Tipton Linen expanding by 6,000 square feet

The medical profession's growing demands for sanitary, reusable linens and uniforms is the driving force behind an expansion at Tipton Linen in Cape Girardeau.

Tipton is adding a 6,000 square feet to its existing 24,000-square-foot facility, said owner Tom Tipton.

The company purchased two acres adjoining its site on the corner of Independence Street and West End Boulevard in January that were previously part of the Thorngate Ltd. site.

The expansion is a $600,000 investment for Tipton. Equipment for the facility will be an additional $150,000 investment.

Tipton, which employs 95 people, expects to hire seven to 10 more employees as a result of increasing customer demands.

"We are seeing a dramatic increase of reusable medical items, such as sheets, lab coats, patient gowns and medical attire. The high cost of single-use medical items has caused the medical community to choose reusable, medical textiles," Tipton said.

In addition to being more cost-effective, reusable linens are better for the environment, Tipton said.

Nearly all laundry used in patient care is considered contaminated, but home hot water heaters and washing machines do not produce enough heat to kill germs like MRSA, staph or hepatitis, Tipton said.

"We have hot water heaters that heat our water to 180 degrees. This ensures our product is sanitary for our customers," he said.

* KFVS goes to HD: Heartland News on KFVS12 last week switched from standard to high definition, according to Mark Little, content director for the television station. The transition includes the launch of a completely redesigned news set and production control room, and digital studio cameras. Most of the newscast will now be presented in the HD 16x9 format using a "center cut" style that will still be appropriate for older standard definition 4x3 television sets, Little said. KFVS12 began broadcasting CBS programs in high definition in 2005 when they installed an all-new digital transmitter and tower antenna.

The final phase of the transition to high definition will be changing the master control operation to digital, which is scheduled for next year, said Paul Keener, director of marketing for KFVS12. That will allow the station to broadcast syndicated programs like "Regis and Kelly" and "America Now" in high definition. It will also allow local commercials and promotional spots to be produced and shown in HD, Keener said.

* New Verizon dealer opens: Cellular Sales, the nation's largest Verizon Wireless retailer, has opened a store at 188 Vantage Drive in Cape Girardeau. Cellular Sales has invested about $200,000 in the Cape Girardeau location. Six sales positions have been created to service the store. Cellular Sales operates throughout Missouri and has more than 400 stores across the United States.

* IESI launches single-stream commercial recycling: IESI Corp. is the first waste hauler in Southeast Missouri to offer single-stream recycling to nonresidential customers. Traditionally, commercial industries could only recycle cardboard materials. Single-stream recycling eliminates sorting of recyclables by allowing placement of corrugated cardboard, paper, plastic, aluminum and steel in one container for collection. Robert Slavings, Cape Girardeau site manager for IESI, said that single-stream recycling saves time, money and natural resources.

IESI is offering the service to facilities throughout the Cape Girardeau and Jackson areas.

Southeast Missourian business reporter Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.