Business notebook: Signature Packaging CEO to lead state chamber

In the decade since moving to the area, Signature Packaging president and CEO Dennis Vinson has served on both boards of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce.

"Actually, both of them at the same time at one point," he recalled in an interview Friday.

But he also has served on the board of directors for the Missouri State Chamber of Commerce and Industry and has been tapped to lead that board in November.

He said he had doubts when representatives from the state chamber approached him and asked whether he would consider taking on the role of chairman.

He took some time to discuss it with his wife, Joy.

"I thought, 'Man, why me?'" he said. "And she said, 'Why not you?'"

So he agreed.

"There's a purpose for everything. We're put in various roles for a reason," he said. "And I have been very blessed."

He said through his past work at the state level, he was familiar with some of the challenges and opportunities facing Missouri.

On several scales, he said, Missouri ranked in the middle of the pack but has begun to improve, especially over the past two years. He said he's not looking for accolades.

"I wanted to serve on the board because I wanted to be at the table," he said. "Doing things ... I wouldn't say I'm a behind-the-scenes guy, but I like to be involved. I like to be connected."

He said he hopes to bring a focused energy to the new role.

"When you focus, you can fix stuff," he said.

A similar focused energy has helped his business in other areas. Black Enterprise Magazine has ranked Signature Packaging in its top 100 minority-owned companies for the past three years running.

And Vinson doesn't intend to let a chairmanship detract from his current work.

He said he already travels often but won't mind the extra workload.

"There's an option to being busy," he said. "And I don't like the option."

And, hopefully, success in one arena will help the other.

"When business does well in general, Signature [Packaging] does well," he said.

His priorities at the state level will be similar to those of other chambers of commerce, he said.

"It's not a matter of reinventing anything," he said. "We have a lot of good momentum going on. We just want to maintain it. Maintain it and grow it."

Photographer wins bronze in contest

Carrie Perez of Photography by Carrie was named a bronze medalist during the Professional Photographers of America's 2017 International Photographic Competition.

Perez was one of 152 bronze medalists in the competition which included nearly 5,800 submissions.

Each of the four images she submitted earned a mark of quality from the panel of judges.

Perez's work will be displayed from Jan. 14 through 16 at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Perryville nursing site gets five-star rating

Perryville, Missouri, skilled-nursing facility Independence Care Center of Perry County has been designated a five-star facility by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

"We have a fantastic staff, in all of our departments," said Bonnie Schnurbusch, CEO of Independence Health System Inc. "We are blessed with a caring, knowledgeable and dedicated nursing staff. They play a monumental role in the delivery of care at Independence Care Center.

"However, we are also very proud of our social services, dietary, housekeeping, activity, laundry and maintenance departments. With all of our departments working together, we have become a five-star facility."

The rating is based on health inspections, staffing and quality measures.

Janel Koenig, human-resource manager for Independence Health System Inc., said the designation makes Independence Care Center the only skilled-nursing facility in Perryville with a five-star rating.

tgraef@semissourian.com (573) 388-3627