Business

Ask Jeff Bohannon how the dry cleaning industry has changed in the 65 years since his father started Bohannon Cleaners at 1500 Main St. in Scott City, and he'll tell you clothing itself has changed, along with the industry. "There was a time when gentlemen wore suits to the sale barn," Bohannon said...

NEW YORK -- Shopping for Halloween costumes doesn't have to be scary. This year, shoppers can find more ways to save time and money. Discounters such as Walmart and Target are expanding their costume offerings and creating designated sections where customers can find more of their Halloween needs in one place. ...

Travelers sometimes want a cookie-cutter room in a downtown hotel, and they sometimes want a cozy Tuscan farmhouse to share with friends. Hotels have always been good at providing the first one. Now, they're trying to figure out how to provide the second -- and blunt the growth of competitors such as Airbnb. But they're having mixed success...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google will begin offering its pay-to-carpool service throughout the U.S., an effort to reduce the commute-time congestion its popular Waze navigation app is designed to avoid. The expansion announced Wednesday builds upon a carpooling system Waze began testing two years ago in northern California and Israel before gradually extending it into Brazil and parts of 12 other states...

On November 6, voters in the state of Missouri will be asked to consider Proposition D – a 2.5 cents per gallon motor fuel tax increase for four years beginning July 1, 2019. The bill will fund the Missouri State Highway Patrol, resulting in a freeing up of at least $288 million annually to the State Road Fund and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction and maintenance. ...

As the competition for workers remains fierce, employers are looking outside traditional labor pools. In the Cape – Jackson metro area, there are more open positions than available workers. We are urging employers to look at various non-traditional sources for help. A couple of these methods are gaining steam and having positive results in other areas of the state and country...

"How do you improve a toaster? You have five minutes -- go!" Teacher Pam Pensel watches as three groups of students bend their heads over whiteboards and murmur ideas back and forth. They're playing Disruptus, a game designed to teach students how to think differently about familiar items...

Are America's employers at risk of running out of skilled people to hire? The U.S. economy has become a seemingly perpetual job-generating machine, having steadily added workers for nearly eight years. Even with the unemployment rate now at 3.7 percent -- its lowest point since 1969 -- hiring hasn't stalled. So far this year, job growth has averaged a robust 208,000 a month, up from a pace of 182,000 for all of 2017...

While paying off $1,700 in credit card debt in 2014, Jamie Griffin cut up his card. To tackle the remaining $90,000 in student loans he and his wife carried, he read personal finance experts' tips and turned to cash and a spreadsheet to budget. Now that most of their debt is paid off, he's giving credit cards a cautious second chance...

Even though electric vehicles account for just a fraction of overall car sales, they are slowly gaining favor with buyers, particularly as second cars for daily commuting. While you're researching EVs, you'll deal with the usual considerations, including price, comfort, cargo space and handling. Edmunds' Best Electric Cars guide can streamline the research...

Kasten Masonry in Jackson has a long history and four locations — and is building another facility on its Jackson campus. Company CEO Craig Bohnsack said Kasten operated a block plant in Cape Girardeau, on Locust Street, near the Mississippi River, until Jan. 1, 2016, when a levee wall gave out and flooded the plant and much of the surrounding area...

Having access to top-notch healthcare is important, and thanks to the efforts of Pink Up™, a new 3-D mammography machine is extending care to those in Poplar Bluff and the surrounding area. Kneibert Clinic now offers the latest screening and diagnostic technology with this machine that allows radiologists to view the breast tissue more clearly and identify abnormalities more accurately...

The financial profession spends a substantial amount of time discussing the topic of retirement planning. However, I’ll be one of the first to admit that the profession focuses too myopically on the premise that retirement planning means money and investments, and that more of the two equals a happy retirement. ...

It takes a lot of work to make a dream into a reality. Just ask Crystal Shafer, who on Tuesday will open the doors on a passion project she’s turned into a business venture: Heartland Harvest Market and Antiques. It’s a crafts and antiques mall, but it’s also a venue for crafters to build their own space — some, literally...

The Local Media Association has created an award in honor of Jon K. Rust, publisher of the Southeast Missourian and co-president of Rust Communications, in recognition of his commitment to the Local Media Association and Foundation, according to a recent news release...

It started out a few years ago as a place families could come to pick some apples together, and Knowlan Family Farm, at 3243 Highway 34 near Burfordville, is becoming more and more a destination. That's intentional, said owner Bonnie Knowlan. Knowlan and her husband, Jack, own the farm, originally two pieces of family-owned land now brought together under one name, more than 100 acres planted in apple and peach and nectarine trees, blueberry bushes and a pumpkin patch -- that opened over the weekend. ...

NEW YORK -- What do you hate shopping for? Toothpaste? Sunscreen? The guys who founded Harry's shaving club want to know. The startup, which took on razor giants Gillette and Schick with its direct-to-consumer subscription model, has since expanded into traditional retail and launched a line of body-care products. Armed with $112 million in new financing to develop new brands, the company now is investigating what other sleepy products might be ripe for disruption...

DUBROVNIK, Croatia -- Marc van Bloemen has lived in the old town of Dubrovnik, a Croatian citadel widely praised as the jewel of the Adriatic, for decades, since he was a child. He says it used to be a privilege. Now it's a nightmare. Crowds of tourists clog the entrances to the ancient walled city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as huge cruise ships unload thousands more daily. ...

Running Bear Western is opening Monday in uptown Jackson. Running Bear is a store with an eye toward the authentic Western lifestyle. Owner Brian Blankenship said the store is similar to what someone might find in a mountain-town tourist destination...

Teams from 20 companies in Cape Girardeau clash on the recreational fields over games of disc golf, washers, miniature golf, softball, cornhole and many more in the annual Cape Corporate Games, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, said event coordinator Chad Unterreiner...

Consumers can now freeze their credit for free under a new federal law. A credit freeze restricts access to your credit file, essentially halting anyone from opening any new credit in your name. The rules used to vary by state, but previously it could cost up to $10 to put a freeze in place. That fee often had to be paid again when someone wanted to unfreeze it for any legitimate uses...

NEW YORK -- The Washington Post. Time Magazine. The Atlantic. The Village Voice. The Los Angeles Times. All American media icons, all bought by billionaires in the past half decade. Some are thriving. One died. On the rest, the jury's still out. Still, for beleaguered news organizations, the prospect of a deep-pocketed savior -- even from the very same tech industry that has kneecapped the media's traditional business model -- is all but irresistible...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- American Airlines is threatening to prohibit customers from making changes to nonrefundable tickets if Congress makes good on a proposal to crack down on what critics call unreasonable airline fees. American CEO Doug Parker said his airline would be acting just like many other businesses when customers want to swap their ticket for a different flight or for another day...

New businesses have been popping up in Town Plaza on William Street in Cape Girardeau for the last few years, with two — Krispy Kreme and Rosati’s Pizza Sports Pub — announced officially just this past week. That’s great news for property owners in the center, existing businesses and shoppers...

Rumors and speculation about a Krispy Kreme location in Cape Girardeau have long circulated, and as of Tuesday morning, the City of Cape Girardeau has a set of building plans under review. Franchisee Eric Schneider had confirmed to the Southeast Missourian in December he would be opening a location in Town Plaza, and, he said Tuesday, he’s looking forward to being open in Cape Girardeau...

NEW YORK -- The store isn't dead for Home Depot, Kohl's, Best Buy or Target. Many traditional chains have posted strong sales, both online and at stores, as people are in a mood to spend. What's driving it? A booming economy and companies' own efforts to try to Amazon-proof their businesses. That means making their stores more pleasant, updating their websites and speeding up delivery...

Amy Ybarra has learned a lot about car repair and maintenance in the 23 years she's been with her husband, Carlos. Together, they own GearHeads Auto Repair at 2961 Highway 25 in Jackson. And, in addition to offering car repair and maintenance checks, Ybarra said, the shop has a two-hour-long, hands-on seminar called "Women Auto Know" -- to help educate and empower women enough that they feel comfortable asking questions...

SAN FRANCISCO -- If you already subscribe to digital services such as Netflix to binge on TV shows and Spotify to groove to an endless mix of music, the auto industry might have a deal for you: Subscribe to your next car as well. Make that cars, plural. Some of these packages -- which charge a monthly fee for the bundled use of a car, insurance and maintenance -- let you trade in your vehicle on a regular basis, sometimes almost as readily as you can skip to a new tune on Spotify...

The Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce have endorsed Proposition D, the gas-tax-increase issue on the November statewide ballot, insisting it would be an economic benefit. Brian Gerau, executive director of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release Friday “transportation infrastructure is key to any area’s economic growth and with Missouri having one of the lowest fuel taxes in the nation along with one of the largest highway networks, Proposition D passage is vital for sustainability.” ...

A new strip mall is under construction at the former Basic Fuel site in Jackson. Attorney Mary Boner said she and her husband own the lot, adjacent to an existing strip mall at 2941 E. Jackson Blvd., which they also own. They purchased both properties in 2011, she said...

It's a three-color poster, hand-printed and designed using pieces from the Southeast Missourian's letterpress collection, for the Shipyard Music Festival set for Sept. 22 on Ivers Square and the surrounding area. The festival will feature seven up-and-coming bands: Jamestown Revival, Vinyl Theatre, A Thousand Horses, *repeat repeat, Royal Teeth, Ryan Corn and Tow'rs. Food and drink vendors will be on site as well...

SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine -- On a drizzling summer afternoon in South Portland, marine biologist Walt Golet is helping attach a quarter-ton Atlantic bluefin tuna to a heavy crane so it can be weighed as part of New England's premier tournament for the giant fish. And this year's derby is different from many in the past -- there are far more tuna...

Tens of thousands of employees at more than 18,000 U.S. hotels will soon carry panic buttons to help protect them from harassment and assault in an era of heightened awareness around the #MeToo movement. More than a dozen big hotel chains -- including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Wyndham -- said Thursday they will provide personal safety devices by 2020 to all employees who deal one-on-one with guests. ...

The City of Cape Girardeau will receive an $80,000 state block grant to promote air passenger service and help boost airport boardings. The city council is expected to give final approval to an ordinance executing a grant agreement at its meeting today...

Behavioral analysis isn't exactly a common practice, said Lindsey Radcliffe, majority partner and CEO of Morning Star Behavioral Associates -- although Radcliffe isn't big on titles. In fact, Morning Star is one of only about 20,000 entities worldwide that practice behavioral analysis...

CHOUILLY, France -- Jean-Pierre Vazart has more than a dozen weather apps on his phone. But the winemaker, who grows Chardonnay grapes in France's Champagne region, is still stressed out. Temperatures have risen 2.16 degrees Fahrenheit in 30 years, and pickers are scrambling to bring in yet another early harvest. The specter of climate change is haunting the vineyards of France, and its creeping effects, including chaotic weather, are becoming the new normal...

It doesn't take a huge unpaid medical bill to make a collection agency come calling ... and calling. Researchers found in a study of credit reports more than 2 percent of adults had medical bills under $200 sent to a collections agency. Over half of the annual medical collections were for less than $600, according to the study, which examined 2016 credit reports for more than 4 million unidentified people...

LOS ANGELES -- Michelle Janikian, who writes about marijuana for publications like Herb, Playboy and Rolling Stone, says after she tells someone what she does for a living, she usually spends the rest of the conversation "trying to act so friendly and mainstream" so they don't think she's stoned...

Visitors to uptown Jackson might notice a new aroma: the heady fragrance of fresh coffee beans, roasting in a big red machine in the basement of The Ground-A-Bout at 107 E. Adams St. “We’re pretty excited to be doing this,” owner Bob Schooley said. Schooley, who owns the shop with his wife, Serena, said his company recently acquired Parengo Coffee of Sikeston, Missouri...

The trade war with China has hurt agriculture, Cape Girardeau area soybean farmer Matt McCrate said Monday. McCrate, past president and board member of the Missouri Soybean Association, voiced concern about the escalating trade war during a roundtable discussion with Missouri business and agriculture leaders hosted by U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in St. Louis, according to a news release...

Nurse practitioners are nurses who have undergone advanced training and are able to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries, order lab work and imaging tests, and write prescriptions. They can manage many health conditions, teach health promotion and help patients with disease prevention...

Healthcare is changing in our region, and EBO MD is one healthcare provider at the forefront of development. Tony Thompson and Josh Stephens are the founders of EBO MD, a Direct Primary Care clinic system that eliminates insurance companies and hospital chargemasters, with locations in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Missouri...


Considering the stakes -- $50,000 in funding and mentorship -- happy hour is a breezy affair on the eve of Codefi's 1st50k startup competition. The seven teams of founders crowd around the business incubator's sixth-floor offices, chatting over pilsner glasses and peering out over downtown Cape Girardeau, sizing up the town they'll end up calling home for the foreseeable future, if they win. ...

I am not a music festival guy. But I have been to Sturgill Simpson, Judah and the Lion and Jack White and concerts in St. Louis this past year. I’ve been to stadiums and dive bars in Tokyo and Beijing. And I enjoy the occasional Tunes at the gazebo and the Southeast Missouri Orchestra at the River Campus’ Bedell. I am typically all about vinyl and first to buy tickets to “Hamilton” in St. Louis...

Principal, Richmond + Blanton in Sikeston, Missouri More than 17 months ago, I shifted my career and felt I needed a refresher and enlightenment on how to manage myself as an independent consultant. “On Managing Yourself” is a series of essays from leading business experts including the late Peter Drucker, Robert Kaplan and Clayton Christensen. ...

What if, growing up, Bill Gates was viewed similarly to Michael Jordan? Or Steve Wozniak was as cool as Derek Jeter? What if STEM-related skills were as exciting and as cool as sports? What if we took the youth sports model and applied it to computer programming? No more what-ifs...

Cape Girardeau has announced a new program to zealously enforce old and new city ordinances to increase revenue for future construction projects. Recently the city pursued charges against the carGO ride-sharing platform for delivering adult beverages without obtaining an alcohol license. Following a public outcry, the city council backed down. Since then, however, the city fathers have admitted they caved too readily...

When Dr. Chelsea Grigery, MD was in sixth grade at Sikeston Middle School, she entered the Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair. Six years later as a senior in high school, her project about lyme disease that she completed as a mentee of Dr. Ed Masters, world-renowned lyme disease researcher, won third place at the International Science Fair in Phoenix, Arizona...

When Andrea Roseman began substitute teaching for a Sunday school class for people with special needs at Lynwood Baptist Church five and a half years ago, she never dreamed she would found Access Ministry, a ministry that provides community and Bible teaching to people with disabilities...

Farming in the bootheel of Missouri is big business. Think $1.2 billion annually. Heather Couch has played a large role in helping make this possible in Scott, New Madrid and Cape Girardeau counties since 2015, when she became the vice president and branch manager of Farm Credit of Southeast Missouri in Sikeston, Missouri. ...

Due to mismanagement issues, the Southeast Missouri Network Against Sexual Violence (SEMO-NASV) was on the brink of disintegration. Then, in 2016, Kendra Eads stepped in as the director. Eads secured new funding to get the program back on its feet, which allowed the organization to reinstate its counseling program. ...

Jeremy Ferguson says he and his wife Raelenna Ferguson began having a stirring in their hearts for people, service opportunities and community nearly a decade ago. Through overseas mission work, being foster parents and participating in other community endeavors, they began to notice racial, socioeconomic and geographic divides in their Cape Girardeau community. ...

When Tyler Cuba joined Cuba Financial Group, a comprehensive financial planning and wealth management firm, he says the industry was changing rapidly. Cuba realized being an early adopter of technology would help the firm stay relevant and expand.Now, nine years later, the business has nearly tripled, and its geographic reach has significantly expanded to serve clients in 15 states. ...

Thirty-two years ago, Bob Nations realized the gravity of the issues facing high school students. He wanted to do something to help guide students to make positive choices, but wasn’t sure how he could help. That was when a man from Sports World drove into Cape Girardeau needing directions. ...

Coalter Insurance Group has been located in the Old Town Cape District since it first opened its doors in 1985; Laura Coalter Parker has been working in the family business for the past 13 years and took over the business as president and partner after her father passed away six years ago. ...

There were more than 210 entries from all over the world for the 2018 New York Musical Festival, which is the largest musical festival in the world. From these entries, 11 were chosen to be produced at the Off-Broadway Acorn Theater on 42nd Street, July 9 through August 5...

Jessica Hill, executive director of Safe House for Women, says she has always wanted to help others through working in the nonprofit community. Her job at Safe House, she says, is to ensure the administration and finances behind the scenes run as smoothly as possible so her staff is set up for success when working in their client-centered organization...

The evidence was clear: for one, there was no physical evidence. For two, another man confessed to the murder and then committed suicide. For three, the two witnesses who had testified recanted. Yet Sikeston man David Robinson was held in jail for 18 years, for a crime he didn’t commit...

During college, LaKrisha Moore, founder of On Cue Performing Arts Studio in Cape Girardeau, created the business model behind the performing arts school she wanted to own someday. Then she put the project away in a box and forgot about it. Nearly a decade later, she found the plans her former self had made, and the timing to create the performing arts school was right. In 2015, she opened On Cue Performing Arts Studio in downtown Cape...

Four hundred. That’s the approximate number of children in foster care in Cape Girardeau, Perry and Bollinger counties. Sixty-nine. That’s the number of foster parents in these three counties. The deficit is large. Enter Crissy Mayberry, executive director of Hope for One More, a nonprofit foster care support agency in Cape Girardeau that was added to the services of Hope Children’s Home in 2014. The program’s mission is to find all children in foster care a home...

Dawn Dauer, chief banking officer at The Bank of Missouri, is all about partnerships. Willing to spend her SBA lending experience in the service of Old Town Cape, she has created a relationship beneficial to both parties, as well as to the community of Cape Girardeau...

Intellectual properties such as Myers-Briggs (MBTI) or DiSC will confirm personality type, but, said Matt Henson, that's about as far as it goes with them. That's why Henson, president of M.W. Henson and Associates of Cape Girardeau, teaches Social Style by TRACOM, a program that first observes behavior, then divides personality types into four categories: people who are driving, expressive, amiable or analytical...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- At a time when big-box retailers are trying to offer the same conveniences as their online competitors, the biggest U.S. grocery chain is testing the use of driverless cars to deliver groceries in a Phoenix suburb. Kroger's pilot program launched Thursday morning with a robotic vehicle parked outside one of its own Fry's supermarkets in Scottsdale. ...

Disposables have become a mainstay of many American kitchens -- plastic baggies, plastic wrap, paper towels, aluminum foil, plastic straws and more. Reducing or even eliminating them can save you money in addition to cutting down on trash that ends up in landfills...

Many Southeast Missouri Republicans voted “no” on Proposition A, the right-to-work measure that had the backing of GOP state lawmakers and business leaders. Statewide, 67 percent of the more than 1.38 million Missourians who cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary voted against the measure, according to election officials...

NEW YORK -- The microwave ate my homework? Reusable notebooks where writing disappears with heat are among the basic school supplies raising their game against gadgets such as iPads. Also hot in the paper aisle this year: decorative tape, creative journals and scented pencils in smells like bacon and pickle...

Every business with an online presence needs to be concerned with cybersecurity, said Vijay Anand, associate professor in Southeast Missouri State University's computer science department Anand spoke during the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce business leadership series breakfast Tuesday...

FAIRFIELD, Iowa -- Small family operated dairy farms with cows freely grazing on verdant pastures are going out of business as large confined animal operations with thousands of animals lined up in assembly-line fashion are expanding into the organic market...

Both a braille-teaching tool and a social network for real-world culinary meetups were named 1st50K winners Friday night after the startup competition organizers announced an extra $50,000 endowment. The awards were presented during the Techfest Gala at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, marking the finale of the Marquette Tech District Foundation's annual celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri voters delivered a resounding victory to unions Tuesday, rejecting a right-to-work law against compulsory union fees that had been passed by Republican state officials but placed on hold for more than a year after organized labor petitioned for a referendum...

The Cape Girardeau City Council selected a design-build team Monday to improve Capaha Field and approved tax-increment financing to aid in redevelopment of the vacant Esquire Theater. The council authorized the city manager to negotiate a design-build contract with the team of Penzel Construction Co. and Gray Design Group...

Kevin Dillon has been the general manager of the 14-screen theater on Cape Girardeau's west side for several years, and in that time, he said, he's seen a lot of changes -- specifically, last year, when Marcus Theatres acquired the former Wehrenberg Theatre and announced changes...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- On the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling weakening public-sector unions, labor's clout is being put to a new test by a voter referendum in Missouri over whether the state should ban compulsory union fees in all private-sector workplaces...

Hotel and home-sharing companies don't just want to sell you a room anymore. They also want to sell you an experience. Want a "Game of Thrones" walking tour of Dubrovnik, Croatia? Marriott can book it for you. Want to create your own perfume in Paris? Airbnb can help...

MILWAUKEE -- Smaller bikes, electric engines and urban storefronts: Harley-Davidson, we hardly knew you. The Milwaukee-based company, facing dwindling sales in its home market, said last week it hopes to broaden its appeal and invigorate sales with new products, which next year will include LiveWire, its first electronic motorcycle...