What’s New

Bartering, with virtual currency

Members of student-founded group lose (and earn and trade) their marbles From MizzouWire Members of…

Boone Hospital Center building eco-friendly patient tower

Boone Hospital Center’s new patient tower will go beyond helping patients — it will care…

Eco Brokers interpret ‘green living’ costs, benefits

When people are hunting for a new home or planning renovations, “eco-friendly” is quickly rising…

City expanding energy demand management program

Kraig Kahler and his staff at Columbia Water and Light are increasing their efforts to…

DNA lab solves crimes, changes lives

Kim Gorman checked and rechecked the test results in her Columbia lab. There was no doubt: They locked up the wrong guy. It wasn’t Johnny Briscoe who raped and robbed a woman at knifepoint in her apartment.
Cigarette butts from the crime scene, stored away and forgotten in a St. Louis Police Department crime lab, were tested for DNA. The saliva came from an acquaintance who framed Briscoe.
Twenty-three years after being wrongfully convicted of rape, after spending nearly half his life in a Missouri prison, Johnny Briscoe was set free in 2006.

Customer Service: The Ogre and the Intern: A Cautionary Tale

I hate interns. At least that’s what I always tell prospective ones when I’m conducting…

Tour of Missouri survives political skirmish, skips CoMo

A statewide bicycle race hardly seems a likely catalyst for a titanic political struggle. But…

Financial planner hooked on fishing industry

For Jared Reynolds, you could say fishing is in his blood. The year he was…

MADMEN Of Mid-Missouri

For a young company growing at hyper-speed, Pure Marketing and Media had an inauspicious start.
About 18 months ago, Brent Beshore and Erik LaPaglia were meeting for lattes at the Coffee Zone to exchange business advice. Beshore was taking a break from graduate studies and running a new company, Event Solutions, that orchestrates events, while LaPaglia was working as a regional marketing agent for Mediacom’s advertising and sales division, OnMedia.
Some of Event Solutions’ clients had asked Beshore if he would like to also act as their marketing and advertising agency. Beshore had been declining such offers, but then he received a proposal from a big client that he could not pass up. Beshore wondered what to do next. LaPaglia advised him to buy into an existing marketing and advertising agency.

Bargain Buying Binge

While on her way to see “Hello, Dolly!” at the Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock, Sheila Scott from Jefferson City stopped in Columbia to grab some lunch and to check out the merchandise at Upscale Resale.
Four years ago, she stepped into the store on West Broadway for the first time on a friend’s recommendations. Now, she stops by almost every time she is in Columbia.

Economy evolves, retailers adapt

The recession and related cutback in consumer spending is compelling Columbia retailers to come up with innovative ideas for increasing sales, particularly downtown, where the downturn has had the deepest impact and the amount of vacant space has spiked.

While some businesses in the typically volatile retail sector have closed recently, including Kayotea Tea Room & Bistro, Arsenic Leopard and Manhattan Closet, many are opening, such as MacKenzies restaurant, Artlandish Gallery and Plato’s Closet.

He who can sell… wins

It happened again: Yet another conversation with a frustrated business owner lamenting a dramatic loss…