Business Briefs

BROWN IS AUTHORIZED BUILDER

DEXTER, Mo. -- Brown Construction was appointed an authorized builder for Gulf States Manufacturers, a manufacturer of quality pre-engineered metal buildings and a division of Nucor Steel.

OZARK HOLDS RIBBON CUTTING

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting to open Ozark Gymnastics, 3019 Fair St.

NEW LOT OPENS IN DOWNTOWN CAPE

State and local officials and community members held a ribbon cutting Nov. 19 to open a new restroom and parking facility on the corner of Main Street and Broadway in Cape Girardeau. The facility includes lighting and landscaping, restrooms, 57 parking spaces and six spaces for motorcycles. Two cameras will be installed outside the facility; they will be monitored by 9-1-1 communications personnel and recorded continuously.

PRIMO'S HOLDS RIBBON CUTTING

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- The Caruthersville Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting at the site of the new Primo's Pizza.

TWILIGHT DINNER THEATRE CLOSES

Just weeks after opening, the Twilight Dinner Theatre has closed. Co-owner Tom Bertrand said the theater, 3589 Highway 25 outside of Jackson, closed due to lack of attendance.

KINGDOM KIDS OPENS IN CAPE

Kingdom Kids Soulfood and BBQ opened Nov. 5 at 1 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau. The restaurant serves comfort food and is affiliated with the adjacent House of Prayer.

PARMELE JOINS REGENT'S PARC

The Parmele Law Firm finalized a lease to move into the Regent's Parc building, 1610 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, on Dec. 1. According to Cynthia Austin, commercial real estate broker with Realty Executives of Cape County, the firm will occupy 1,347 square feet in suite 201. The firm, owned by Daniel A. Parmele, practices disability law.

MORLEY BUILDING AWARDED

ORAN, Mo. -- Morley Building Supply was honored as a Member Purchase Awards winner at the 2009 Do it Best October MarketSM in Indianapolis. Morley placed sixth in the Single Store Commodities category and received a plaque. Morley earned another plaque for the 2009 Million Dollar Club Commodity Award. Based in Fort Wayne, Ind., Do it Best Corp. is the only full-service, U.S.-based, member-owned hardware, lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry.

PASTA HOUSE TO OPEN IN JACKSON

Mario's Pasta House will open in December at 252 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson. The restaurant, owned by Mario Grippo, will serve Stromboli and pizza and specialize in pasta dishes.

HOME MAGAZINE HONORS BUSENBARK

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- St. Louis At Home magazine announced winners of the second annual At Home Architect and Design Awards at an Oct. 22 reception. Editor in chief Christy Marshall presented awards in 21 categories to the 36 local design, architect and landscape firms who placed in the contest. The winning work is featured in the November/December issue of St. Louis At Home. Busenbark Carpet, Farmington, Mo., received an "Excellence in Design" award for a large remodel greater than 1,000 square feet.

FARMER'S MARKET OPENS IN JACKSON

The Jones Heritage Farm Market, 5739 Route W in Jackson, opened Nov. 19. The market, located on Gerry Jones' organic farm, held a grand opening Nov. 28.

EDUCATION SUPPLY STORE TO CLOSE

3 R's Plus Supplies, 837 N. Kingshighway, Cape Girardeau, will close by the end of the year. The education supply store opened in 1989. Owner Judy Borgfield has decided to retire.

MEXICAN RESTAURANT CLOSES

El Bracero, 1815 E. Jackson Blvd., Jackson, closed Nov. 2.

NEW LIFE TO OPEN STORE, OUTREACH CENTER

The New Life Evangelistic Center and Cape Girardeau chaplain Terry Wildman will open a free store and homeless outreach center at 707 Broadway. The New Life Evangelistic Center Homeless Outreach and Thrift Store, which will be operated mainly by volunteers, will offer its goods free to the poor and on a donation basis for others, Wildman said. There will also be an area where the homeless or anyone in need can rest and have a cup of coffee or something to eat. Wildman hoped to be in operation by Thanksgiving.

PARAKEET STORE OPENS IN MALL

Parakeet Jungle opened across from Pasta House in Cape Girardeau's West Park Mall. The store, owned by Vicki and Todd Lantz, allows customers to walk through a caged jungle with more than 200 parakeets. For a fee, customers can interact with and feed the birds. Parakeet Jungle also sells birds, cages, gravel, t-shirts, toys, feed and more. In the spring, the Lantzes plan to reopen Lazy L. Safari Park, 2763 County Road 618. Kangaroos, wallabies, tortoises, zebras, llamas, porcupines, ibex and emu will be on display.

MIDWEST RESTORATION HOLDS RIBBON CUTTING

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- The Park Hills/Leadington Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Nov. 23 for Midwest Restoration and Cleaning LLC. The business, owned by Cheryl and Richard Teer, is at 500 W. Main St., Park Hills.

ANTIQUE BUSINESS COMES TO MAIN STREET

A new antique store will open Jan. 1 in Cape Girardeau. Somewhere In Time, 108 N. Main St., will offer inventory from Civil War-era furniture to retro items from the 1960s. Paula and Mike Haas own the store.

LAW FIRM OPENS

A personal injury law firm opened at 3019 William St. in Cape Girardeau, next to Qdoba Mexican Grill. Aaron Sachs & Associates helps people who were injured or disabled in auto accidents. The firm also has branches in Columbia/Jefferson City, Joplin and Springfield, Mo.

TEA SHOP OPENS IN ST. MARY

ST. MARY, Mo. -- White Cliff Manor Bed and Breakfast owner Brian Helms opened The Tea Box Gift Shop Nov. 28. The shop, located on the White Cliff Manor grounds at 200 Second St., sells specialty teas, food and fine porcelain tea accessories.

UPDATES

JR'S SHOES RELOCATES

MALDEN, Mo. -- JR's Family Shoes held an open house Nov. 7 to celebrate its move to 1106 N. Douglas St.

ED'S BAR FOR SALE

Since June 30, 2008, a building at 519 Good Hope St., Cape Girardeau, has sat empty. Now, relatives of the owner of Ed's Bar are selling the building in hopes of revitalizing the business. According to Tom, Janeene and Jaynne Cunningham, Jaynne Brown owned and operated the bar from when she purchased it in the mid-1980s until last year. Brown's declining health resulted in her decision to sell the building. Elizabeth Meyer McFerron of Exit Realty-Thomas Meyer Associates is handling the deal.

FRENCH COMPANY ACQUIRES EMCON

DEXTER, Mo. -- EMCON Technologies, formerly Arvin Industries, will soon have another name. It was announced Nov. 2 that a European-based company, Faurecia, has acquired EMCON, making the company the world leader in emissions control technologies. Faurecia has headquarters in Paris and bought the Troy, Mich.,-based EMCON Technologies for $435.8 million, according to company information. The purchase doubles the size of Faurecia's exhaust-systems business. According to Bobby Ward, HR director of the Dexter plant, there are no major changes expected locally with the acquisition.

RESTORE CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY

Habitat for Humanity-Cape Area marked the ReStore's second year in business with customer appreciation days Nov. 12-14.

SEMO IMPRINTS RELOCATES

SEMO Imprints moved from Risco, Mo., to a 4,500-square-foot building at 2612 Gerhardt St., Cape Girardeau. Owner Jim New is retiring and handing the business over to stepson Keith Hon and his sister, Breanna Stone. The company's final day of business in Risco was Nov. 23; the first day in Cape Girardeau was Nov. 30.

SOTO PROPERTY MOVES

SOTO Property Management relocated to 1213 N. Kingshighway, Suite 200, Cape Girardeau. It is the second move for the company, which Dave Soto purchased Sept. 2, 2008, when it was known as Wunderlich Realty. The former location was 1200 N. Kingshighway.

PHARMACY HAS NEW NAME

DESLOGE, Mo. -- The Bonne Terre Chamber of Commerce recently joined Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy for a grand reopening under its new name. The business was formerly known as Parkland Apothecary.

JACKSON EL TORERO NOW OPEN

After eight months of remodeling, the former Jay's Smokehouse building in Jackson, El Torero opened at 1830 E. Jackson Blvd. The new location offers expanded seating and decorations, a fountain and an electronic message board. The restaurant was previously at 711 E. Jackson Blvd.

CURVES PLANS RELOCATION

Curves, 425 W. Main St., Jackson, is planning a move to the former Jackson Bakery building, 1815 E. Jackson Blvd. The exercise business hoped to complete the move by Nov. 30.

REALTORS, DESIGN COMPANY PARTNER

Exit Realty-Thomas Meyer Associates formed a partnership with Life-Style Design. According to Exit Realty-Thomas Meyer Associates marketing director Ashley Breland, Life-Style Design will help with the realty company's open houses and talk to homeowners about renovation projects that could bring their homes up to date.

BROADWAY BURGER KING REOPENS

The Burger King at Broadway and Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau reopened Dec. 1, three months after crews demolished the restaurant. Dan Drury, president of Midamerica Hotels Corp., said problems with certain parts of the building caused the company to rebuild the Burger King.

PHOTO BUSINESS RELOCATES

Rebecca Moore's Photography moved from 2370 U.S. 61 to 131 W. Main St., Jackson.

DEVELOPMENT

U.S. 67 OPENS FOUR LANES

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The first sections of the new four-lane U.S. 67 are now open to traffic. Improvements extend from the U.S. 67 in Butler County to two miles south of Route F in Wayne County. A ribbon cutting was held Nov. 23 with the Missouri Department of Transportation, the Highway 67 Corporation and local and state officials.

APARTMENT COMPLEX RENOVATES CENTER

Cape La Croix Apartments of Cape Girardeau renovated a structure built in the late 1800s. The resident center, 430 S. Spring St., features a lounge with a TV and DVD player, business center with Wi-Fi access, fitness center, arcade room, billiards room, Nintendo Wii game room and outside picnic and grilling areas.

SNACK CO. TO BUILD WAREHOUSE

Cape Girardeau-based food distributor Southeast Snacks Inc. is building a 10,500-square-foot operations office and warehouse at Riverside and Industrial Fuels Drive in Scott City. Tom Kelsey, a broker with Lorimont Place Ltd. who handled the transaction, said the company is building the center on property formerly owned by the Rhodes family. The new facility will replace the company's two existing warehouses, one in Scott City and the other in Cape Girardeau. The company, owned by Bruce Schmidt, plans to occupy the new building in February.

FIRE STATION CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- The City of Farmington held a groundbreaking Nov. 12 for a $4.2 million fire station on a site previously occupied by Wohschlaeger Auto Body and Missouri Beauty Academy. Brockmiller Construction began work immediately after the groundbreaking. The building will be 17,000 square feet with two stories and five drive-through bays; it will take about a year to build. The current station is only 5,600 square feet.

$4.5M HEADED FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS

The U.S. Department of Transportation released more than $4.5 million in federal funds for transportation and road improvements in Southeast Missouri, including Butler, Carter, Pemiscot, Perry, Poplar Bluff, Shannon and Ste. Genevieve counties. Projects include the following: $607,573 for U.S. 61 in Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties, construction, rehabilitation, and capacity and safety improvements; $950,000 for the interchange at Route 84 and Interstate 55 in Pemiscot County, pavement and shoulder rehabilitation on all ramps; $950,000 for Route 60 in Shannon and Carter counties, rehabilitation and construction; $2,102,386 million for the Poplar Bluff Bypass in Poplar Bluff, construction of a new road between Industrial Park and Route 67 at the Route M interchange.

STE. GENEVIEVE RECEIVES WATER PROJECT FUNDS

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- The City of Ste. Genevieve will receive over $750,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, plus a $1 million-plus Department of Natural Resources State Revolving Fund loan to help pay for its drinking water improvement project. The exact amount of the grant is $750,361; the loan amount totals $1,065,529. The city already had won approval for a DNR grant of $657,192 for wastewater improvements.