Business Briefs

Engineering firm celebrates anniversary

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Schultz and Summers engineering firm of Poplar Bluff recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Stan Schultz started the firm in 1997 and Bob Summers, who had been employed at the firm for seven years, became a partner Jan. 1.

Gates Rubber marks 25th year

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Gates Rubber Company of Poplar Bluff, a manufacturer of vehicle hoses, has acknowledged its 25th anniversary in Poplar Bluff.

Gates was built in the city's industrial park in 1982, after the Poplar Bluff Industrial Development Authority issued $7 million in tax-free bonds as an incentive. It was the company's 19th domestic manufacturing plant.

At that time, more than 200 people showed up looking for work the first day applications were accepted at the Missouri Division of Employment Security. By the end of the day more than 700 people had applied.

Today, 10 employees have been with the company throughout its 25 years. The plant was originally built to employ 134 people, and has grown to employ 400. Company records show that its annual gross payroll for 1983 was $1.5 million, and had nearly doubled that amount the following year. Today the payroll is over $10 million.

Business opens in Campbell

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held recently for the office of Pamela Williams, an agent for Farmers Insurance. The business is located across from Vancil's Foods. Williams has been part of the Campbell community for over 16 years.

Name change

Cape Art Mart in Town Plaza has changed its name to Cape Art, Dolls & Toys to better reflect the store's focus and products, Nancy and Jary Reppen announced. Since opening in 1979 as an art supply dealer, the Reppens have added custom framing, hobby products, toys and a Lee Middleton Doll Newborn Nursery.

New business in Dexter

DEXTER, Mo. -- Sister's Choice Designs, LLC at 14 N. Locust St., in Dexter has opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The business, owned by Carol Jarrell, Carol Jarrell Kirby and Linda Orr, provides computerized quilting services using a long-arm quilting machine.

Consignment store opens

SIKESTON, Mo. -- What used to be yours, could become mine -- or someone else's who shops at Used 2 Be Mine, a new consignment store now open in Miner.

Available in the store is everything from baby dresses to bedroom dressers. There is glassware, lamps, furniture, kitchenware, pictures, "whatnots" and more.

About the only thing owner Debbie Vaught said she doesn't make available through the business is clothing for adults. According to Vaught she opened Used 2 Be Mine as an opportunity to become her own boss.

Currently working with some 82 consignors, Vaught goes through the items brought in during store hours. She marks prices and then splits the sales 50/50 with the consignor. Once a month, consignors receives checks for their sales totals.

While most of the items available in the store are consignment sales, Vaught said she does do a limited amount of buying and reselling. After six weeks if a consignment item is not sold, she will contact the seller, who can pick the item up, or Vaught will offer to donate it to the House of Refuge.

Also Vaught assists individuals who are collectors or who are looking for something special. She keeps a notebook listing the special items they want and when she spots one will give the collector a call.

Since opening July 21, Vaught described business as steadily growing, partly due to the business location, right next to the Book Bug, a longtime Miner business. According to Vaught, the two businesses seem to work well next to each other with many of the Book Bug's customers checking out her offerings while those who have stopped in at Used 2 Be Mine, making a stop next door.

Used 2 Be Mine, located at 201 State Highway AA, is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

First State Bancshares is expanding

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- First State Bancshares, Inc., headquartered in Farmington, completed it acquisition of Progress Bancshares, Inc., in Sullivan in September. The five Progress Bank locations will continue to operate in their current locations of two banks in Sullivan, Owensville, Wright City and Warrenton. Bank president Lee Keith will continue to oversee operations for all five banks, and staffing will remain the same.

During the first quarter 2008, it is tentatively planned for the five banks to be converted to First State Community Bank facilities. First State Bankshares, Inc., currently owns and operates 22 banks in 17 communities in east-central and Southeast Missouri. With the Progress Bank conversion, FSCB will operate 27 banks in 21 communities.

August saw unemployment steady

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. -- Figures from the Missouri Department of Economic Development and U.S. Department of Labor saw the unemployment rate at an even 5 percent in Ste. Genevieve County in August 2007, the same figure reported for the preceding month this year.

The jobless rate represents about 480 people unemployed.

The labor force was reported at 9,660 persons, down slightly from the 9,700 reported participants in July. There were 9,179 persons reported as employed.

The figures for August 2007 are almost identical to those reported in the same month last year, when there were 9,195 people with jobs and 486 people seeking employment.

Over the preceding five years, the August employment report had remained largely static, although the jobless rate stood slightly lower in 2005 and 2002 (at 4.5 percent and 4.6 percent respectively) and slightly higher in 2004 and 2003 (5.6 percent and 5.1 percent respectively).

There has been more variation in the work force figure, which hit a five-year low of 9,164 in August 2004, and a high of 9,671 last year.

Glick's celebrates anniversary

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Glick's has celebrated its 110th anniversary in business. Glick's stores throughout the area hosted celebrations for 110 days for their customers.

Business changes hands

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- Black and Owens has been purchased by Yvonne and Steve Eck. It was formerly owned by Pat Schwartz.

No license means ticket for business

SIKESTON, Mo. --The Sikeston Department of Public Safety officers are issuing citations to businesses that have not yet renewed their business licenses, according to City Collector Vicky Lewis.

Business licenses are good for the duration of the city's fiscal year which runs from July 1 through June 30 and must be renewed annually, Lewis said.

The first renewal notices are sent out by the city collector's office on June 1. "In August we send out our second mailing to remind business to renew their license," Lewis said.

Businesses licenses that are not renewed become delinquent after Aug. 31. "Beginning Sept. 1 there is a 10 percent penalty," Lewis said.

There are a total of approximately 1,200 active business licenses in the city, according to Lewis. She said in addition to retailers, licensees include just about every type of business from manufacturers and wholesalers to insurance brokers and car washes.

"We have approximately 150 businesses that have not renewed their license," Lewis said.

Lewis said her office will supply DPS with the list of businesses that are delinquent.

Businesses that are based out of town but do business in town, such as contractors, for example, won't be visited by DPS officers but before they can get any kind of building permits or inspections, they need a current business license, according to Lewis.

For those businesses that are cited, the minimum fine is $126.50, according to the Sikeston Municipal Court staff, and can be as much as $500 at the judge's discretion.

Dry weather cuts into area yields

The drought continues in Southeast Missouri, and as farmers harvest their soybeans, they're finding out just how much the dry conditions affected their crops.

Some Bootheel farmers are getting yields of only five to 15 bushels per acre on their nonirrigated fields, said University of Missouri Extension agronomist Jeff House, a soybean specialist. In a good year, those farmers would be getting more than 25 bushels per acre.

As Nov. 5, the soybean harvest was 92 percent complete in Missouri. In Southeast Missouri, the USDA lists 63 percent of the soybean crop as in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

The feeble soybean crop is directly tied to drought conditions over the summer. August was the driest on record in Cape Girardeau, with only 0.01 inches of rainfall recorded at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Southeast Missouri counties are reporting anywhere from 25 percent loss to 90 percent loss on a variety of crops, said Dan Engemann, a drought assessment specialist with the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Most of those losses come from soybeans, cotton and pastureland. Nearly all the pastureland acres were devastated. The USDA has declared most of Southeast Missouri eligible for drought disaster assistance.

Florist goes online

Toni's Flower House, 41 S. Sprigg St., has added a Web site for customers to browse arrangements and make purchases. Customers can visit the new site at www.myfsn.com/tonisflowerhouse.

Angus alert

Birk Angus Ranch in Jackson is now the fifth largest Angus beef ranch in Missouri, recording 371 head with the American Angus Association during 2007. The announcement was made last week by John Crouch, executive vice-president of the American Angus Association.

Communication partnership

Big River Telephone will collaborate with Great Lakes Data Systems to streamline Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) billing for Eagle Communications Inc., a Kansas-based broadband services company that operates 23 radio stations in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri as well as cable television in Kansas and Colorado.

Big River, a Cape Girardeau supplier of full-service telecommunications services, handles the telephone aspects of Eagle Communications business. The new arrangement will present customers with an integrated bill and online information about their calls.

Rhodes 101 honored with Triumph Award

Rhodes 101 Stops was honored with the Triumph Award at the 2007 Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals' 2007 Small Business and Marketing Expo, held at the Drury Lodge in Cape Girardeau.

The Tri State Advertising and Marketing Professionals includes Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky, said Mike Tenholder, president of the group. The expo, he said, is designed to provide small businesses assistance in promotion, branding and financing.

Manufacturer faces fines

The Associated Press reported that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration wants to fine Cape Girardeau manufacturer Mid-South Steel Products $148,500 for alleged safety violations.

OSHA cited Mid-South Steel Products Inc. with three willful violations, 10 serious violations and one other-than-serious violation after a routine inspection of the company that makes petroleum storage tanks.

Regulators claimed the company failed to adequately protect workers from falls, didn't maintain employee respirators or train employees on their use, and lacked safety procedures for employees working in enclosed spaces.

Inspectors also said the company unsafely stacked steel tanks, didn't protect pressurized tanks from falling, exposed employees to significant amounts of toluene gas, didn't prevent workers from smoking in a spray room and other violations.

Sonny Underwood, the company's president, said Mid-South will request an informal hearing to get more information about the alleged violations. But he said he was perplexed why the fine was so high.

Rich Kulczewski, an OSHA spokesman, said the routine inspection was aimed at reducing possible fall risks, respiratory protection and confined space hazards. He said the company's problem-free past and how it responds to the alleged violations could be considered in possibly reducing the level of the fines.