Business

Despite the economic havoc COVID-19 wreaked on some businesses, real estate had an impressive 2020 with banks — offering historically low interest rates — seeing “unprecedented” levels of demand for new home mortgages, refinancing and, in some cases, construction loans.

Scott Blank has a vivid childhood memory of the former St. Vincent’s College and Seminary property, now the home of Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus. “I’d take a glove and play catch all by myself by bouncing a tennis ball off the old handball court,” Blank said...

Dr. Jack Ruopp beams with pride when he talks about his father, Dr. Dudley Ruopp, who opened a chiropractic practice in Cape Girardeau 75 years ago. As a young man, Dudley took his mother, crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, to her chiropractic appointments in St. Louis. The chiropractor encouraged Dudley to pursue a career in chiropractic care and that a new chiropractic college was starting in St. Louis...

If you've ever enjoyed a glass of Buffalo Trace bourbon, or wines from the vineyards of Robert Mondavi or Francis Ford Coppola, there's a chance it was aged in a barrel created out of American oak from within a 75-mile radius of Perryville, Missouri...

At the risk of stoking the rivalry between the two towns, it seems people in Jackson, on average, have more money management savvy than most Cape Girardeau residents. So says a new study, which compared the typical financial acumen of people in more than 2,500 American cities, large, small and in between. ...

About a dozen or so vacant commercial properties will be features in a Downtown Vacant Property Open House event later this month, which Old Town Cape hopes will identify new owners and tenants for some of the structures. "One of our organizational priorities is to fill vacant spaces in downtown Cape," said Liz Haynes, executive director of the downtown Cape Girardeau revitalization group...

Being stuck at home during the coronavirus lockdowns caused people to take a look around, and what many people saw were piles — of clothes, books, papers, boxes. Clutter. For some, the time at home made it possible to tackle the clutter and organize some long-delayed projects...

One of the great things about living in Cape Girardeau is the wide variety of restaurant fare available here. From fast food to fine dining, hamburgers to hibachi, sushi to spaghetti, tofu to T-bones and enchiladas to etouffee, there's something here to satisfy just about any palate...

Rustmedia, Red Letter Communications and Creative Edge were among the big winners Friday during the American Advertising Federation's 28th annual ADDY Awards program, conducted virtually by AAF's Cape Girardeau chapter. This year's competition drew 116 print, digital and multimedia advertising professionals, businesses and agencies between Jan. ...

When you first meet someone, many people say a smile is the first thing that's noticed. For Cape Girardeau dentists Drs. Trevor and Ashley Blattner, it was teeth, more specifically. When asked whether they noticed each other's teeth right off the bat, Ashley replied, "100%."...

When Ray Parker Jr. asked "Who you gonna call?" in the "Ghostbusters" title track back in 1984, I doubt he had the Missouri Attorney General's Office in mind as the answer. I received an email last week from Attorney General Eric Schmitt's office summarizing the Top 10 consumer complaints his office received in 2020. (And although we had plenty to complain about last year, only a few of the complaints had anything to do with COVID-19.)...

A retired director of nursing at SoutheastHEALTH has partnered with a former colleague at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis to create an online tool they hope will help people reduce their COVID-19 exposure risks as well as overall infection rates among the general public...

In the nearly half-century since I received my first paycheck, I have never joined a union. It's not that I have anything against unions; it's just that I never held a job in which union membership was an option. I suppose the closest I ever came was possible membership in a local apple-picker's union during the brief time I worked at an orchard as a teenager, and had I continued in a broadcasting career back in the '80s, I could have joined a broadcast journalism union...

Chef Kelcie Miller has been all over the world but is ready to circle back to her hometown to open La Relance Cuisine. French for "revival," La Relance opened in January in City Centre at 2502 Tanner Drive in Cape Girardeau. Miller said she "wanted to bring something new to Cape. It's been a labor of love."...

The City of Cape Girardeau issued 222 building permits in 2020, 17 fewer than the 239 issued in each of the previous two years. The estimated project costs covered by those 222 permits, however, exceeded the combined value of all the permitted projects in 2018 and 2019...

First it was disinfectant and hand sanitizer. Then there was a run on toilet paper, and for a while it was difficult to find N-95 masks and certain other pieces of personal protective equipment. Among other things, we've had shortages of building supplies (I know from experience, having just gone through a major home renovation), vaccines and, in come cases, patience...

Brightly colored, layered drinks with flavors such as Gator Bite, Carnival and Bombpop, and ranging from red to purple and every color in between have taken social media by storm. But, what exactly are loaded teas? They are stevia-sweetened drinks with a kick of caffeine sold at shops, known as "nutrition clubs," which are popping up all across the U.S., including six in a 30-mile radius of Cape Girardeau, including Jackson, Perryville and Sikeston. ...

Unemployment rates throughout Southeast Missouri — and much of the state — rose significantly at the end of 2020, according to data obtained Friday by the Southeast Missourian. The new numbers might be an indication the state's economic recovery from layoffs and business closures during the COVID-19 pandemic could be slowing as nearly 51,700 Missourians filed initial unemployment claims in December...

Residential construction in Jackson increased significantly in 2020 compared to 2019, but the value of commercial construction projects was down more than 50% last year, according to a new report from the city's planning office. A tally of the city's 2020 building permits by Jackson building and planning manager Janet Sanders showed total construction values in Jackson totaled $27,020,061 last year, about $5.2 million less than 2019, when construction projects in Jackson amounted to $32,279,723...

In January 2021, former Jackson High School and Southeast Missouri State University track and field star athlete Blake Smith announced his retirement from professional track and field on his personal Facebook page, choosing to focus his efforts on Prep Athletics, his new business...

By now, many of you have received your second stimulus check. Mine arrived the other day, although it was far from the $600 the government approved for each qualifying adult and child; apparently the amounts were subject to adjustment based on adjusted gross income...

Ellen Gipson is juggling a lot these days as a toddler’s mom, wife, registered dietitian, fitness instructor, pediatric nutrition expert, baby-led weaning educator, author and soon-to-be mom of two. “There are a lot of things that happened this year that we were not planning on — writing a cookbook, we moved, we’re having a baby. So it was a bit of busy year,” Gipson said...

Caution — the first few paragraphs of my column this week could trigger hunger pangs and tempt your taste buds. Several eateries and food-related businesses are opening (or are about to open) in Cape Girardeau either this week or in the near future...

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reports it has forgiven more than 1.1 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans designed to help businesses and their employees deal with the economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of early last week, SBA had received 1,346,125 applications to forgive approximately $170.5 billion worth of PPP loans. ...

The federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) will reopen this week, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced Friday. This new round of PPP loans is intended for new and certain existing PPP borrowers. Initially, only community financial institutions will be available to make "first draw" PPP loans beginning Monday, followed by "second draw" loans starting Wednesday. The program will be open to all participating lenders shortly after that, according to the SBA...

At first glance, you wouldn't think a cake and pastry shop could coexist with a business specializing in potted plants. But when you factor in the personalities of the business proprietors, Casey Rehkop and Stacey Roth, it's easy to see why they share retail space in Jackson...

One of the few silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic has been very affordable prices at the pump. With millions of Americans sheltering at home to one degree or another, a large segment of the workforce (including me) occupying home offices, and schools shifting to online instruction, there was a significant drop in demand for refined fuels in 2020...

Southeast Missouri has quickly made an impact on entrepreneurs at four startups who won Codefi’s 1st50K competition, and it goes deeper than the region being a nice and affordable place to live. The 1ST50K competition awards $50,000 equity-free to innovative startups. In August, Codefi’s sixth annual competition brought four new technology companies to town...

Practicing lawyer Adam Gohn discusses some of the major changes he’s seen in the field during his time as a lawyer, and how the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the profession.

The latest county-by-county unemployment numbers from the Missouri Department of Labor & Industrial Relations shows Cape County's jobless rate held steady in November. However, in most other Southeast Missouri counties, the percentage of jobless workers began inching up from their October levels. Only in St. Francois County did the unemployment rate drop slightly in November...

Since March, many businesses have shut down temporarily or permanently as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A study done by business-review website Yelp found roughly 160,000 businesses, large and small, closed between April and September. The impact felt on communities is substantial. ...

As a rule, I try not to include "check passing" photos on the Business pages. But rules, they say, are made to be broken, especially when the photos are of $100,000 worth of corporate donations in response to the region's coronavirus needs. Buzzi Unicem, which operates the quarry and cement production facility on South Sprigg Street, made large, and much needed, contributions to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, the United Way of Southeast Missouri and the SoutheastHEALTH Foundation as part of the Italian corporation's worldwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.. ...

It’s an email, and it’s so much more. Think of it as a community of people working to build our region, seeking out good news, supporting their neighbors in the pursuit of living happily and fully. It’s a community that talks the talk through sharing uplifting stories and walks the walk through putting on and showing up for stellar events. It’s a community with the voice of The Scout at its helm, pointing people to the positive — and the newest restaurant. That’s what The Scout is.

In the media business, moving to larger markets every few years is oftentimes a measure of success. In Cape Girardeau, several of the local “media stars” have established roots, reducing the high turnover the industry typically sees. B Magazine spoke with four local media members who have chosen to stick around the area and now call it home, each with no plans to leave any time soon.

The following remarks were given by Old Town Cape board president Danny Essner at the flood wall murals “flip the switch“ event Oct. 15.

What are you reading? Mia: “Iliad” by Homer Jeff: “The Devil Colony” by James Rollins Faune: “Civil War Commando” by Jerome Preisler Steve: Industry magazines Do you have a favorite podcast? Mia: The Scout Podcast Jeff: Literally! With Rob Lowe Faune: I don’t listen to podcasts...

The story of Ste. Genevieve is an important part of who we are as a nation. Established in the 1700s by French settlers in search of new opportunities and fertile soil, Ste. Genevieve tells the story of our nation’s westward expansion and settlement of the frontier. Some of the unique homes and structures they built still stand, thanks to the generations of local residents who worked to preserve and share this important part of our state’s and our nation’s history...

B Magazine account manager Nate Gautier recently spoke with seven small business leaders in Southeast Missouri. Here is the Q/A.

You’ve probably seen the sign, “Remember all the local small businesses that you’ve asked for years and years to donate and sponsor your sports clubs, school events, organizations, etc.” They’re calling in a favor. Answer the call.” A survey from Tech.co found that 80% of small business owners say COVID-19 has hurt their business.

The Cape Girardeau area has one of the healthiest housing markets in the nation, according to a report released this month by Nationwide Mutual Insurance. The report, which examined stability of the U.S. housing industry, said the Cape Girardeau metropolitan statistical area (MSA) was ranked as the eighth most attractive housing market among 400 MSAs in the United States during the fourth quarter of 2020...

Saving money for the future is atop many New Year's resolution lists, even above going to the gym, losing weight and getting healthier. A survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Affirm, found more than half of respondents are planning to budget better in 2021 and another 49% are hoping to pay down debt...

How will you spend New Year's Eve? A new survey released a few days ago has revealed more people than usual plan to stay home Thursday night and ring in the new year by watching television coverage of the ball drop in New York's Times Square. That's not surprising, as coronavirus continues to surge and as health and government officials urge people to stay home and avoid large social gatherings...

If you have not read books by Patrick Lencioni, do yourself a favor and go purchase a few today. Patrick Lencioni has written many books about team leadership, team development. He is arguable one of the foremost thinkers in the realm of maximizing the potential within people you lead. But if you read his materials through an introspective lens, you’ll learn how the greatest threat or ally to leadership is yourself.

A report issued last week shows that through October, more than a half-million Missourians, or nearly 10% of the state's population, received close to $3.8 billion in unemployment benefits administered through the Missouri Department of Labor and provided by the federal government as part of its COVID-19 economic stimulus efforts...

Because of the coronavirus, the U.S. workplace has been undergoing the largest-scale remote work experiment in history, with nearly 5 in 10 workers doing their job from home. Untethered from living near their jobs, many of these workers, especially those living in urban areas, are moving. Among their top objectives: less expensive housing, lower population density and safe environments...

To Cape Girardeau County auditor Pete Frazier, some of the greatest rewards a hunter can receive aren’t found in a field or tree, but in fellow hunters — sharing in their stories, experiences and memories.

Many people feel small and believe their individual actions won’t make a difference in the collective outcome. But when it comes to being a consumer, each decision does make a difference and there is a responsibility that comes with it. According to the 2010 census, there are nearly 79,000 people living in Cape Girardeau County – and there’s likely many more today. ...

Roads and bridges. Streets and sidewalks. Roundabouts and crosswalks. Most of us use them every day, and almost all of us take them for granted, rarely giving them a second thought except when an occasional pothole needs filling or when roadwork requires an inconvenient detour...

It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and Jared Ritter is updating the white board in his downtown Cape Girardeau office with the company’s latest sales numbers. Business is booming for this six-year-old company.

Missouri had the nation's fifth best employment recovery in November, according to a report released Friday. The personal financial website WalletHub compared Missouri data to the other 49 states and the District of Columbia based on four key metrics...