BusinessJanuary 28, 2019
Business Notebook: Bug Zero honored as Small Business of the Year
Recent Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year honoree Bug Zero at 213 Clark Ave. in Cape Girardeau has been in the pest control business since 2009, and is building a new facility to house its growing operation. Owner Chris Horrell said his uncle started the business in Springfield, Missouri, and then he, Chris, opened the Cape Girardeau location...
Recent Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year honoree Bug Zero at 213 Clark Ave. in Cape Girardeau has been in the pest control business since 2009, and is building a new facility to house its growing operation.
Owner Chris Horrell said his uncle started the business in Springfield, Missouri, and then he, Chris, opened the Cape Girardeau location.
"To start, it was just me," Horrell said.
Now, the business employs six full-time workers and two part-time.
"We're heading in the right direction," Horrell said.
Jen Berti, retail development coordinator for the Jackson Area Chamber, agreed.
Berti said the business joined the Jackson Area Chamber eight years ago, and is very active, attending most events and sponsoring the Women's Impact Network luncheons and, in 2018, the Business Breakfast.
"Their team continues to grow, which is why they are building a new facility," Berti said, referring to the new building under construction on South Kingshighway, near The Remodeling Room. "They need more space for their growing team. Definitely a sign of success."
Horrell said Bug Zero serves commercial and residential customers, and while the service area is centered in Cape Girardeau, the company serves clients from Ste. Genevieve to Portageville to Dexter to Fredericktown.
The company offers many services, including eradicating termites, ants, spiders and bedbugs -- and they have a special "heat trailer" to heat an entire residence at once to effectively kill the bedbugs.
"Don't use aerosol bedbug bombs," Horrell said, as those often make a bedbug problem worse, by scattering instead of killing the pests.
He said bedbugs are especially troublesome because they're a hitchhiker pest, and unlike ants, spiders or roaches, which can be kept away by traps or treatments, there's no prevention for bedbugs other than being cautious and knowing how to avoid picking bedbugs up.
Sitting in a wooden chair rather than a couch, for instance, or when traveling, keeping bags off of the beds are good practices, he said.
Bug Zero also offers the InsectaShield protection program, which, instead of a more common quarterly spray service, is performed once a year, with exterior preventive maintenance every other month.
And customers can sign up online for services, he said.
"Our No. 1 focus is quality service," Horrell said.
Business licenses
Chantal Jamieson applied for a license to operate Hilliard House Health & Wellness LLC d/b/a Beautiful Existence Health & Wellness at 2441 Myra Drive in Cape Girardeau. Opening date listed was Feb. 1.
Gong Lin applied for a license to operate Shogun Japanese Sushi & Hibachi at 161 West Drive in Cape Girardeau. Opening date listed was Feb. 1.
Amanda Holzum applied for a license to operate The Beauty Room at 1720 Kingsway Drive, Suite 101, in Cape Girardeau. Opening date listed was March 1.
Carisa Stark applied for a license to operate Mary Jane bourbon + smokehouse at 1107 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. Opening date listed was March 1.
People on the move
MRV Banks recently hired Lydia Sumner as the bank's new director of human resources, according to a news release.
Sumner comes to MRV Banks with more than 25 years of customer service and employee management experience, and will be responsible for managing employee retention and training along with policies and procedures.
She comes to MRV Banks after serving as the director of dining services at Chateau Girardeau for three years. Before that, she worked as catering director at Chartwells at Missouri Science and Technology and foodservice director at Cafe Soupe.
Sumner received her Master of Business Administration from Southeast Missouri State University as well as her undergraduate degree in business administration and marketing.
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She lives in Cape Girardeau with her husband, Trevor, and her two sons.
The couple also serves as foster parents and foster respite parents.
In her spare time, Sumner volunteers at the Hope for One More Hope Chest, attends La Croix Methodist Church and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and Cape Area Personnel Association.
MRV Banks president and CEO Doug Watson recently announced Robbie Guard has been promoted to Cape Girardeau market president.
Guard has been with MRV Banks for more than seven years and will be responsible for continuing to manage the bank's commercial and small business relationships in addition to overseeing operations for the Cape Girardeau branch, according to the announcement.
Guard previously served as MRV Banks commercial and residential lending vice president and helped build the bank's commercial loan portfolio to more than $90 million in loan commitments, according to the release.
Prior to coming to MRV Banks, Guard was the assistant vice president and commercial relationship manager of Regions Bank. Guard also previously worked as a mortgage office and was named one of the top producing mortgage officers in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky.
Guard also serves as an elected Cape Girardeau City Council member and is involved in several other boards and organizations, including the Economic Development Board (Magnet), the Missouri Bankers Association Political Strikeforce Team, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and Lions Clubs International.
Guard graduated from Southeast Missouri State University with a degree in public relations. He and his wife, Carrie, have two daughters.
Saint Francis Healthcare System recently announced Jason Colvin has been hired as the new information technology director of IT Infrastructure and Technical Services.
Colvin has more than 13 years of IT experience and more than six years of management experience.
He was previously the manager of Business Partnership at Mercy Technology Services in Springfield, Missouri, associate principal of Business Partnership for Mercy in Hot Springs, Arkansas, manager of Information Systems and Technology at Del-Tin Fiber and systems administrator at Deltic Timber Corporation.
Colvin earned his business administration degree at Southern Arkansas University in 2005.
Recruiters Websites, a web design and development company in Cape Girardeau, has expanded its marketing services with the addition of Emily Blattel, marketing manager, and Sarah Shanahan, social media coordinator. With this newly created division of the company, Recruiters Websites can go beyond website design and development and assist businesses with social media, digital advertising, branding, public relations, email automation, copywriting, SEO and strategy, according to the announcement.
Blattel has more than 15 years of marketing, public relations and corporate branding experience. She comes to Recruiters Websites from Saint Francis Healthcare System, where she served as marketing manager. Blattel earned a Master of Arts in strategic communication from the University of Memphis and a bachelor's degree in mass communication with an emphasis in public relations from Southeast Missouri State University. She is a graduate of Leadership Cape Girardeau and Leadership Jackson and serves on the professional advisory council for Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Mass Media. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and past president of Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals.
Shanahan has more than five years of experience in public relations, marketing and social media management, as a publicist at Acclaim Press and communications coordinator at Saint Francis Healthcare System. Shanahan obtained her bachelor's degree in mass communication with an emphasis in public relations from Southeast Missouri State University. She is involved in her church, Connection Point in Jackson, where she volunteers with the children's ministry.
Dr. Brian Heuring, veterinarian and owner of Cape Small Animal Clinic at 210 Christine St. in Cape Girardeau, recently announced the addition of Dr. Loni Patke to the veterinary team and to expand the clinic's preventive, emergency and surgical services for companion animals.
"Dr. Loni, as her clients affectionately call her, is an extremely talented and compassionate veterinarian. We are excited to find the perfect fit for our team," Heuring said in a news release. "We're also grateful to our clients who have had patience with us, while we searched for the best candidate ever since late Fall 2018, when the clinic's founder, Dr. John Koch, unfortunately passed away. We know he would be proud having Dr. Loni on this team, and we're excited for our future."
Patke practiced veterinary medicine for the past three years in Texas.
The Jackson High School graduate studied veterinary medicine at Texas A&M University, where she also earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology and a master's degree in Biomedical Science.
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