Business briefs

__MCCORMICK'S STEAKHOUSE CLOSES__

KENNETT, Mo. -- McCormick's Family Dining Steakhouse closed its doors Aug. 24, the Daily Dunklin Democrat reported. Pokey McCormick opened and ran the restaurant with business partner L.C. Cuff, who died April 27. McCormick has decided to retire, and his entire family will be moving to Branson, Missouri, according to Joe Dicken, McCormick's son-in-law, who had been serving as the restaurant's acting manager. McCormick's employed 22 people.

__SPORTING GOODS STORE CHANGES HANDS__

KENNETT, Mo. -- Miller Sporting Goods has become Bootheel Guns and Ammo and Bootheel Outdoors, the Daily Dunklin Democrat reported. Longtime owner James Miller sold the business to Caruthersville, Missouri, businessman Mark Brown, who took over May 31. The store is at 1417 St. Francis St. in Kennett. A ribbon cutting was held Aug. 8 with the Kennett Chamber of Commerce.

__FITNESS BUSINESS CUTS RIBBON__

The Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Aug. 4 for Cape BJJ & Fitness, 3210 Old Cape Road in Jackson.

__ALLIANCE BANK BREAKS GROUND IN ORAN__

ORAN, Mo. -- Alliance Bank, 1100 Route W in Oran, held a groundbreaking June 5 for its new location at West Street and Route W. The bank's new site is forecast to be completed in December.

__TRANSIT AUTHORITY RECEIVES AWARD__

On Aug. 5, Tom Mogelnicki, executive director of the Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority, was presented with an award of excellence for the transit authority's ridership increase for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. The award was presented by FTA's Region VII regional administrator during the Missouri Public Transit Association's annual conference in St. Louis. Cape Girardeau County Transit Authority achieved an approximately 20 percent increase in ridership over the past fiscal year, the highest among rural transit providers in Missouri for that period.

__REALTY EXECUTIVES OPENS JACKSON OFFICE__

Realty Executives of Cape County held a ribbon cutting Aug. 14 for its new office at 1202 Greenway Drive in Jackson.

__POPLAR BLUFF CHAMBER HOLDS RIBBON CUTTINGS__

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Aug. 12 for Divine Designs, 502 Vine St. in Poplar Bluff. Stephanie McAnulty owns the business, which sells custom hand-crafted jewelry. On Aug. 19, the chamber held a ribbon cutting for Southeast Signs and Graphics, owned by Robert Helton, at 304 Hazel St. The chamber also held a ribbon cutting for Allison Gardens Care Center, a new business owned by Janice Allison at 2698 Debbie Lane.

__RIVER MART OPENS IN NEW LOCATION__

PARK HILLS, Mo. -- A ribbon cutting was held in August for River Mart's new location at the corner of East Main Street and Flat River Drive in Park Hills. The business relocated a few blocks up the hill from its original store.

__SOUTHEAST SELECTED AS NEA PARTNER__

Southeast Missouri State University was selected as a new partner of the NEA Academy, an alliance that will allow members of the National Education Association to enroll in Southeast's online graduate education courses at a discounted fee. Southeast was chosen after NEA conducted a national search and a lengthy review process for new higher education partners, according to a news release from the university. Under the partnership, students enrolling in online graduate programs in the College of Education will pay the in-state tuition rate with a 5 percent discount. Southeast programs included in the partnership include the master of arts in elementary education, master of arts in exceptional child education, graduate certificate in autism and the master of arts in secondary education, educational technology.

__CUP 'N' CORK CHANGES LOCATIONS__

Cup 'n' Cork moved to 11 S. Spanish St. in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 2. The business was previously at 46 N. Main St. Owners Patrick and Tina Abbott said in addition to a dining room, the new place has a separate room with soft seating, and another room for private affairs such as meetings or receptions. The new location's opening coincided with the debut of a redesigned menu, as the new space includes a full kitchen. The new spot also has an outdoor courtyard with room for about a dozen tables.

__JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL RECOGNIZED NATIONALLY__

Jackson High School is among a handful nationwide to receive the High Schools That Work Gold Achievement Award. To become one of the 11 schools to earn the award this year, at least 50 percent of its students had to earn the award based on their performance on the 2014 High Schools That Work Assessment. Winning schools also met the Adequate Yearly Progress criteria of the federal No Child Left Behind Act or had a graduation rate of at least 85 percent. Principal Vince Powell said Jackson High School has been part of the High Schools That Work consortium for about 10 years. Campuses in the group administer a test every other year to a random selection of seniors who have to meet college and career readiness goals in reading, math and science, Powell said. Schools in the group also have to complete the High Schools That Work recommended curriculum in at least two of three main areas: English, math and science. They also must have to have a concentration in a career and technical area, the humanities or math and science, Powell said.

__CENTURY 21 RANKED HIGHEST IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION__

Century 21 Real Estate was ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction by the J.D. Power 2014 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study. Century 21 received the highest ranking among national real estate companies across all four customer satisfaction segments in the study: first-time homebuyer satisfaction, repeat homebuyer satisfaction, first-time home-seller satisfaction and repeat home-seller satisfaction. In Southeast Missouri, there are two Century 21 offices: Century 21 Ashland Realty in Cape Girardeau and Century 21 Premiere Realty in Sikeston, Missouri, both owned by Tim Merideth.

YELLOW ROSE HEALING ARTS JOINS CHAMBER

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Yellow Rose Healing Arts of Millersville, Missouri, joined the Bollinger County Chamber of Commerce. Paula Bridges owns the business, which offers Kundalini yoga classes. Bridges is a certified healing touch practitioner. She has a master's degree in social work and is a licensed clinical social worker. She is certified to teach through the Kundalini Research Institute and offers classes in yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.

__CQ RESTAURANT OPENS IN PORT CAPE__

James Cain opened a separate restaurant, CQ, inside the banquet hall of Port Cape Restaurant and Bar in Cape Girardeau. Cain has been a chef in Cape Girardeau for more than five years and decided to move back to his hometown after earning his degree from the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago in 2006. He worked with two restaurants when he first moved back to town, but since Razin Cain Restaurant and Bar closed in 2012, he has worked at Port Cape. The upscale restaurant serves hand-cut steaks, seafood and homemade pasta while supporting local grocers. CQ, or Captains Quarters, is the original name of the banquet hall inside Port Cape. CQ is off the Water Street entrance of Port Cape toward the lounge. Cain says the space holds about 35 people. The restaurant is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

__OZARK CREDIT UNION OPENS IN DEXTER__

DEXTER, Mo. -- The Dexter Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Aug. 22 for Ozark Federal Credit Union, 1025 Arvin Road.

__ROBINSON CONSTRUCTION RECOGNIZED AS A TOP CONTRACTOR__

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Engineering News-Record recognized Robinson Construction Company as one of the top contractors in the Midwest for the second consecutive year. Based on 2013 revenue for work completed in the Midwest region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin), Robinson moved up five spots from its 2013 ranking to No. 82 on the ENR Midwest Top Contractors list for 2014 and was ranked No. 17 in Missouri. Additionally, Robinson ranked in the top 20 in the following breakout market sectors: industrial process, manufacturing and water supply. ENR is a weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide and is owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies.