Business Notebook: Entrepreneurship center offers free startup course

The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University will offer a free six-week course for entrepreneurs interested in beginning a business or expanding an existing business.

The program, Operation JumpStart, is a nationally recognized training model designed for such potential entrepreneurs that uses curriculum from the Kauffman Foundation, according to a news release from the university. It teaches participants essential business planning and preparation skills such as product pricing, legal structure, competition, marketing and cash flow management.

Course participants also will receive one-on-one counseling with a professional business development consultant from the Small Business and Technology Development Center, the release said.

Operation Jumpstart will begin Tuesday and meet every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6 to 8 p.m. until April 17 at the center, 920 Broadway.

The program is made possible with funding from the center, the Delta Regional Authority, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Missouri Small Business Technology Development Center, the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

For more information or to register, call 651-2929 or visit semo.edu/cie.

Business Roundup

* Drury Hotels was one of 50 companies recognized as a J.D. Power 2014 Customer Champion. J.D. Power evaluated more than 600 brands, and 2014 champions were based on customer feedback, opinions and perceptions gathered primarily from syndicated research in 2013 by J.D. Power.

* AT&T announced that the new cell site in downtown Cape Girardeau has been activated, and capacity has been added to 14 cell sites in Cape Girardeau. The company has invested about $35 million in wireless and wired networks in Cape Girardeau and Jackson from 2010 through 2013 as part of a $2.55 billion investment in Missouri.

* Robinson Construction of Perryville, Mo., contributed to a $1.7 billion project recognized by Engineering News-Record, a weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry. The John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant near Fulton, Ark., earned the honor of the magazine's Texas and Louisiana's 2013 Best Project in the energy/industrial category, and the Best Project Excellence in Safety award.

* Perry County Memorial Hospital now offers Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, a therapy program dedicated to improving memory loss for those suffering mild to moderate dementia, thanks to a grant it received from the Perry County Senior Services Tax Commission. The therapy was designed by dementia experts at University College London after reviewing literature on non-medication-related dementia therapies, and the most effective therapies were combined to create the program.

* A ribbon-cutting will be held to celebrate the new location of Kody Thompson's office for American Family Insurance, 1117 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

• The Hair Port has relocated to 310 Christine St.

Cozean Eye Institute closes

SoutheastHEALTH has made the decision to close the Cozean Eye Institute.

The hospital and Dr. Matt Shoemaker, vice president of physician services for SoutheastHEALTH, released the following statement:

"This was a difficult decision to make, but one that is necessary as we continue to solidify our long-term business strategy. We appreciate the excellent care provided to patients over the past year by Dr. Monica Abernot and her staff. Clinic employees who wished to remain with SoutheastHEALTH have been placed in other employment opportunities."

MHA, IHA join forces, go from volume to value

The Missouri Hospital Association and Illinois Hospital Association announced their intent to create a joint venture "designed to accelerate the transformation of health care through data analytics," according to a news release from the MHA.

The partnership will help hospitals and other health systems accelerate their transformation from volume to value, the release said.

A memorandum of understanding was signed in late February.

According to the release, the venture combines existing resources with the intent to build out an innovations laboratory to:

* Unlock the potential use of expanded health-care data to achieve the Triple Aim of Health -- better health, better care and lower cost

* Develop products and services that are affordable to all health-care organizations

* Embrace technological advances

* Reduce the time it takes to get products or services to market

* Be first to engage with members

"As providers increasingly work toward managing health rather than providing health-care interventions, having access to the right data, along with predictive modeling and meaningful analytics, will become much more important," said Herb Kuhn, MHA president and CEO, in the release. "The partnership leverages the knowledge and data expertise of two nationally recognized health care organizations -- IHA and its COMPdata Informatics; and the Hospital Industry Data Institute, an affiliate of MHA."

The partnership will be differentiated as an analytic solutions provider by building upon its data capabilities, policy foresight, legislative engagement and the ability to offer solutions at a competitive price, the release said.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632