Business memo 09/06/05

Big River gets award from magazine

Sage Software in Scottsdale, Ariz., recently announced that Big River Telephone Co. of Cape Girardeau won a 2005 Return on Investment award from Nucleus Research and CIO Decisions Magazine. Big River achieved a 1,139 percent return on investment, Nucleus Research determined, by using Sage's SalesLogix, which paid for itself in one month. Big River customized SalesLogix to combine existing billing, customer support and sales management systems. The software also helped Big River achieve a 98.6 percent customer satisfaction rating, exceeding the 70 percent telecommunications industry average. Big River was the only telephone company to receive the award.

Edward Jones named No. 1 full-service broker

The financial services firm Edward Jones was named the full-service broker in the August edition of "SmartMoney" magazine. Cape Girardeau Edward Jones has six investment representatives. The firm placed ahead of seven other firms and received the highest possible ranking in all four categories surveyed by the magazine: stock-picking, customer satisfaction, trust survey and customer statements.

-- From staff reports