BusinessAugust 25, 2014
Business Notebook: Buchheit Enterprises marks 80th anniversary
Last weekend, Buchheit Enterprises thanked customers with storewide sales at all eight retail locations on its 80th anniversary. In 1934, Rudy Buchheit began what was the original Buchheits by hauling an array of items from Perry County to St. Louis...
Last weekend, Buchheit Enterprises thanked customers with storewide sales at all eight retail locations on its 80th anniversary.
In 1934, Rudy Buchheit began what was the original Buchheits by hauling an array of items from Perry County to St. Louis.
His business began in the middle of the Great Depression, but through all of his challenges he continued to succeed. Buchheit's first shop was in Biehle, Missouri. He started by offering staples such as sugar, flour, beans and pickled herring, along with hardware and livestock feed women traded eggs for, using the colorful feed bags to make dresses.
Eighty years later, his shop has expanded into an enterprise of eight retail stores, an agricultural feed business, a massive warehouse and a trucking enterprise to distribute farming supplies throughout the Midwest.
In Illinois, there are retail stores in Sparta, Greenville, Centralia and Jacksonville. In Missouri, they are in Herculaneum, House Springs, Perryville and Jackson. The expanding company outgrew the original Biehle store and moved to Perryville, making room for their corporate office and training center.
The family launched Buchheit Agri Division in Biehle to serve Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. It is an independent regional feed and fertilizer manufacturer offering bulk or bagged feed for all livestock. The trucking division and warehouse facility, Buchheit Logistics, is in nearly 300,000 square feet in Scott City.
Four generations of Buchheits have contributed to the company's growth. Today, Buchheit Enterprises employs over 630 people in 14 locations.
Consumer price index up in June
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report Aug. 18 that said the consumer price index for all urban consumers in the Midwest has increased 0.5 percent in June.
Regional commissioner Stanley W. Suchman said the monthly increase was led by higher prices for electricity and motor fuel. Overall, energy costs rose 3.9 percent over the month. The indexes for food and for all items minus food and energy registered little movement over the month, up 0.1 percent each.
In the Midwest, the consumer price index for all urban consumers rose 1.7 percent from June 2013 to June 2014. Food prices increased 2.5 percent, and the energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, rose 1.5 percent. Excluding food and energy, the consumer price index for all urban consumers rose 1.6 percent over the year.
Regional and state unemployment rates changed little in July. Thirty states saw unemployment-rate increases from June, eight states saw decreases, and 12 states and the District of Columbia saw no change, the release said. Forty nine states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and one state had an increase. The national jobless rate was little-changed from June at 6.2 percent but was 1.1 percentage points lower than in July 2013.
In July 2014, nonfarm payroll employment increased in 36 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 13 states and was unchanged in Iowa. The largest over-the-month increases in employment occurred in Texas, California and Michigan. The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Ohio, followed by Maryland and South Carolina.
The largest over-the-month percentage increase in employment occurred in Montana, followed by Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, New Mexico and Utah. The largest over-the-month percentage decline in employment occurred in West Virginia, followed by Maryland, Ohio and South Carolina.
Over the year, nonfarm employment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia and decreased in Alaska. The largest over-the-year percentage increase occurred in North Dakota, followed by Nevada and Utah.
According to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Midwest declined 0.3 percent in July. The monthly decrease was largely attributable to lower prices for motor fuel. Overall, energy costs fell 2.5 percent over the month. The index for food registered little movement at 0.1 percent, and the all items less food and energy index was unchanged.
The CPI-U for the Midwest advanced 1.8 percent from July 2013 to July 2014. Food prices increased 2.6 percent and the energy index, which includes motor fuel and household fuels, was up 3.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the CPI-U rose 1.6 percent over the year.
Business events
* A Business Breakfast is scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Sept. 19 at 1210 Greenway Drive in Jackson. The sponsor is United Land Title LLC.
* A business after hours event has been scheduled from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at 3230 Blattner Drive in Cape Girardeau. The sponsor is Leet Eye Care.
Century 21 Real Estate earns J.D. Power honor
Century 21 Real Estate announced Saturday it was ranked the highest in overall customer satisfaction by the J.D. Power 2014 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study.
It received the highest ranking among national real estate companies across all four customer satisfaction segments, including first-time homebuyer satisfaction, repeat homebuyer satisfaction, first-time home-seller satisfaction and repeat home-seller satisfaction.
The two local offices are Century 21 Ashland Realty in Cape Girardeau and Century 21 Premiere Realty in Sikeston, Missouri -- both owned by Tim Merideth.
According to a news release the study is now in its seventh year, and measures customer satisfaction among first-time and repeat homebuyers and sellers with the nation's largest real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is measured across four factors of the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; real estate office; closing process; and variety of additional services. For satisfaction in the home-selling experience, the same four factors are evaluated plus a fifth factor, marketing.
SoutheastHEALTH receives award
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
The American Red Cross presented SoutheastHEALTH with the Champions for Life Award on Aug. 18 for its efforts in securing blood donations.
Southeast was recognized for reaching bronze level status in blood donations. They hosted five Red Cross blood drives in 2013, collecting a total of 186 pints of blood.
Red Cross officials say each pint of blood has the potential to be used in the treatment of three people. As a result, nearly 560 patients may have benefited from their blood drives.
Three Rivers employee wins senior award
Bud Pinner, groundskeeper at Three Rivers College, has won the Missouri "Outstanding Older Worker of the Year" award for Region 7 for being an exemplary model of service and dedication in senior workers.
Pinner was chosen for the award after being nominated by Three Rivers to a pool of candidates from across Southeast Missouri.
"This award is really an honor and a pleasure," said Pinner. "I'm grateful to my boss, Rob Tomlinson, and to Dr. Wesley Payne for nominating me, and to all of the people around the college that make this such a great place to work."
The winners from each region will attend a special award luncheon in Jefferson City, Missouri, hosted by Gov. Jay Nixon. Candidates are nominated by their employers and must be at least 60 years of age and work 20 or more hours a week.
The award is sponsored and administrated by AARP, Experiences Work, Catholic Charities of Kansas City and St. Joseph, MERS/Goodwill, the Department of Economic Development, the Division of Workforce Development and the Department of Health and Senior Services.
Saint Francis offers new hospice program
Saint Francis Medical Center announced on Aug. 13 the grand opening of its Hospice Services Program, which offers compassionate at-home care to patients and their families. Medical oncologist/hematologist Justin D. Floyd serves as medical director for a program that aims to provide customized care for those nearing the end of life. Saint Francis' hospice care is offered in the Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry and Stoddard counties.
Hospice care is appropriate for any patient who is terminally ill or whose health is rapidly declining. It offers a full continuum of medical care that allows patients to be comfortable in their familiar surroundings.
When treatment is no longer an option, the Hospice Services Program works closely with Saint Francis' Palliative Care Program to provide transitional care. Patients in declining health because of chronic heart failure, cancer, AIDS, renal failure, Alzheimer's disease or other issues may also be referred to the Hospice Services Program by their physician, a family member or other caregiver.
The Hospice Services Program team consists of physicians, nurses, home health aides, therapists, chaplains, social workers, grief counselors, trained volunteer companions and other caregivers who manage pain, offer comfort and provide the necessary treatments. Respite care also is offered to relieve primary caregivers from time to time.
Medicare and Medicaid benefits plus many private insurance plans cover hospice services, which include home visits, medications, medical equipment, on-call nursing coverage, etc., for patients in the final six months of life. However, Saint Francis' Hospice Services Program will provide care, regardless of a patient's ability to pay.
People on the move
On Sept. 19, Debi Meeds is leaving the position of regional chief executive officer of the American Red Cross in southern Missouri. Meeds has been with the American Red Cross more than 23 years and has served as the visionary leader of the local chapter and region since 2005. During her time with the Red Cross, the organization has expanded to provide services across 40 counties in the Southern Missouri Region.
She will begin her new responsibilities as the CEO and president of the United Way of the Ozarks.
The Red Cross plans to select a new executive before Meeds' departure.
Saint Francis Medical Center announced last week that Andrew T. Sledd, MD, is a new medical partner and pediatrician at Cape Physician Associates, a team of 11 physicians. In partnership with Saint Francis Medical Center, Cape Physician Associates has been providing primary care in pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine and rheumatology to Cape Girardeau and Southeast Missouri for generations.
Sledd, a California native, is board certified in pediatrics. He earned his medical degree from the University of California-Irvine and completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Virginia Health Systems in Charlottesville, Virginia. He joined Cape Physician Associates after serving as Partner Pediatrician at Pediatric Associates of Winchester in Winchester, Virginia. During that time, he served on the Electronic Medical Record Steering Committee at Winchester Medical Center.
Sledd is fluent in Spanish and his clinical interests include public health, childhood obesity, child behavior and psychology.
Saint Francis Medical Center announced Tuesday that Dr. Jeffrey C. Umfleet has joined its team of emergency medicine physicians at the Saint Francis Emergency and Trauma Center, the region's only state-designated Level III Emergency and Trauma Center.
Umfleet completed his medical degree at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, Missouri, and his residency at Ohio University's Grandview Hospital and Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio. He is board certified in emergency medicine. Umfleet joins the Saint Francis Emergency and Trauma Center after serving as medical director of emergency services at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Also during his tenure at SoutheastHEALTH, Umfleet served on the Physicians Excellence Committee and as clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine for Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Missouri.
Dr. Umfleet is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Burn Life Support. Before becoming a physician he worked as a paramedic.
Story Tags
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.
Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
