Business Notebook: Chamber interest growing, Ray's coming down, four days in a week and cool treats trivia

Things are looking up for the Scott City Chamber of Commerce.

You may remember a story I wrote in late May about the chamber and the fact it hadn't met since October and there was a general lack of involvement among chamber members.

But last week, Scott City chamber president Kyle McDonald had a big smile on his face when he saw me at a local restaurant and told me 40 people turned out for a recent chamber meeting. Among the attendees was the Scott City mayor and several other state and local officials.

Asked why he thought the meeting was so well attended, McDonald told me he thought there were two factors -- it was a breakfast meeting instead of a lunch or dinner gathering and he thought members felt motivated by my story.

"I definitely think the article kick started talk about keeping the chamber going," McDonald said, adding future breakfast meetings will be on the second Thursday of each month with the next meeting set for Aug. 8.

Regardless of the reason for the group's revival, kudos to the Scott City Chamber of Commerce. Keep it up!

If you've driven past the former Ray's Banquet Center building on South Mount Auburn Road lately, you can't help but notice part of the building is missing. As I reported a few weeks ago, Midamerica Hotels Corp., which owns the building, was dismantling it in preparation for future development in front of Hampton Inn. However, a spokesperson with Midamerica Hotels said Friday it had not been determined whether it would be "scrapped" or whether the "bones" of the two-story structure could be salvaged and "repurposed" as part of a relocated structure.

I read an interesting article online last week about a growing trend to move from a five- to four-day workweek. The article, by USA Today, said more and more businesses are adopting a four-day workweek to boost employee productivity and morale and reduce employee burnout. In addition, companies who are transitioning to four-day workweeks say it has given them an advantage when recruiting employees in a competitive labor market. Some offices and companies that have adopted four-day workweeks give employees the option of working Monday through Thursday or Tuesday through Friday.

According to the article, most of the companies with four-day workweeks now have 10-hour workdays for a total of 40 hours in a week, although some have reduced the workweek to 32 hours (four eight-hour days).

It will be interesting to see where this trend goes in the coming years.

I didn't have enough room in this week's business feature on Ty's Summer Sno to pass along a few "fun facts" about shaved ice.

In my research for the story, I learned during the American industrial revolution of the 1850s, ice became commercially available and ice houses in New York would sell ice to customers along the East Coast. Wagons loaded with huge blocks of ice would pass through Baltimore where children would ask for small scrapings of ice and it wasn't long before mothers started to make flavorings for the ice their children brought home. One of the first flavors was egg custard, still a Baltimore favorite, made from eggs, vanilla and sugar.

I also learned it was 100 years ago, in 1919, that the first snow-cone machine was invented in Dallas by a man named Samuel Bert who sold snow cones that year at the Texas State Fair and the first ice block shaver was invented in New Orleans in 1934.

This could be useful information the next time you play Trivial Pursuit.

Now on to the rest of this week's notebook ...

Saint Francis to pay to train potential staff

Saint Francis Healthcare System has announced it is offering a paid educational opportunity for people interested in starting a clinical career in health care.

Saint Francis is now accepting applications for eight patient-care associates who will be enrolled in a four-week class to be offered through the Cape Girardeau Career & Technology Center starting Oct. 14 and paid for by the health-care system.

After their classroom training, students will participate in 100 hours of clinical education at Saint Francis where employment will be contingent on successful completion of the classroom training and clinical education.

The deadline to apply for one of the patient-care associate positions is Aug. 14. To apply, go to careers.sfmc.net and click on the "Current Openings" tab and go to the "Patient Care Associate -- Paid Educational Opportunity" listing.

Amick-Burnett adding crematory

Plans are in place for a crematory at Amick-Burnett Funeral Chapel in Scott City, which owner Kenny Pope said will be the only such facility in Scott County.

Pope is securing state permits for the crematory and hopes it is operational by the end of the year.

In addition to its funeral chapel in Scott City, Amick-Burnett has three other facilities in Scott County ---- in Benton, Chaffee and Oran.

People and Businesses on the Move

Joel Neikirk

Joel Neikirk, chief operating officer at Midamerica Hotels Corp. and Drury Restaurants, will be relocating later this year to Miami, where he will president and chief executive officer of Restaurant Services Inc. (RSI), the supply chain company that procures products for Burger King restaurants throughout North America, including Canada and Mexico.

"I have served on the board of directors for RSI for the past six years and have been amazed by the organization and the business," he said in an email about his new role, which he will assume Oct. 1.

John Echimovich

John Echimovich has been named to succeed Neikirk and has the title of vice president of operations for Midamerica Hotels. Echimovich has led the company's hotel division for the past 15 years and is also serving as vice president of operations over the company's restaurants.

Neikirk has been with Midamerica Hotels and Drury Restaurants since he and his family came to Cape Girardeau in 1997. The company operates 36 burger King restaurants in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri. Midamerica Hotels owns and operates several area hotels, including Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Hampton Inn & Suites, Auburn Place Hotel & Suites and Marriott Fairfield, as well as Popeye's Louisiana Chicken locations. In addition to being a Burger King franchisee, Neikirk has owned and operated a variety of other franchise concepts over the years. He currently chairs the RSI board and represents the company's Midwest region.

Neikirk said "the relationships we have developed personally and professionally will be one of the biggest things we will miss about Cape Girardeau as we relocate to Miami in the coming months."

Mina Massey

Family practice physician Dr. Mina Massey has joined Saint Francis Healthcare System's medical practice in Dexter, Missouri.

Massey earned her medical degree in 1998 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She completed a residency at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2001 and an obstetrics fellowship at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2002. She is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Massey has work experience in family medicine (with and without obstetrics), emergency medicine, aesthetics and vein care. At the Dexter practice, she joins a staff consisting of several family nurse practitioners and others along with physicians from Physicians Park Primary Care, Ferguson Medical Group, Cape Care for Women, Cape Cardiology, Physicians Park General Surgery and Weight Loss Solutions who provide outreach clinics there several times a month.

She holds a white belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, has won two state martial arts tournaments and has served as a ringside physician for mixed martial arts events.

Katie Fennewald

Katie Fennewald of Kelso, Missouri, has been named Missouri Farm Bureau's regional coordinator for the MOFB's Southeast Missouri region.

She replaces Matt Bain, who has become district director for U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley.

Fennewald grew up and worked on her family's row-crop farm in Scott County before graduating from the University of Missouri with an undergraduate degree in agriculture and a graduate degree in business education. She continues to support the University of Missouri's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources as the regional representative to the college's alumni board.

Before she was named to her current position, Fennewald worked in the animal health, food and health-care industries where she gained experience in quality systems, education and customer relations.

Eclipse Hair Studio recently moved from its North Spanish Street location to 823 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.

The business offers hairstyling services for men and women on both an appointment and walk-in basis, and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Stylists affiliated with the business include Becky Drury, Sue Phillips, Bella Sander and Lilli Hudgens.

Awards and recognitions

Jana Jateff, senior sales director with Mary Kay cosmetics, recently recognized top producers in her distribution and sales unit for the past year.

LaDonia Beggs, Kay Waller, Chanel Tucker, Amy Romack, Jan Fiedler and Gail Sanchez all earned beach vacations at Gulf Shores, Alabama, in recognition of their sales achievements.

Also recognized were:

• "Miss Go Give" -- Amy Romack
• "Miss Enthusiasm" -- Jan Fiedler
• "Most Improved Consultant" -- Chanel Tucker
• "Most Consistent Performers" -- Chanel Tucker, LaDonia Beggs and Kay Waller
• "Miss Adoptee of the Year" -- Marti Sudemeyer
• "Rookie of the Year" -- Ruth Ann Hester
• "Husband of the Year" -- Stanley Beggs (posthumously)

Chamber happenings

Find out "What's Up Downtown" at a program sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Katy O'Ferrell's Publick House, 300 Broadway. Emily Vines and Jordyn Ruble of Old Town Cape will present the program.

Business license application

Daniel Elkins of Cape Girardeau has applied for a business license to operate Auto Site Motors, a used-vehicle dealership at 1330 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. Elkins also owns Danielle Inc., at the same address. According to the application, Auto Site Motors opened July 8.

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