Business briefs

__P.B. CHAMBER HOLDS RIBBON CUTTINGS__

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce held ribbon cuttings for the following businesses in July: Simply Swirled, 1115 Vine St.; Service Master PCS, 1111 W. Pine St.; and Four Oaks Hospice, 275 N. Westwood Blvd.

__DEXTER CHAMBER HOLDS RIBBON CUTTINGS__

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Dexter Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for A&A Loans, 907B W. Highway 60. The new business, owned by Jan and Alma Ward of Batesville, Arkansas, focuses on check and title loans. A ribbon cutting was also held for Renea's Ironing Service, 202 N. Walnut St., Suite B. The business offers next-day laundry service and ironing services, including pickup and delivery.

__POPLAR BLUFF CREDIT UNION HAS NEW NAME__

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff Federal Credit Union changed its name to Ozark Federal Credit Union at the beginning of July, the Daily American Republic reported. Kirk Mondy, president of the credit union, said the new name reflects the company's recent expansion to Carter, Dunklin, Ripley, Stoddard and Wayne counties.

__STONIE'S WINS NATIONAL AWARD__

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Stonie's Sausage Shop won first place, grand champion and national recognition for its andouille sausage at the American Cured Meat Championship June 19 to 21 in Milwaukee, The Republic-Monitor reported. This year there were 823 entries in 27 product categories. All entries were judged on the basis of aroma, flavor, eye appeal, color and texture.

__PLAZA TIRE REOPENS IN KENNETT__

KENNETT, Mo. -- Construction of Plaza Tire Service's new location in Kennett is complete and the store is open for business at its original site, 420 Independence Ave., according to a news release. Plaza Tire's original facility was built in 2002. A fire destroyed the building in February. Demolition and construction of a new facility began shortly after the fire while the company continued operating at a temporary site a few blocks down the same street.

__BOLLINGER COUNTY CHAMBER ADDS MEMBERS__

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The Bollinger County Chamber of Commerce added the following new members in July: Cave Spring Park, just outside of Van Buren, Missouri, on Highway 60; and Heartland Supported Living Inc., 225 N. Main St., Box 122 in Sikeston, Missouri.

__KCI SATELLITE MOVES TO SCOTT CITY__

KCI Satellite moved its operations office from Cape Girardeau to Scott City. KCI has leased a 5,320-square-foot building at 200 S. Outer Road in Scott City, which gives the company a larger facility to dispatch their installers and technicians throughout the area, said Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., which handled the real estate transaction.

__POLYONE UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP__

PolyOne Designed Structures & Solutions LLC, 2500 Spartech Drive in Cape Girardeau, is under new ownership as of July 17. PolyOne Corp. replaced Spartech Corp. as the owner of the business.

__RIBBON CUTTING HELD FOR LEIGH ANNE'S LOFT__

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting July 18 for Leigh Anne's Loft, 810 E. Jackson Blvd.

__BEST WESTERN CELEBRATES RENOVATIONS__

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Sikeston Regional Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for Best Western Plus, 120 S. Interstate Drive in Miner. The newly renovated hotel has a handicap-accessible indoor swimming pool and fitness center, and offers hot breakfast and 37-inch HD TVs with more than 100 channels in the rooms.

__LORENZ & LORENZ ATTORNEYS MOVE TO COURTHOUSE BUILDING__

Lorenz & Lorenz LLC Attorneys at Law will move to the former federal building on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau. The firm, currently at 1353 N. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau, is led by attorney Adam R. Lorenz and his wife, attorney Alexa C. Hart-Lorenz. Adam Lorenz focuses his practice in real estate, business law and business succession planning, while Alexa Hart-Lorenz has more than 12 years of experience in family law and estate planning. They hope to relocate to the former federal building by mid to late August.

__AT&T HIRING 40 NEW EMPLOYEES__

AT&T is hiring about 40 new employees in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Farmington, Missouri. The reason for the increase in jobs is because of AT&T's ongoing 4G LTE rollout. The company has upgraded 17 mobile Internet cell sites in Ste. Genevieve, Perry and Cape Girardeau counties to expand AT&T 4G LTE coverage for residents and businesses. There are 10 cell sites along Interstate 55, expanding AT&T's 4G LTE availability for drivers between Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, a news release said. There are 30 jobs being added for call-center representatives in Cape Girardeau, where employees for U-verse Solutions Leveraged Service Representative will handle customer care for U-verse integrated digital TV, high-speed Internet and voice services. Positions for 10 retail sales consultants are being added in company-owned stores in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff and Farmington.

__BOUTIQUE OPENS IN PORTAGEVILLE__

PORTAGEVILLE, Mo. -- A ribbon cutting was held June 26 for Burlap & Lace, a new boutique at 120 E. Main St. in Portageville, the Portageville Missourian-News reported. Tiffany Weeks owns the business, which opened April 19. The shop sells clothing, footwear, jewelry, handbags, candles, home decor and more. Services include a tanning bed, custom painting and distressing and updating cabinetry.

__SHOPPE LA LA MOVES__

Shoppe La La moved from 437 Broadway to 629 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. The new location opened Aug. 1. The store relocated to a larger space with a parking lot and so it can carry more do-it-yourself products and offer more paint classes.

__BARBER SHOP OPENS IN SIKESTON__

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Barber Shop opened July 14 at 577 Greer St. in Sikeston.

__HEMMAN WINERY TAKES HOME THREE AWARDS__

BRAZEAU, Mo. -- Hemman Winery entered three of its handcrafted wines in the Missouri Wine Competition July 15 and 16 and took home three awards, the Daily American Republic reported. Bonnie Hemmann, co-owner of Hemmann Winery, said their Cranberry wine received a silver medal and the Brazeau Blend and Edelweiss wines received bronze medals. A panel of nine expert wine judges from around the country and one industry judge from a Missouri winery determined through blind tasting which wines were good, great and the best. A total of 300 wines were entered this year from 30 different Missouri wineries.

__MERRILL LYNCH CUTS RIBBON IN CAPE GIRARDEAU__

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management - The Ozbun, Deimund, Beckham Group, 1371 N. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau, had a ribbon cutting July 10.

__RECOVERY ROOM HAS NEW OWNER__

The Recovery Room at 1611 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau changed ownership. It now is owned by June Trovillion and reopened July 1.

__PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA CUTS RIBBON__

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting July 25 for Papa John's Pizza, 2118 E. Jackson Blvd.

__STE. GENEVIEVE HOLCIM PLANT NAMED TOP PERFORMER__

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Holcim Inc.'s Ste. Genevieve operation was named the top company's top performer of 91 plants across the globe for 2013, the Ste. Genevieve Herald reported. Holcim Ltd. -- the Zurich, Switzerland-based parent company of Holcim -- based the honor on excellence in safety, environment, quality, efficiency, maintenance, reliability and costs, a company news release noted. The release added, "And not only was the plant awarded with the best-in-class status, it further won an award for sustained high performance in recognition of excellence in year-upon-year operating results." Ste. Genevieve plant manager Keith A. Krugh led a celebration at the plant on July 22.

__MIDWEST GARAGE DOOR OPENS IN CAPE__

Perryville Overhead Door added a branch in Cape Girardeau. Midwest Garage Door is now open at 4689 Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau. Brent Schreiner is the salesman working at the Cape Girardeau location.