In case you hadn't noticed, Southeast Missouri State University students are back in town, and while we might complain about the extra traffic on streets surrounding campus, we should all be happy about the economic impact students have on the community.

A study a few years ago by several faculty members and students in the Donald L. Harrison College of Business and Computing showed students spend more than $63 million during the academic year in the Cape Girardeau area on everything from pizza and clothes to school supplies and gasoline.

The study went on to note merchants who sell goods and services to students may, in turn, increase their purchases from other businesses, which is an "indirect" benefit of student spending, and when economic activity increases because of more spending, incomes in the region rise leading to additional spending.

So the next time you see a Southeast student in the checkout line, say "Thank you!"

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Moe Sandfort

Speaking of "thank yous" the Cape Area Community Foundation board hosted a "thank you" reception at Celebrations Downtown last week to honor retiring board member Maurice "Moe" Sandfort for his service to the foundation and the community.

Moe retired a few years back after a 46-year career in banking, working in executive management positions in Cape Girardeau, West Plains, Columbia and St. Charles. But did he relax and take it easy? Nope! In 2015, Moe became a founding member for the foundation, serving as the first staff member of the organization, which is an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The foundation's regional advancement associate Judy Cantoni told me Moe was "instrumental in making the foundation available to this region."

Moe and I worked together on United Way campaigns. He has also been involved with two of my past employers, Saint Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri State University (Moe and I have also been boxing sparring partners).

Foundation funds help support 32 charitable organizations in the Cape Girardeau community.

Moe is a tremendous asset to the Cape Area Community Foundation and the Cape region.

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It seems just about every week a new list comes out ranking U.S. cities on all kinds of things -- schools, affordability, housing, overall cost of living and so forth.

Last week, Cape Girardeau showed up on a list that found its way into my email inbox. Seems Cape has been ranked as the sixth best small city (populations of 150,000 or less) in the United States for administrative assistants.

The study, done by AdvisorSmith, an online business insurance advising firm, ranked cities on the basis of the availability of administrative assistant positions, administrative assistant salaries and the cost of living in each community.

According to the study, Cape Girardeau ranked 14th overall in the study of 376 U.S. cities. The study noted Cape Girardeau has 127% more jobs per capita for administrative assistants than the average city and offers administrative assistants an average salary of $30,080 while Cape Girardeau's cost of living is 13% below the national average.

The following is a list of the top 10 small cities for administrative assistants:

1) Ithaca, New York

2) Carson City, Nevada

3) Dothan, Alabama

4) Santa Fe, New Mexico

5) Ames, Iowa

6) Cape Girardeau

7) Farmington, New Mexico

8) St. Joseph, Missouri

9) Gadsden, Alabama

10) Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Among mid-size cities and areas with populations between 150,000 and 500,000, Jefferson City, Missouri, was ranked third, while in large metropolitan areas with populations above 500,000, St. Louis checked in at No. 4 while Kansas City, Missouri, ranked 10th.

To see the full report, go to www.advisorsmith.com/data/best-cities-for-administrative-assistants.

Over the years, I've had the good fortune of working with several excellent administrative assistants -- Katrina, Janet, Debbie and Angie -- each made me a better employee and supervisor at some of my previous work places. Thanks to each of you!

Now on to the rest of this week's Business Notebook ...

New agreements streamline transfer process to SEMO

Southeast Missouri State University and Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, announced agreements last week that will help Three Rivers students with associate degrees in business administration and agriculture seamlessly transfer into Southeast's bachelor's degree programs in those areas.

Under the agreements, TRC students with an associate of arts degree in business administration can transfer into any of Southeast's 13 Bachelor of Science in business administration programs, while students with an associate of arts degree in agriculture are able to transfer into Southeast's Bachelor of Science in agribusiness program as well as the Bachelor of Science in agriculture education program.

The agreements are effective with the fall 2019 semester. More information is available by contacting Pauletta Burns, coordinator of academic and student services at TRC, at (573) 840-9575, or the Southeast Office of Admissions at (573) 651-2590.

State Farm contest could benefit local Safe House

Out of approximately 2,000 applicants, Safe House for Women in Cape Girardeau has been chosen as a "Top 200 Finalist" for the State Farm Insurance Neighborhood Assist grant program.

Program voting is underway at www.neighborhoodassist.com and continues through Friday. People interested in participating in the grant program can vote up to 10 times a day on any internet-connected device.

The 40 programs receiving the most votes will receive $25,000 grants from State Farm. If Safe House receives one of the grants, it will be used for client services at the new Safe House shelter.

Safe House is one of only four Missouri finalists in the Neighborhood Assist program and is the only finalist from Southeast Missouri.

Brian Gerau

Gerau among graduates of leadership institute

Brian Gerau, president and CEO of the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce, recently became one of 25 2018-2019 graduates of the Delta Regional Authority's Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy.

The DLI's Executive Academy is a 10-month training program bringing together public, private and not-for-profit-sector leaders from the eight states served by the Delta Regional Authority -- Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Gerau was the only participant from Missouri.

The Delta Leadership Institute is a program of the Delta Regional Authority in partnership with the University of Alabama, Arkansas State University-Jonesboro and the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Since its inception in 2005, DLI's Executive Academy has enhanced the leadership skills, policy knowledge and learning opportunities of more than 500 community leaders, giving them tools, experiences and networks to help improve communities in the Delta region.

Cape tech company starts unlimited PTO

Element 74, a digital production company based in Cape Girardeau, recently introduced "unlimited" paid time off for its salaried employees.

According to a company news release, Element 74 employees are encouraged to take off as much time as they want in order to "recharge, stay fresh and maintain a healthy work-life balance."

"Unlimited PTO is something the other VPs and I have wanted for years," said Austin Bollinger, the company's vice president of business development and marketing.

"Huge companies like Netflix have been doing this for a long time and we kept thinking, 'Why not us?' Today's work environment is completely different than it was in the early 1900s. We're focused more on creative output and not so much on building widgets as efficiently as possible. Everyone is at their best at different times and you can't force creativity or deep focus. Unlimited PTO means a completely flexible schedule, which empowers our people to work when they feel at their most creative."

According to Element 74's news release, studies have shown unlimited PTO leads to happier employees, higher retention rates and enhanced creativity. In addition, a study cited in the release said unlimited time off increases employee buy-in within the company and instead of working to fill 40 hours, employees work toward their individual goals as well as overarching company objectives.

Local firm signs Samsung contract

PLEDO LLC, a Cape Girardeau-based distributor of Wowza Media Systems, has entered a three-year agreement with Samsung Medison, a subsidiary of Samsung Group in South Korea, to supply Wowza Streaming Engine equipment for use in live video streaming services. Announcement of the supply agreement was made recently by PLEDO CEO William Lee who said this is the largest volume agreement for this specific video streaming software.

PLEDO was founded in December 2016 and provides development, distribution and consulting services on a range of products designed to deliver high-quality video content. Wowza Media systems was founded in 2005 and is based in Golden, Colorado.

Awards and recognitions

Southeast Missouri State University is among the best colleges in the Midwest, according to The Princeton Review, which released its list of "2020 Best Colleges: Region by Region" last week.

The education services company listed Southeast among 656 colleges it recommends in five regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West and International. Southeast is among 159 schools -- and one of only six public institutions in Missouri -- to make the "Best in the Midwest" list. The Midwest region includes schools in 12 states -- Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

"We chose Southeast and the other outstanding institutions on this list primarily for their academics," said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. "We also consider what students enrolled at the schools reported to us on our student survey about their campus experiences," he added.

Collectively, the 656 colleges on The Princeton Review's "regional best" lists for 2020 constitute about 22% of the nation's 3,000 four-year colleges.

More information is at www.princetonreview.com.

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Jana Jateff

Mary Kay Cosmetics senior sales director Jana Jateff of Cape Girardeau recently returned from a Mary Kay corporate seminar in Dallas, where she was honored in the company's National Queens Court of Sales. This marked the 24th time Jateff has received this recognition.

Over the past year, Jateff sold more than $51,000 worth of product and received a cash award for her efforts. She also attended a "pink prize party," where she won a Kate Spade purse.

Also attending the seminar from Jateff's sales unit was Amy Romack of Jackson.

Christina Shirk

People on the move

Family nurse practitioner Christina L. Shirk has joined Saint Francis Healthcare System's hospitalists program.

Shirk earned her nursing degree from Roseman University in Henderson, Nevada, in 2011 and graduated from the family nurse practitioner program at Maryville University in St. Louis in 2019. She is board certified through the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

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Elaura Haynes

Midwife Elaura M. Haynes has joined Saint Francis Healthcare System and has become affiliated with Cape Care for Women.

She received her nursing degree from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green in 2011 and her Master of Science in nursing from Frontier Nursing University in Hyden, Kentucky, in 2017. She is board certified through the American Midwifery Certification Board.

Chamber events

A ribbon cutting for the Safe House for Women's new shelter is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at Isle Casino Cape Girardeau's Event Center during the shelter's annual luncheon. The ribbon cutting is being sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce.

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The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon cutting at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday for Waitr, a new restaurant food delivery service that began serving the Cape Girardeau market today. The ribbon cutting will take place at the chamber's offices, 220 N. Fountain St.

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The Cape Girardeau chamber's August Business After Hours gathering is scheduled for 5 until 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Canvas at 1922 Independence St. in the BOLD Marketing building.

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Registration is now open for the Jackson chamber's Movie Trivia Night, which is set for 6:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Jackson Civic Center. Tickets are $20 per person or $100 for a team of six.

Register by calling the Jackson chamber office at (573) 243-8131.

Business license application

Michelle Lee Allen of Jackson has applied for a business license to operate Nails by Shellie at 210 N. Frederick St. in Cape Girardeau. The business will offer manicures, pedicures and all types of nail services.

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