Business notebook: Barbecue rolls into Cape Farmers Market

Farmers' markets are widely known for their fresh, locally grown produce, but among the stands selling beans, apples and peppers at the Cape Farmers' Market is a different local fare: barbecue.

Bobby and Crystal Sides, owners of 2 Sides Grillin', take their food truck around the region, from the Cape Girardeau market to SEMO District Fair to fundraisers for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

They have been in business three years and got their start after taking part in barbecue competitions about six years ago.

Crystal Sides said people kept coming up after the competitions, asking whether they had leftovers.

"It just kind of exploded into this," she said.

A customer adds hot BBQ sauce to a pulled pork sandwich from 2 Sides Grillin' food truck Thursday at the farmers' market in Cape Girardeau. (Laura Simon)

The big green-and-yellow truck -- the Sides family are Green Bay Packers fans -- is easy to spot. 2 Sides serves barbecue pork and chicken sandwiches, loaded potatoes, nachos, ribs and other items. Crystal Sides said they get a lot of traffic from employees at nearby businesses.

During this year's SEMO District Fair, 2 Sides used their business to thank veterans.

A group from the Missouri Veterans Home came to the fair Sept. 14 night to see 38 Special.

Having come from a family with a lot of men in the military, Sides said she went over to the group to thank them for their service.

"And the first guy I thanked got a little choked up," she said. "... And I told every one of them, 'You get hungry tonight, you come to this big, yellow trailer, and dinner's on me tonight.'"

Sides said it's the least she can do.

"If it wasn't for them, I couldn't do what I do," she said.

Asked what she found most fun about running the food truck, Sides said: "It's the interaction with the people, absolutely."

2 Sides is at the Cape Farmers' Market each week. The market is open from noon to 5 p.m. each Thursday. The last day for the market this season is Nov. 19.

St. Louis company to move to SEMO office

Vinuity, an information technology professional services company in St. Louis, has announced plans to establish an office at the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.

Company leaders and local economic development officials have planned the expansion for the past several months, according to a news release from Southeast.

Vinuity provides domestic rural outsourcing services and consulting for a portfolio of clients, including software development, quality assurance, application and dba support and help-desk features. The new office will be about 1,000 square feet and will open with about four employees, consisting of local administrators and associate software developers, Southeast announced.

"We are excited to expand our services and bring the Vinuity model to Cape Girardeau," Vinuity president and chief executive officer Lonnie McMinn said in the release.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be announced at a later date.

"Companies like Vinuity are exactly what the region needs to create high-growth technology jobs in more rural areas of Missouri," said Brian Tapp, chief operating officer of the Missouri Innovation Corporation and outreach director for the Institute for Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Alliance, Tammcorp terminate merger

Alliance Bancshares Inc. of Cape Girardeau and Tammcorp Inc. of Tamms, Illinois, have announced a mutual termination of proposed merger.

"It has taken longer than originally expected to complete the merger, partly due to delays encountered in processing required regulatory applications," the companies said in a joint statement.

According to the joint release, both companies emphasized the termination was amicable, and neither ruled out returning to merger discussions in the future.

Former AT&T exec launches company

Craig Felzien, who retired after 35 years as an AT&T executive and a decade as a professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, has launched Majestic Consulting Co.

The company's goals are to improve clients' sales, promotional campaigns, conduct business seminars and more.

Felzien offers seminars on topics such as "Establishing Executive Presence" and "Business Etiquette."

For more information, contact Felzien at (636) 706-9315 or craigfelzien@gmail.com.

Ribbon cuttings

• The Cape Girardeau County History Center, 102 S. High St., Jackson, will hold a ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. Oct. 19.

kwebster@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3646