Style of Teamsters building won't change

The Teamsters building at 429 Broadview St. will soon be home to the corporate offices of local McDonald's franchise Arch Nemesis LLC.

The 15,000-square-foot building served as headquarters for Teamsters Local 574 for nearly 45 years, said Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd., who brokered the sale.

The world's most famous Teamster, Jimmy Hoffa, visited Cape Girardeau to attend the dedication of the building in 1963. At that time, he was serving as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The union's membership declined through the years, and since merging with St. Louis-based Teamsters Local 600 a few years ago, it no longer needed such a large facility, Kelsey said.

Shannon Davis, owner of Arch Nemesis, said he was attracted to the building because of its large meeting room and ample storage space that would allow his company to centralize its equipment storage.

The company's current corporate offices, behind the McDonald's on Broadway in Cape Girardeau, will be relocated to the Teamsters building once renovations are completed in August.

Davis said he wants to keep the building's midcentury modern style.

"Instead of making it look like any generic office building, we're trying to keep the building style. Even down to the furniture inside of it and the colors we choose," Davis said.

The 84-by-40-foot meeting hall, where union votes once took place, is being converted into what Davis calls "the most technologically advanced meeting room in Cape Girardeau."

He's teamed up with HD Media Systems, a Cape Girardeau company, to create a corporate meeting room that can also be rented to other businesses.

"We'll have all the electronics built in so you can literally walk into the room and run the meeting off your iPhone or iPad or thumbdrive or computer," Davis said.

Arch Nemesis LLC operates 11 McDonald's restaurants in Southeast Missouri and has more than 600 employees.

* MU Extension offers business workshops: The University of Missouri Extension Small Business Technology Development Center of Southeast Missouri will offer two sessions of "Starting a Small Business: The First Steps." Classes are scheduled for 6 p.m. July 6 at the Perry County MU Extension office, 321 N. Main St. in Perryville, Mo., and 6 p.m. July 7 at the University of Missouri Extension FNEP building, 1723 W. Business Highway 60, Suite 3, in Dexter, Mo. Class instructor will be Richard Proffer, University of Missouri Extension business development specialist. To register, call the Extension office at 243-3581.

* Local running store changes name, management: Ghisallo Running, 1131 N. Kingshighway, has changed its name to Missouri Running Co. and is now managed by Bryan and Kim Kelpe of Cape Girardeau. Kim Kelpe is now at the store full time. She has a degree in health management and health promotions from Southeast Missouri State University. Her husband, Bryan, teaches in the Cape Girardeau School District in addition to managing the store. The Kelpes regularly take part running events from local 5K races to marathons. Missouri Running Co. also has locations in University City and Chesterfield, Mo. For more information, visit www.morunco.com.

* Bank of Missouri opens new facility: Bank of Missouri has opened its new operations and data center at the intersection of U.S. 61 and the Highway 51 bypass in Perryville, Mo. The new building is 51,000 square feet and three stories high. The center, with about 50 employees, will provide support for all 13 Bank of Missouri branches.

* Restaurant teams up with United Way: McAlister's Deli, 244 S. Mount Auburn Road, is competing in an online contest called Tea Town USA in an effort to raise money for the United Way of Southeast Missouri. People may earn points for Cape Girardeau in the contest by checking in on Facebook, posting photos and voting online until July 28. Towns in the top 10 will receive from $1,000 to $7,500 for designated local not-for-profit organizations. On Sunday, Cape Girardeau was 28th out of 120 towns competing. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/TeaFreaks.

* Sun & Tan temporarily closes: Sun & Tan, 421 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, has closed until Jan. 9. Owner Terrie Hellman, who has operated the business for 16 years, said she is semiretiring and will open the business seasonally from now on. She will continue to do spray tans by appointment.

* Mexican restaurant reopens: El Torero has reopened its 2120 William St. location after being closed for several weeks for renovations.

Southeast Missourian business reporter Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.