bankruptcy of an East Chicago refinery where MFA Oil was a partner had plunged the co-op into an extremely frugal mindset, where cashiers turned over the paper in their registers to reuse, and frequent deliveries continued in small trucks because larger, more efficient ones were too expensive to purchase.

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A series of savvy moves brought MFA Oil out of its funk from the East Chicago refinery shutdown. The cooperative still had a stake in a refinery in McPherson, Kan., a reliable source of fuel and revenue. Break Time convenience stores, Jiffy Lube and Big O Tire franchises helped diversify operations in the 1980s and ’90s. Alternative fuels and biomass had captured the public’s attention and congressional funding. The cooperative that Fenner joined in 2012 was a wideranging, sprawling conglomerate of energy operations.

“The leadership of both Jerry Taylor and Dale Creach toward moving us into Break Time, Jiffy Lube and Big O Tires took us into automotive retail businesses we could be successful in,” Fenner says.

“But the traditional side of our business resisted change and these businesses needed an overhaul.”

His review highlighted the need for education among cooperative members and employees. “We began a campaign to educate everyone on the new ways of how business is done,” he says. “From my past experience, I had a great example in what not to do,” he adds, citing Farmland’s bankruptcy in 2003 and the piecemeal dispersal of its divisions to other companies.

“Farmland failed because of poor management,” Fenner says. “I used my experience there as a cautionary tale.”

FENNER BECAME the fourth president and CEO of MFA Oil on Sept. 1, 2014.

“First day on the job, we lost the Kansas oil refinery,” he says. Fenner’s old boss, CHS, had decided to exercise its option to buy out the other partners in the National Cooperative Refinery Association, which operated the refinery.

“Seventy percent of our income was gone,” Fenner says. “But, it was an opportunity.”

An opportunity, indeed, says Jon Ihler, MFA Oil’s vice president of sales and marketing. “His direction to replace lost earnings from the sale of the company refinery has reshaped the MFA Oil organization,” Ihler says.

The cooperative may have lost a substantial revenue stream, but the buyout offered a trade-off: cash, and lots of it.

“MFA Oil suddenly had a chunk of cash,” Fenner says.

The refinery sale also served to expose an unpleasant truth for the cooperative: refinery income had masked revenue shortfalls in the core bulk fuel operations.

Fenner embarked on a two-pronged program to install efficiencies in the business operation while targeting acquisitions that could grow the cooperative and provide income.

“I was brought in to bring growth,” Fenner says. “We’re buying propane and fuel companies that bolster our core

businesses. Propane is the economic engine for us; it’s more profitable, and we are performing both of these businesses in a much more efficient manner.”

It’s an investment strategy of growth and relevance, he says.

Chief Financial Officer Robert Condron agrees. “Mark’s strength is that he is very strategic,” Condron says. “He has a long history in the energy industry and has a broad level of understanding of all aspects of it. Over the last four years, he has refocused MFA Oil on its core competencies and we have exited a few business that had become nonstrategic but very time-consuming for management.

We are refocused on our core businesses and are investing heavily in them.”

The strategy included shedding the biomass operation in 2015 and rearranging operations to concentrate on its core bulk and retail businesses: bulk fuel, propane and lubricants; Break Time, Jiffy Lube and Big O Tires; and a partnership in American Petroleum Marketers, a branded fuel supplier selling Cenex petroleum products.

“Plenty of growth opportunity in those five areas,” Fenner says.

MFA Oil also maintains a 5 percent ownership in Mid America Biofuels LLC, a biodiesel plant in Mexico, Mo. A recently formed joint venture with MFA Inc. will construct a shuttle-loader facility on the Union Pacific Railroad in Caldwell County.

“Working with MFA Inc. adds value to our side,” Fenner says.

The 87-year-old cooperative has increased in value by 50 percent over the past four years, with annual revenue up from $1 billion in 2012 to $1.5 billion today. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ranks it as the 18thlargest cooperative in the country, based on revenue. Thanks to fuel and propane acquisitions, annual

“WE INTEND FOR EVERY ACQUISITION TO ADD MEMBERS AND delegates to the cooperative ...

That’s strength in purchasing power, which goes right back to our core mission, our reason for existence.”

sales volume has risen from 350 million gallons to 500 million gallons. “We’re looking at 10 percent growth per year, on average,” Fenner says.

The torrid pace of fuel and propane acquisitions has launched MFA Oil to a top 10 position in the fuels market; it is now the seventh-largest propane retailer in the country. “Mark has really challenged the pace of change in our organization,” says Kenny Steeves, vice president of bulk and propane plant operations. “Most co-ops are slow to move and can lose relevance in the industry over time. The additional growth in the propane division will position us for future success, while adding value to our

member owners.”

MFA Oil is also adding members; the co-op boasts more than 40,000 on its rolls. “We intend for every acquisition to add members and delegates to the cooperative,” Fenner says. “That’s strength in purchasing power, which goes right back to our core mission, our reason for existence.”

The retail units — source of 90 percent of the cooperative’s business — enhance that mission, Fenner says. “We sell a ton of oil through Jiffy Lube and Big O,” he says. “We sell a lot of gasoline, too. We’re a buyer now; no more refineries. If we buy a lot of gas to sell to customers, that can get us a better deal on diesel for our farmers.”

Fenner wants to grow retail

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PHOTO COURTESY OF MFA OIL CO. Left to right: Moberly Mayor Bob Riley; Ed Harper, MFA Oil vice president of retail automotive, construction, and maintenance; MFA Oil CEO Mark Fenner; Moberly Area Chamber of Commerce President Chuck McKeown

“These employees were in an old building where we just couldn’t stay.

They deserved better.”

A Red Ribbon Day

MFA Oil Co. celebrated the grand opening of its 33-acre Business Support Campus in Moberly on May 19. The new site houses the company’s distribution center that it moved from California, Mo., plus a maintenance department, parts and packaged goods warehouses, training center, product development and quality control lab, a 32,000-square-foot truck shop and bulk lubricant storage.

The facility, finished from the partially built sucralose factory of bankrupt Mamtek

operations at 5 percent a year for unit sales. “All of our retail concepts help us run our traditional businesses better,” he says. “There are interesting retail concepts we can apply to our bulk operations — assigning expenses, paying dividends. You either pay taxes or pay patronage; we’d rather pay our farmers.”

The traditional businesses of MFA Oil — bulk fuel, propane and lubricants — have been streamlined and overhauled for efficiency. There is some autonomy — individual bulk plants budget for their needs and submit them through

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International, offered a chance for MFA Oil to consolidate several operations with room to expand.

“There’s some synergy in having all that together,” says MFA Oil CEO Mark Fenner. “These employees were in an old building where we just couldn’t stay.

They deserved better.”

About 30 employees work at the Moberly site now, with more hires slated as the company grows. The old business support facility on Paris Road will be demolished to make room for a brand-new Break Time service station and convenience store, Fenner says.

district managers. Fenner has instituted enterprise resource planning throughout the business, modernizing MFA Oil’s accounting, computers and other technology, and trucks.

“Mark is always challenging us to become more efficient,” says Ed Harper, vice president of retail automotive. “He wants us to look for opportunities to grow, but do it responsibly.”

Efficiencies have been painful, Fenner says. “Co-ops are held to a different standard,” he says. “We’re owned and governed by our customers. We’ve had

to close some stores — probably 30 offices. They need to produce; we need to be competitive. We can’t justify maintaining tiny offices all over our trade territory. Our customers don’t want to — and shouldn’t have to — pay us more for fuel because we keep open locations that aren’t needed. That’s the painful price of relevance. There’s a discipline involved.”

FOR ALL THE TALK

of strategic moves, MFA Oil doesn’t spend much time constructing long-term strategic plans. “I

MFA Oil CEO Mark Fenner (left) with Chief Financial Officer Robert Condron

don’t waste time with those,” Fenner says.

“You can’t do 10- and 20-year strategic plans in this business — maybe 10- or 20-month plans. We can take care of them in a few sessions for the next fiscal year.”

He likes to invoke a well-known saying attributed to management guru Peter Drucker: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” A self-described “people guy,” Fenner builds on relationships. “Our two Kansas properties are former customers of mine,” he notes. “The energy business may be a big industry, but it’s still about relationships and people.”

When Fenner built his executive team, he reached out to the relationships he’s maintained. “I don’t care about tenure,” Fenner says. “For me, talent trumps tenure.”

The effort led him to hire longtime colleague Condron as chief financial officer. “Mark and I have a long history,” Condron says. “We

worked together for more than 15 years and then went to work for different companies but stayed in touch. When he called me three years ago, it was an easy decision for me to accept a position here. He’s done a great job of bringing in executive talent from outside the company while also promoting from within.”

The 53-year-old CEO describes his leadership style as people-centric and active.

Chief Human Resource Officer Janice Serpico would add “passionate” to that list.

“I remember distinctly at an employee meeting,” Serpico says. “Mark was talking about safety and its importance.

He showed a picture of a tank at a customer’s house that was unsafe. He praised the driver who locked and refused to fill the tank because of the safety concern. Unfortunately, we lost the customer because they did not want to fix the issues. Mark’s comment was, ‘I

just wanted to walk right up and knock on the customer’s door and say, Don’t you care about you and your family’s safety? MFA Oil obviously cares more than you do.’

“In that moment, he was so passionate you could just tell it really bothered him,” she recalls. “That passion is why people love Mark as CEO.” His passion spills over to MFA Oil’s 1,750 employees as well.

“We have great people working here,” Fenner says. “I love being here. We pray before board meetings and employee meetings. We like to laugh and have fun, too. Our culture is more about being a great place to work.”

And that is where the passion stirs. “We are tasked with continuing the legacy of this cooperative,” Fenner says. “By taking it to a more profitable path — making money on its own operations — we ensure that MFA Oil remains for a long time.”

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DIVIDENDS

EXECUTIVE TRAVEL

Roadwork

Up Your Productivity With These On-The-Go Gadgets

by PORCSHE N. MORAN

Working from the road can be a challenge, but business doesn’t stop just because you’re away from your desk. Savvy executives use technology to stay productive no matter where their jobs take them. These portable gadgets from Columbia retailers can help you stay connected and optimize efficiency while you’re mobile.

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Keys-to-Go ultra-portable keyboard in black, red or teal by Logitech, available at Staples ($69.99)

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Ultra Fit USB 3.0 flash drive in 16, 32, 64 or 128 GB

by SanDisk, available at Best Buy ($7.99–$34.99)

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Bold Watch Motion smartwatch by Movado, available at Kay Jewelers ($695)

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PowerLite 1761W WXGA wireless 3LCD multimedia projector by Epson, available at Staples ($649.99)

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Workforce DS-40 portable document scanner by Epson, available at Office Depot ($129.99)

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NomadKey micro USB-to-USB charge-and-sync cable by Nomad, available at Best Buy ($14.99)

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Digital stylus pencil for iPad, iPad Pro and iPhone in walnut, gold or graphite by FiftyThree, available at Best Buy ($49.99–$59.99)

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DIVIDENDS

CEO AT PLAY

Three Questions The doctor is in, and making plans for summer fun. Here’s what’s on the itinerary of a few popular CoMo physicians.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING

What’s on the itinerary for summer vacation — adventure or relaxation?

ADAMS: I am really excited to be attending an international business class through the MU School of Business in Munich and Prague this summer. The class is part of an execMBA I have been working on and should be a great adventure with a lot of useful information.

COUGHENOUR: Adventure leads to relaxation — and ibuprofen.

JOHN ADAMS , M.D Chief of Staff Boone Hospital Center

Where does your summer escape hatch lead to — the latest blockbuster movie or a beach novel?

ADAMS: I love novels — Tom Clancy and Larry McMurtry (I grew up in Texas) are my favorite authors.

COUGHENOUR: It leads to Rocky Mountain National Park.

What’s your prescription for beating the heat?

ADAMS: Back porch under an umbrella, light evening breeze and cool drink of choice!

JEFFREY COUGHENOUR, M.D. Medical Director Frank L. Mitchell Jr., MD, Trauma Center University Hospital

COUGHENOUR: Being above 12,000 feet … “The world can’t get you down when you’re standing on top of it.”

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JIM KIDWELL MEMORIAL GALA The Cancer Research Center’s 2016 Jim Kidwell Memorial Gala took place on April 9 at Parkade Plaza Event Center. The evening honoring cancer survivors raised more than $48,000 to fund the CRC’s Raymond Freese Doctoral Fellowship and support research in central Missouri.

1. Katie and Jeff Harris 2. Karen Miller and David Brown 3. Nancy Wilson and Stephen Webber 4. Stacy Tatiersky, Rhonda Durham and Dulcenia Kidwell 5. Garry Banks, Emily Brady and Steve Lee 6. Larry and Judy Atterberry Sr. with Marla and Larry Atterberry Jr. 7. FRONT ROW: Abby Ntalamu, Jane Otis and Alexandria Massie-McDowell BACK ROW: Cindy Hazelrigg, Aleesa Wolf, Brittany Wise and Sally Russell

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PHOTOS BY PENNY LATTIN & ALYCIA McGEE

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ADVERTISING INDEX Accounting Plus................................................... 9 Achieve Balance Chiropractic......................... 31 Atkins.................................................................... 13 Automated Systems.........................................54 Boone Hospital Center........................................7 Central Bank Of Boone County...................... 26 Central Trust Company....................................50 Cevet Tree Care.................................................. 25 Coil Construction.............................................. 35 Columbia Landcare...........................................29 Commerce Bank..................................................11 Cosmic Sauce..................................................... 37 Downtown Appliance..........................................3 Focus on Health Chiropractic........................... 9 Hawthorn Bank..................................................60 Hub & Spoke......................................................... 4 Hub & Spoke Sweepstakes..............................19 ICM Custom Publishing Solutions.................17 Image Technologies...........................................15 Inside Columbia’s E-Newsletters ....................56 Inside Columbia Subscriptions ....................... 35 Missouri Cancer Associates..............................2 Moresource..........................................................21 Phat Guys Golf Tournament........................... 52 Postal Sign Express........................................... 25 Schaefer Autobody Center............................. 39 Starr Properties .................................................. 31 Tech Electronics.................................................29 The Broadway.....................................................50 The Callaway Bank...............................................5 UMB Bank............................................................15 Williams-Keepers..............................................54 Winter-Dent & Company................................ 59

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

T

Hotel Tax Will Help Build A Better Airport

institutions trying to recruit executives, his spring we learned that researchers and administrators usually Columbia had eclipsed the city begin a visit to Columbia with an apology of Independence to become the for the poor condition of our airport. fourth-largest city in Missouri. With That’s a shame for a city that prides this development came a reminder that itself on its progressive and quality-ofColumbia is also Missouri’s fastestlife amenities. Most would agree there’s growing city. As our city grows, we can incongruence in a dilapidated airport reasonably expect more demand on serving a city that boasts state-of-the-art infrastructure as well as an increased technology in health care, biotech and life need for housing and the amenities sciences research. that make Columbia a City leaders already wonderful place to live have a plan to finance and work. One of the the construction of a new area’s most pressing $38 million terminal needs — an improved that could accommodate terminal at Columbia three separate gates as Regional Airport — compared to our current, is at the center of a single gate. With nearly heated debate that will $20 million coming from ultimately be decided the federal government by voters on the Aug. 2 and $8 million from ballot. state appropriations, A lot has changed “Columbia’s bed tax the city would have to since our current airport is already among the lowest in the state come up with only $10 terminal was first … bumping up our million to finish the deal. designed nearly 50 years tax rate to improve Unfortunately, the local ago. Following the attack our airport would debate stems from how to on the World Trade ultimately benefit hotel owners and Columbia’s fund this final piece of the Center on Sept. 11, 2001, hospitality community.” financial puzzle. airport security measures — Fred Parry Proponents of a tightened drastically new airport terminal and the Transportation believe that increasing our hotel bed Security Administration was created. tax by 1 percent would help fill the Of course, 50 years ago, the American funding gap. There is resistance from Disabilities Act was not a consideration a handful of local hotel owners and for construction. These changes, along the Columbia Hospitality Association. with advances in airline equipment and Opponents believe that a lower bed traveler preferences, have made our tax keeps our city competitive for current terminal building nearly obsolete. convention business from other cities When you consider the fact that our around the state. Proponents point airport is the first impression many out that Columbia’s bed tax is already visitors have of the city, even those with a among the lowest in the state and that low sense of civic pride should blush with bumping up our tax rate to improve our embarrassment. Local companies and

airport would ultimately benefit hotel owners and Columbia’s hospitality community.

To their credit, city leaders have agreed to sunset the 1 percent hotel tax after 23 years, or whenever they complete the collection of the $10 million in revenue.

Council Bill No.113-16 in its current form allows for this early termination of the tax. It’s hard to remember any kind of tax that has been passed in recent years that includes a sunset provision.

Enplanements at Columbia Regional have enjoyed a steady increase since 2007, when travelers totaled a mere 9,090 compared to 64,341 in 2015. Forecasts predict that traffic in the next 10 years will increase to more than 120,000 travelers through the local airport. To keep up with this rate of growth, the city must make improvements.

Even if voters do approve an increase in the local bed tax, there are many hurdles to leap over before construction can begin on a new and improved terminal. Until final plans are approved, we won’t have a solid understanding of total costs. The airline industry’s constant state of flux adds to the uncertainty. As we learned with our experience with Delta Air Lines, carriers can be fickle. However, the steady growth of passenger travel at our airport will likely keep the airlines interested in this market.

The bottom line is that Columbia needs a new airport. We owe it to the companies that do business here and to the institutions trying to recruit new blood to keep our community growing in the right direction. The fact that our citizenry has access to daily commercial service for leisure travel is an added bonus. This measure deserves our support.

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CLOSING QUOTES

What Columbia’s Business People And Community Leaders Are Saying

“I’m tweeting now.

You know what? It works!”

— Primaris CEO Richard Royer on his surprise at the success of social media marketing

“Being bigger doesn’t mean you’re better. We want to be bigger and better.”

— MFA Oil President & CEO Mark Fenner

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“Say what you mean, mean what you say, and then go do it.”

— Columbia Mayor Brian Treece’s charge to

fellow city officials in opening remarks for his first City Council meeting as mayor

“Never underestimate the power of good timing.”

— Surgeon Mark Adams of Columbia Orthopaedic Group, addressing the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year luncheon

“I don’t worry about what the competition is doing. I just focus on what we are doing and telling our story.”

— Dan Latham, CEO of Pulse Medical Staffing

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