Business notebook: Mexican food veteran strikes out on his own

Southeast Missouri has a variety of Mexican restaurants, and Jon Seyer has worked at several of them.

Eventually, he decided it was time to strike out on his own and bring his own interpretation of Mexican dining to Southeast Missouri.

Inspired by his mother, who always wanted to own a taqueria, Seyer opened Monte Blanco.

The restaurant on 229 S. Broadview St. is Seyer's first run at owning and managing a restaurant. But he's not doing it alone. His sister, Cesia Watkins, and his brother Josiah Seyer, work alongside him in the restaurant.

"Right now, it's completely family-run," Seyer said.

The family is from Cape Girardeau, but Watkins had moved to Kansas. She has come back temporarily to help her brother get his business off the ground.

Monte Blanco opened in mid-March with little fanfare, as was Seyer's intention. He needed time to adjust his menu and his business.

"I wanted a soft opening, which would give me time to figure out what I want without being rushed," Seyer said. "I wanted everything to be up to par before I really started advertising and getting it out there."

Seyer offers a variety of traditional Mexican dishes in his small restaurant with checkerboard floors and cafe seating. His goal is to set himself apart from other local restaurants, and he's doing so through his menu, from the handmade tortillas to his chocoflan dessert.

While Seyer hopes to introduce a breakfast menu eventually, for now, Monte Blanco offers traditional Mexican lunch and dinner fare, such as tacos, enchiladas, flautas and tostadas.

"I want people to taste real, authentic Mexican food," Seyer said, "just pure Mexican food that takes time to make."

Ripley County OKs tax for Southeast Health

On April 5, Ripley County, Missouri, voters overwhelmingly approved a 0.5 percent tax increase for the operation of Southeast Health Center of Ripley County.

According to Ron Smith of The Prospect-News, failure of the tax would have resulted in the closing of the hospital, its two related clinics and other SoutheastHEALTH services in Doniphan, Missouri.

Ripley County voter turnout was more than 34 percent Tuesday. Eighty-six percent of those voters approved the tax.

County clerk Becky York credited the issue for the larger-than-usual voter turnout.

"In the April 2015 election, there was a total of 574 votes cast," York told The Prospect-News. "This time we had 2,565 voters go to the polls."

Before the vote, SoutheastHEALTH CEO Kenneth Bateman came to Doniphan twice in support of the sales tax. SoutheastHEALTH's regional hospitals have lost money in recent years, with Ripley County's facility losing $650,000 a year.

According to The Prospect-News, Bateman said without community support of the ballot proposal, the hospital and the rest of SoutheastHEALTH's services in the county would be have closed in May.

Ron Smith of The Prospect News reported the tax is expected to produce an additional $450,000 to $475,000 in revenue per year.

Mondi Jackson names employee of month

Mondi Jackson LLC has named Dale Hanebrink of Cape Girardeau as its employee of the month for April.

Hanebrink, a quality assurance technician, has been with the company since April 18, 2011.

Mondi Jackson also recently recognized the following employee anniversaries:

• 25 years: Douglas Currington and Bernice Baldwin
• 20 years: Todd Poole
• 10 years: Tony Renschen
• 5 years: Dale Hanebrink, Scott Lanpher and Nathan McIntosh

Saint Francis earns patient-service honor

Saint Francis Medical Center has been awarded the Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades, an online resource for information about physicians and hospitals.

The award recognizes hospitals for providing outstanding patient experience based on criteria such as communication, cleanliness, noise levels and post-discharge care instructions.

Patients at Saint Francis Medical Center gave the hospital an overall rating of 9 or 10, and 83 percent said they would recommend the hospital to others. Patients also gave high caregiver communication scores, with 86 percent saying their doctors "always" communicated well. Saint Francis placed in the top 10 percent of hospitals evaluated in 2015. In 2016, the hospital placed in the top 5 percent.

The award is based on responses to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Saint Francis was evaluated against nearly 4,000 other hospitals that submitted at least 100 patient experience surveys from patients.

Sports complex breaks ground in Poplar Bluff

A groundbreaking for the Libla Family Sports Complex on the campus of Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was held April 1.

A groundbreaking for the Libla Family Sports Complex at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was held April 1.Courtesy

Dillie Traxel Architecture, a Cape Girardeau firm, completed the architectural design work for the complex, which boasts 60,000 square feet of space and seating for over 3,000 people.

Included in the sports complex is a 12,500-square-foot multiuse safe room which also is used as locker rooms, weight rooms, training rooms and office space.

The $10.5 million sports complex construction is expected to be finished in October 2017. Over $5.5 million in private funds will be used will be used in construction, including donations from the Libla family, the Bank of Grandin and the Kitterman family.

bbrown@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630