What's Happened

MFA Oil announced a plan Feb. 15 in Jefferson City to form MFA Oil Biomass in a partnership with Ohio-based Aloterra Energy. The partnership aims to set up a supply chain with farmers in Missouri and Arkansas to grow a special kind of grass that MFA would convert into burnable pellets to be used as a fossil fuel substitute. To get the project off the ground, the partnership is banking on securing funding through a competitive federal agriculture program, the Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which is targeted for large cuts in next year’s federal budget. The federal program would fund up to 75 percent of farmers’ planting costs and pay them per ton of the grass produced. MFA said about 250 farmers have submitted letters of intent to grow the grass on land totaling 21,000 acres. MFA also said about 2,700 jobs would be created through farming and supporting industries, though media reports indicate only about 115 jobs would be created directly.
The City Council unanimously agreed to rezone 2.5 acres at the corner of College Avenue and Walnut Street from residential to open commercial. The Odle family, owners of Trittenbach Development, requested the zoning to accommodate their plans for a mixed-use building with apartment space for as many as 300 renters and 5,000 square feet for commercial tenants. The project will likely be similar to the Odles’ other downtown apartment buildings, one on 10th and Locust and another slated to be complete by August at 10th and Elm.
The Columbia Chamber of Commerce held a candidate forum Feb. 9 for the 1st and 5th Ward contenders in the April 5 election. In the coming weeks, the Chamber leadership might be endorsing one or more of the candidates and influencing the outcome. (See story, Page 10).
The Coordinating Board for Higher Education approved a plan Feb. 10 to reduce 119 degrees offered by Missouri universities. Gov. Jay Nixon proposed reviewing degree programs in August and cutting those that produce few graduates. The plan calls for 19 degrees at MU to be eliminated, though much of the reduction will be achieved through combining programs and eliminating career and technical education programs.
The owners of the Great Hangups store and neighbors are working to develop a compromise statement of intent for the possible rezoning of the site. The City Council voted down the proposal in October, but 4th Ward Councilman Daryl Dudley has convened the two sides and might be interested in bringing the matter back up for Council consideration in the coming months. The groups met Feb. 14 and plan to meet again in March. The property owners want to rezone the land to sell it, and neighbors want a clearly defined set of rules limiting the type of potential development on site. (See story, Page 12)
John Blattel, who became interim finance director Dec. 3 after the former head of the department, Lori Fleming, left to take a job with the US Treasury Department, was tapped to take over the post permanently. City Manager Bill Watkins announced the appointment Feb. 14 and cited Blattel’s two years as Columbia’s internal auditor and more than 30 years in the Missouri State Auditor’s office.
The City Council voted Feb. 7 to raise parking fines from $5 to $10 and late fees from $15 to $25. The change is expected to take effect March 1. Estimates put new revenue generated at $100,000 a year that City Manager Bill Watkins said would be deposited in the city’s general fund.
Regional Economic Development Inc. is developing a training room as part of its offices planned for the space in the bottom of the downtown parking garage at Fifth and Walnut, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. Boone Electric Satellite Systems Inc. donated $71,000 for equipment to be used for training and teaching budding entrepreneurs. REDI is partnered with MU Extension’s Small Business and Technology Development Center for the training.
Landmark Hospital, a long-term acute-care facility that was the subject of a contentious rezoning battle in mid-2008, was acquired by publicly traded real estate investment trust Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II Jan. 31. Landmark Holdings, which operates the hospital, had signed a lease with the former property owner, White Oaks Real Estate Investments, good through January 2026. Landmark will continue to operate the facility.
The New York Times featured St. Louis in an extensive story about the growth of data center companies in its downtown area. Companies such as Philadelphia-based Unisys and San Francisco-based Digital Realty Trust have recently moved or expanded operations there because of low power costs. Outgoing St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association President Dick Fleming, responding to the Times article in the St. Louis Business Journal, said he hoped the national coverage would spur the General Assembly to finally adopt incentives designed specifically for attracting data center companies.
The US International Trade Commission retained magnesium tariffs on Chinese importers designed to protect a Utah-based producer, though the commission dropped tariffs on Russian companies, the St. Louis Beacon reported. Die-casting companies with operations in Missouri, including Spartan Light Metal Products Inc., which has a factory in Mexico, complain that the duties raise their input costs. Missouri’s senators and most of its representatives in Congress had requested the ITC drop the duties to help the state’s manufacturers dependent on magnesium.
The Missouri Senate voted 28-4 Feb. 15 to phase out the state’s corporate franchise tax, which taxes companies based on their assets located in the state. The tax rate would be capped at 2010 levels and gradually phased out by the 2016 tax year. Sen. Eric Schmidt, R-Glendale, sponsored the legislation. It is expected to cost the state about $70 million during the next two years.
Gov. Jay Nixon chose Kevin Gunn as head of the Missouri Public Service Commission, replacing Robert M Clayton III, who stepped down as chairman but will remain on the commission. The PSC regulates investor-owned utilities such as Ameren Missouri, which provides natural gas for customers in the Columbia area.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Feb. 4 that union membership rose in Missouri to 9.9 percent in 2010, compared to 9.4 percent in 2009. Nationally, union membership has been declining for decades, with the latest drop to 11.9 percent in 2010 compared to 12.3 percent in 2009.
Research by Christine Harbin of the Show-Me-Institute, a free market think tank, found that the state hands out an average of $539 million in subsidies to businesses each year. The subsidies average about .27 percent of gross state product and between 2002 and 2008 averaged 3 percent of all state spending.