BusinessApril 27, 2020
Business Notebook: Southeast Missouri State University expanding business degree program
Southeast Missouri State University is planning to extend its Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program to its regional campuses in Sikeston and Kennett, Missouri, as well as the university’s educational delivery site in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, starting with the fall semester...
Southeast Missouri State University is planning to extend its Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) program to its regional campuses in Sikeston and Kennett, Missouri, as well as the university’s educational delivery site in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, starting with the fall semester.
According to an announcement last week from the university, the degree program will be offered in the evenings for working adults, allowing them to major in general business and to select 24 credit hours in the areas of marketing, management, accounting, economics, finance and entrepreneurship.
Nathan Bullock, dean of extended studies at Southeast, said the program will “provide a means for working adults to complete their education conveniently and move forward in their careers while maintaining their current jobs, or for younger students to get a business degree without leaving home.”
The Missouri Economic Research and Information Center has projected a 5.8% growth in the number of management positions and an increase of more than 6% in the number of financial operations occupations in the Missouri Bootheel through 2026. Many of those positions will require a bachelor’s degree or better, according to the economic research organization.
More information about the BSBA program is available by emailing Southeast’s facilities in Kennett, Sikeston and Popular Bluff at kennett@semo.edu, sikeston@semo.edu or poplarbluff@semo.edu, respectively.
Federal contracts awarded to a pair of SEMO companies
Two federal contracts, including one valued at more than $175 million, have been awarded to a pair of companies in Southeast Missouri.
Randy Kinder Excavating Inc. of Dexter, Missouri, has been awarded a contract valued at $175,577,000 for construction of 15 miles of border wall along the Rio Grande Valley in Starr County, Texas.
The project will consist of a 30-foot-tall steel wall, all-weather roads, lighting, cameras and other related technologies. According to a news release from U.S. Customs and Border Control, construction will begin later this year, “pending availability of real estate in locations where no barriers currently exist.”
The second contract, valued at $250,000, has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to Bowman Milling Co. of Pocahontas for dry whole corn for the USDA’s feral-hog program in Missouri.
Torres to acquire local ServiceMaster
Cesar R. Torres is purchasing the local ServiceMaster franchise from Virgil Jones who started the franchise nearly 34 years ago.
Sale of the business is expected to be finalized this week, according to Jones, who said he will remain active in several other business interests.
Originally from San Antonio, Torres owns several franchises, including several Anytime Fitness and ServiceMaster locations. In addition to his association in business franchises, Torres is a motivational speaker and consultant in the areas of personal development, leadership training and organizational/cultural development.
The ServiceMaster franchise here, which Jones began in July 1986, serves clients throughout Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and portions of Tennessee.
Schnucks campaign raises $250,000 for UW COVID-19 funds
Schnucks customers donated $225,400 during the grocery chain’s “Round Up at the Register” campaign earlier this month, and the St. Louis-based company contributed an additional $24,600 for a total donation of $250,000 toward COVID-19 relief efforts in the five states in which Schnucks operates.
The campaign took place April 3 through 20, and 100% of the donations will go to the United Way campaigns in each Schnucks store’s local area, including Cape Girardeau.
The Schnucks donation is in addition to the $605,000 the company donated in March to support COVID-19 relief funds.
Uptown Jackson starts weekly webinar series
The Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization is kicking off a weekly series of webinars this week called Mornings on Main.
The first of the free one-hour weekly webinars will be at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Each webinar will feature small-business owners discussing ways to sell online and promote their businesses using social media platforms.
This week’s webinar will feature Stephanie Campbell, owner of Blue Willow Boutique in Maryville, Missouri, and Scott Bachman of Chillicothe, Missouri, owner of Bachman’s Farm Store. Both will discuss some of their business experiences and how they have built online businesses.
More information about Mornings on Main is available through the Uptown Jackson Facebook page.
People on the Move
Southeast Missouri State University has announced the appointment of several faculty members to serve as chairs of their respective academic departments.
The new department chairpersons and their departments are Tim Judd, biology; Dan Daly, mathematics; Tamara Zellars Buck, mass media; Jayanti Ray, communication disorders; and Leslie Pace, communication studies and modern languages.
Judd will assume his new position July 1 and replaces James Champine, who is stepping down as department chairman to return to his teaching role in the biology department.
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Now in his 17th year in the biology department, Judd holds a doctoral degree in zoology from Colorado State University in Fort Collins; a Master of Science in biology from Oakland University in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan; and a bachelor’s degree in biology, neurobiology and animal behavior from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
Daly has been interim chairman of the mathematics department since January 2018, when Tamela Randolph, the previous chairwoman, was appointed interim provost and now serves as dean of Southeast’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Daly’s new role is effective Aug. 1.
A member of Southeast’s faculty since 2009, Daly earned a doctorate in mathematics and computer science, a master’s degree in mathematics and a bachelor’s degree in computer science, all from the University of Denver in Colorado.
Buck replaces Pam Parry who is stepping down as the mass media department chairwoman to return to her teaching role. Buck will also assume her new role as of Aug. 1.
Buck holds a juris doctorate from the University of Memphis in Tennessee; a master’s degree in administration, specializing in public administration from Southeast; and an undergraduate degree in mass communication, also from Southeast.
Ray has served as interim chairwoman of the communications disorders department since the former chairwoman Marcia Brown Haims retired in May. She will assume her new title July 1.
A member of Southeast’s faculty since 2004, Ray earned a doctoral degree from Bhavnager University in Bhavnager, India; and her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Mysore in Mysore, India.
Pace replaces Christopher Rieger as chairman of the communications studies and modern languages department. Rieger has been serving as interim chairman of the department following the department of Glen Williams in 2019.
Pace, whose appointment will be effective Aug. 1, comes to Southeast from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, where she was program coordinator of communications and an associate professor in that university’s school of humanities. She holds a doctoral degree in rhetoric and philosophy of communication from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, a master’s degree in communication from Texas State University, San Marcos,; and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Southeast.
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Richard Crowley has joined Thomas L. Meyer Realty Co. as a new agent, specializing in residential and commercial real estate as well as real estate investments, according to Thomas M. Meyer.
Crowley previously worked in the health care field and is now licensed in real estate in the Cape Girardeau County area.
Before joining the Meyer firm, Crowley was a performance-improvement engineer with St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Parkland Health Center in Farmington, Missouri. He was also director of business intelligence at Southeast Hospital. He is an alumnus of Southeast Missouri State University, where he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration.
He is a member of the West Side Rotary Club, the Southeast Missouri Realtors Association and the National Association of Realtors.
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Genevieve Mendoza has been named the new county engagement specialist in 4-H youth development with the University of Missouri Extension Office for Cape Girardeau County.
In her new role, she will operate primarily out of the extension service’s office in Jackson while supporting the 4-H programs in Bollinger and Perry counties.
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POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Paul Hopkins has been named interim director of the John J. Pershing Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Poplar Bluff. His appointment became effective Sunday.
Hopkins comes to Poplar Bluff from the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, Missouri, where he served as assistant director of facilities management, police, voluntary services and safety. He has also served as that facility’s chief financial officer.
He is a 1991 graduate of Columbia College and earned a master’s degree in business administration from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. He has served in the U.S. Army Reserve, during which he was activated twice, including a deployment to Afghanistan in 2002, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He retired from the reserves in April 2007.
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