BUSINESS MEMO

Nomination applications for the "Small Business of the Year" are now available from the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

The selected business will be recognized at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting/dinner, to be held Feb. 4.

This will mark the third year for the small business award, Previous winners include Bluff City Beer Co. in 1992, and Advance Business Systems in 1991.

To be considered for the honor, businesses must have no more than 150 employees, be locally owned and in business at least five years.

Additional information is available by contacting Craig Wells, chairman of the awards committee, 334-0521.

Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment and the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority are among 22 economic development organizations in the state to receive Economic Excellence grants from Southwestern Bell Telephone.

The grant of $4,718 to the area industrial recruitment organization will be used to assemble and distribute a regional economic profile to market and promote the greater Cape Girardeau area.

The $7,000 grant to the port authority will be used to continue efforts toward its designation as a foreign trade zone by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Tiny Business of America, a new organization for businesses with one to 25 employees, has been founded at Washington, D.C.

"The purpose of the organization is to represent, serve and help very small businesses," said Craig Madison, the group's executive director. "A long-standing void has finally been filled in the small business community."

Additional information on the new organization is available by writing Tiny Business of America, 2020 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 408, Washington D.C. 2006

"Business After Hours," an unstructured program of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce to meet, mingle and make new business contacts, will be held Nov. 16, at the Show Me Center.

The program, from 5-6:30 p.m., will be sponsored this month by KBSI-TV, which is observing its 10th anniversary this year.

The second program in the Science Screen Report series for the 1993-94 school year, titled "Changing Nature's Blueprint," has been released by Allegro Production.

The Science Screen Report, in its 23rd year, is an educational video series produced in cooperation with the National Science Teachers Association.

It is distributed to Notre Dame, Cape Central and Jackson high schools by a grant from Union Electric Co.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Personal 10-second messages can be recorded on a new line of greeting cards just released by Hallmark Cards.

The cards, which sell for $7.95 and cost $1.45 to mail, are designed to appeal to all age groups but most likely will appeal to younger consumers who are more comfortable with technology, said Amanda Kleiboeker, a Hallmark spokeswoman.

Recording a message is simple. A red toggle switch inside the card, which is six-tenths of an inch thick, has record and play modes much like a tape recorder. Messages can be changed by rerecording.

The message can be played about 100 times, and replacement batteries can be bought at Hallmark stores for about 40 cents for four batteries. That potentially gives the card a life of 100 years.

More than 100 students from highs schools in Cape Girardeau, Oran, Sikeston, Perryville, Scott City, Jackson, Delta, Benton and Chaffee are expected to attend the High School Business Symposium Thursday at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

"Trends in Free Enterprise: Teaming up for a Business Venture," will be the topic of the seminar, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Education Committee and Future Business Leaders of America at Cape Central High School.

Chamber members are invited to the noon luncheon. Cost for the luncheon is $10 per person, and reservations can be made by calling the chamber office, 335-3312.

TROY, Mich. Kmart Corp. has confirmed it plans to sell minority stakes in at least four specialty business units.

The second-largest U.S. retailer behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will sell 25 percent stakes in The Sports Authority, Borders book stores, Office Max office supply stores and Builders Square home improvement stores in public offerings within three or four months, spokesman Orren Knauer said Friday.

The annual Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Highway Dinner, sponsored by the Surface Transportation Committee of the chamber, will be held Wednesday at the Show Me Center.

A social hour will be held at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m.

Harry Morley, chairman of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, will be the keynote speaker.

Cost of the dinner is $20 per person. Reservations are required, and can be made by calling the chamber office at 335-3312.