Big week for business news

I certainly didn't have to look very hard for business news this past week.

Big Sky Airlines was broken by the effort to fulfill the multitude of new cities it tried to serve in the eastern half of the United States, costing Cape Girardeau its commercial passenger service for the second time in nine months.

Area leaders were stunned by the carrier's quick demise, but the company had struggled to get in the air in many of the cities it won a contract to serve, including Cape Girardeau. More details of the way Big Sky will be shut down emerged Friday during a conference call between Paul Foley, chief executive officer of Big Sky parent company MAIR Holdings Inc. and investment analysts, according to the Associated Press.

MAIR will transfer Big Sky's western routes to another carrier, sell off the company's assets and distribute the money to shareholders, Foley said. MAIR disposed of another subsidiary, the bankrupt Mesaba Airlines, to Northwest Airlines earlier this year.

Big Sky's move to the eastern markets was a last-ditch attempt to reach profitability, the AP reported. The western routes were money losers as well.

The other big news last week, in case my loyal readers missed it, was the auction of the Dana Corp. building that resulted in Plaza Tire obtaining it against the efforts of Schaefer's Electrical Enclosures of Advance, Mo. Plaza Tire's vice-president, Scott Rhodes, said the company worked to buy the building while it was being marketed by Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd.

And although that first round of selling left Schaefer's on top, Plaza Tire apparently went directly to the attorneys representing Dana Corp. in bankruptcy court, seeking another chance to bid. And in the auction held Thursday, Plaza Tire came out the winner.

Plaza Tire is a Cape Girar?deau success story, growing from a car wash founded in 1963 to a 49-store chain in four states. Schaefer's Electrical is an area success story as well, showing rapid growth in Advance, Mo., under the leadership of Mark Diamond over the past eight years.

Some of the people who read my stories last week were critical of Plaza Tire for making the effort to purchase the building, which it will use for warehousing, distribution and offices. But as Scott Rhodes noted, the company's growth -- it is adding two or three stores a year -- means jobs here. "It will continually grow," Rhodes said. "We add additional jobs on a regular basis here in Cape."

And Diamond's no slouch: He said he's not giving up on expansion plans. "I've gotten three phone calls from area towns that have empty buildings," he said Thursday afternoon, when the news of the auction's outcome had been on the Southeast Missourian Web site for just a few hours.

Many involved in the attempt to provide Schaefer's Electrical with some publicly sponsored financing to support its move said they will use the outcome as a learning experience and remember that nothing is final for a bankrupt company until the court speaks.

Now, on to new business.

• Stretching out: The Rose Bed Inn, the bed-and-breakfast opened by Eldon Nattier and James Coley just seven short years ago at 611 S. Sprigg St., is continuing to add services and offerings.

The latest addition is an eight-passenger white Lincoln limousine for customers of their evening dining room or overnight rooms. "We will take them down to the River Campus, take them to their show and bring them back for after-dinner cordials and dessert," Nattier said. "They don't have to find a parking spot and they don't have to walk."

Nattier, who has a chauffer's license, will do the driving. The limo service won't just be for the quick jump to the River Campus. The pair also run a wedding service, and the limousine is insured for trips anywhere in Missouri, he said.

They have also opened a kitchen store, which is open by reservation, for those looking to find the gadget or kitchen tool that they can't seem to find elsewhere.

The Rose Bed began with three sleeping rooms in 2001. The partners now own every house on their block save one, and have 14 guest rooms, a full-service commercial kitchen, a seven-day liquor license and an event coordinator.

"As long as there is room for profitable growth in our niche, we will continue to fill it," Nattier said.

• Hot cuisine: I know it's a bad pun, but I hope Julie Martin, sous chef at Mollies Cafe and Bar, will forgive me.

Owner Brian Noto called me, excited about the news that Martin, 26, has been accepted in to a 15-month training program at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Mollies's chef Doug Becker is a graduate of the institute, and he was instrumental in obtaining a slot there for Martin, Noto said.

"It is the top program in the country," he said. "There is no better school."

"These people, when coming out, go into the top places, the top hotels around the world," he said. "They are vetted for much more than culinary aptitude."

Noto said he will keep a place at his restaurant for Martin when she finishes the course and that Martin will provide updates about her progress for the restaurant's online newsletter.

• Wildlife concerns: The U.S. Department of the Interior filed as an intervenor in the application of Free Flow Power to place power generators in the Mississippi River from St. Louis to New Orleans. In documents sent to the Cape Girardeau County Comission, the department cites concerns over the potential disruption to fisheries in the river, including the impact on the endangered pallid sturgeon.

Free Flow Power Corp., or FFP, of Manchester, Mass., applied for 59 permits from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to install 160,000 turbines in the river from St. Louis to Louisiana. Of that number, 14 projects are in the Mississippi River as it passes between Missouri and Illinois, including nine in Southeast Missouri and three in Cape Girardeau County.

The department also cited the potential impact on shore nesting birds, the endangered Indiana bat and migratory waterfowl.

"Failure to fully investigate the potential environmental impacts of such technology before implementing it on a commercial scale could result in serious adverse impacts to species of concern and the river ecosystem as a whole," field solicitor Wayne A. Babcock wrote in the department's application to intervene in the consideration of Free Flow Power's application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

From the news release file:

• The U.S. Small Business Administration wants area businesses suffering adverse affects from the freezing weather last April to know that the deadline for seeking help is Feb. 1. Business owners in Cape Girardeau, Scott, Perry and other area counties can seek low-interest loans to help meet obligations they would have been able to pay in the absence of the cold weather. Interested business owners can call the SBA at 800-659-2955.
• SEMO Ready Mix Inc. of Cape Girardeau has expanded into the Poplar Bluff, Mo., market. The company provides fresh concrete to contractors for jobs ranging from street paving to specialty jobs. Their new location will be at 4114 Route PP in Poplar Bluff.
• Many manufacturers across the state are failing to take advantage of a new sales tax exemption for utility costs and the expense for equipment used in research and development, the Associated Industries of Missouri reports. The exemption, passed as part of an economic development bill, has the potential to save manufacturers many thousands of dollars on utility expenses. The exemption covers the state sales tax portion for utility costs, including electricity, gas and water, as well as machinery, equipment and chemicals used in manufacturing, mining or processing of products. For information on how to use the exemption, visit the Web site of the Taxpayers Research Institute of Missouri at www.motaxpayers.com.

Rudi Keller is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at rkeller@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 126