Business Archives - Missourinet

North Missouri businessman receives ten years in federal prison for $142 million grain fraud scheme

August 17, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A prominent northwest Missouri businessman and former school board member will spend the next ten years in federal prison for a $142 million grain fraud scheme, after being sentenced Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Morfitt tells Missourinet that Randy Constant was sentenced on Friday to 122 months in federal prison, which is about ten years. Constant had faced up to 20 years in prison.

Officials from the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have called a press conference for Monday morning at 11:30 in Cedar Rapids to discuss the case. The press conference will take place at the federal courthouse.

The 61-year-old Constant is well-known across north Missouri, and is a former Chillicothe School Board member.

Constant pleaded guilty in federal court in Iowa in December to one count of wire fraud. He admits the grain fraud scheme totaled more than $142 million, and that he misled customers into thinking they were buying certified organic grain when it was not organic.

It’s unclear which prison that Constant will serve his sentence at. That decision will be up to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).

Pork Place at the Missouri State Fair celebrates 40 years (AUDIO)

August 16, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

SEDALIA, Mo.- A popular restaurant at the State Fair in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The Pork Place restaurant opened in 1979 at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia (2019 photo courtesy of Missouri Pork Association)

Missouri Pork Association Executive Vice President Don Nikodim tells Missourinet the Pork Place opened in 1979, under a small tent. It’s now in an air-conditioned building, with seating for a few hundred people.

“It’s a cool, clean place to come eat, we’ve got a super crew back here. Bob and Patty Wheeler have managed this thing for years for us, and they do a phenomenal job,” Nikodim says.

The Pork Place menu now includes pork chops, pork burgers, pulled pork, ribs and candy bacon. It also includes a quick service window for those wanting to grab a quick pork burger and drink, on the run.

“We think we’ve got the best food on the (state) fairgrounds, and we think we got the best prices to go with it, so enjoy,” says Nikodim.

He says the Pork Place connects pork producers with consumers, adding that the pork industry contributes $1 billion annually to the state’s economy. Governor Mike Parson says Missouri pork producers raise more than 3.4 million hogs in the state.

Governor Parson and state Department of Agriculture (MDA) Director Chris Chinn joined Mr. Nikodim at the Pork Place on Thursday, for a ceremony to mark the restaurant’s 40th anniversary. The celebration included a large cake.

The 2019 State Fair ends on Sunday.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Pork Association Executive Vice President Don Nikodim, which was recorded on August 15, 2019 at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia:

Blunt pleased with USDA’s Kansas City relocation decision (AUDIO)

August 16, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

SEDALIA, Mo.- The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) decision to relocate two major facilities to the greater Kansas City area is being praised by Missouri’s senior senator.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) flips steaks at the Missouri Beef House at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019 (photo courtesy of Missouri Cattlemen’s Association Twitter page)

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) spoke to Missourinet at the governor’s ham breakfast Thursday in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia.

“I think that’s one of the great things about the USDA deciding to move those ag research jobs from Washington D.C. to the Kansas City area with access to all our great land grant institutions in the middle of the country,” Blunt says.

USDA plans to relocate its Economic Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agricultural Policy. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City, says the decision will draw more than 550 jobs to the Kansas City region, with average wages between $80,000 and $100,000.

Meantime, Senator Blunt is hopeful that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will manage the Missouri River differently.

“Since the 2004 (Corps) management plan, we’ve had moderate to high flooding every year but two, with the same rainfall we had in many years before that that didn’t produce that flooding,” says Blunt.

Blunt, Governor Parson and members of the state’s congressional delegation held a press conference on the flooding issue at Thursday’s fair. They were joined by Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst.

Parson says more than 80 Missouri levees have overtopped or breached in 2019.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full four-minute interview with U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R), which was recorded at the State Fair in Sedalia on August 15, 2019:

Rural Missouri businessman to be sentenced Friday for $142 million grain fraud scheme

August 15, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A northwest Missouri businessman and former school board member will learn his fate Friday morning in Cedar Rapids, when he’s sentenced for a $142 million grain fraud scheme.

61-year-old Randy Constant is a prominent businessman in north Missouri and is also a former Chillicothe School Board member.

Constant pleaded guilty in December in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to one count of wire fraud.

Constant will be sentenced by Judge C.J. Williams in federal court in Iowa.

Constant admits the grain fraud scheme misled customers into thinking they were buying certified organic grain when it was not organic.

He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Both the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the FBI investigated the case.

Expansion plans to fuel jobs at southeast Missouri gasoline engine plant

August 15, 2019 By Alisa Nelson

The second largest employer in the southeast Missouri town of Poplar Bluff plans to add 130 new jobs over the next twelve months. Briggs and Stratton, a gasoline engine manufacturer, is planning a $15 million expansion project at its Poplar Bluff plant. Cape Girardeau television station KFVS reports the company is closing its Kentucky plant and consolidating its operations in Poplar Bluff.

Photos courtesy of the company’s Twitter page

According to a press release from Gov. Mike Parson’s office, Poplar Bluff was chosen for the expansion due to the availability of a skilled and trained workforce and several buildings that could accommodate new product lines.

Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon says one of the Department’s new programs, Missouri One Start, was key in the company’s decision to expand here. Through the program, $175,000 is available to Briggs & Stratton to train new and existing employees.

The average salary for the positions will be $36,531 annually with additional hiring in 2021, according to the release.

Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce President Steve Halter says Briggs & Stratton have been an employer in town for more than 30 years. The company currently has about 550 workers.

Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center Healthcare is the town’s largest employer. It has about 1,300 workers.

Missouri and Kansas governors end border war; working together on USDA relocation

August 15, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The governors of Missouri and Kansas have signed a historic agreement that officially ends the economic “border war” between the two states. Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) says incentivizing companies to move a few miles does not result in new jobs.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Missouri Governor Mike Parson sign an agreement ending the border war on August 13, 2019 in Kansas City, Kansas (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Twitter page)

“I think there’s a much better use for taxpayer money that we can be utilizing,” Parson says. “And the incentives that we were doing before it seemed to me to be a waste.”

Parson says both states have spent “well over $100 million” on the border war. The two governors signed a joint commitment, during a Tuesday summit at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) says the border war was a mistake. Without naming him, she says former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) passed up an opportunity to end this a few years ago.

“We (Kansas) have really been through a world of hurt in the past eight years and we’ve got an economy to grow, jobs to grow, population to grow,” Kelly tells reporters.

The Kansas City-based Hall Family Foundation says more than 10,000 jobs moved between Missouri and Kansas in the past decade, with an incentive cost of $330 million.

The Kansas City Chamber of Commerce describes the agreement as a “historic day.”

Governors Parson and Kelly say they’re also working together, with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement that they’ve selected the greater Kansas City area for the relocation of two major facilities.

Parson and Kelly to sign joint commitment in Kansas City aimed at ending “border war” (AUDIO)

August 13, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The governors of Missouri and Kansas will travel to Kansas City on Tuesday morning to sign a joint commitment aimed at ending the “border war” between the two states, which involves tax incentives.

State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, speaks on the Missouri Senate floor on April 16, 2019 (file photo courtesy of
Harrison Sweazea of Senate Communications)

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) will headline the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Governor summit, which is taking place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

Governor Parson has signed legislation into law from State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, which restricts incentives to companies moving from Kansas to Missouri’s Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties. Senator Cierpiot, who will be attending the summit, tells Missourinet the border war has been “a gigantic waste of money” for both states.

“Companies move from one side of the state line to the other and the economic development that is supposed to occur when a company arrives does not happen, because nobody’s moving here, they’re already living here, all the employees are here,” Cierpiot says.

The Kansas City-based Hall Family Foundation says more than 10,000 jobs moved between Missouri and Kansas in the past decade, with an incentive cost of $330 million.

It looks like the war will end, when the two governors sign the joint commitment at about 9:30 a.m. Parson, a conservative Republican, and Kelly, a progressive Democrat, both say the border war has been costly.

Senator Cierpiot agrees, telling Missourinet this is and has been a bipartisan issue in the Missouri Legislature.

“We passed this a few years ago, Kansas at the time with Governor (Sam) Brownback did not agree to join,” says Cierpiot. “But that effort was bipartisan with (State Sens.) Ryan Silvey and Jason Holsman, two Kansas City senators, one Democrat and one Republican.”

Parson says both states have spent “well over $100 million on this.” State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, the ranking Democrat on the House Higher Education Committee, agrees, saying it has drained resources from critical programs for both states.

Governors Parson and Kelly also plan a 10:40 a.m. press conference at Memorial Hall.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Sen. Mike Cierpiot, R-Lee’s Summit, which was recorded on August 9, 2019:

Razer: Economic border war between Missouri and Kansas has been a “disaster” (AUDIO)

August 12, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The economic “border war” between Missouri and Kansas involving tax incentives appears to be coming to an end. The governors of Missouri and Kansas will be headlining Tuesday’s Governor Summit, which is being hosted by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, speaks on the Missouri House floor on April 11, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, tells Missourinet the border war has been a “disaster,” saying both states and both metros have been throwing money away.

“As I sit here and do this interview with you I’m just a couple of blocks from State Line Road,” Razer says. “And you would literally see Kansas give millions of dollars in tax incentives to get a business to move across the road.”

Kansas is on one side of State Line Road, with Missouri on the other side.

The Kansas City-based Hall Family Foundation says more than 10,000 jobs moved between Missouri and Kansas in the past decade, with an incentive cost of $330 million. The jobs all moved in the Kansas City region.

Representative Razer, the ranking Democrat on the House Higher Education Committee, says the border war has created virtually no new net jobs. He also says it has drained resources from critical programs for both states.

“This has been a net loss to Missouri, it’s been a net loss to Kansas and it’s been a net loss to the Kansas City metro,” says Razer.

Razer will be attending Tuesday’s summit at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D) will be attending.

Governor Parson signed bipartisan legislation in June that restricts incentives to companies moving from Kansas to Missouri’s Cass, Clay, Jackson and Platte counties.

Governor Kelly signed an executive order earlier this month in Topeka, telling reporters that her order “ends the border war.”

Parson says both states have each spent “well over $100 million on this.”

Razer agrees, adding that this has been a bipartisan issue in the Missouri Legislature.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, which was recorded on August 9, 2019:

Congressman Graves: Corps’ priorities for Missouri River are backwards (AUDIO)

August 10, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A congressman who represents flood-damaged northern Missouri is blasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, saying it’s “long past time” that flood control is the top priority for the Missouri River.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, tours the MFA Rail facility near northwest Missouri’s Hamilton on October 8, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, visited flood-impacted Brunswick on Friday. Brunswick, a Chariton County town of about 800, sustained severe flooding from the Grand River this summer.

Graves met with Brunswick officials to discuss flood recovery efforts. He tells Missourinet he’s losing his patience.

“This is so frustrating, it’s getting old, it’s getting tiresome, it’s affecting people’s lives, it’s affecting communities,” Graves says.

He says flooding has caused devastation across north Missouri, including Brunswick. Graves describes the Corps’ management priorities on the Missouri River as “backwards.”

“And it’s so frustrating, you just literally want to pull your hair out,” says Graves. “And we continue to pound on the Corps and push the Corps and we can’t seem to get anywhere with them.”

Graves agrees with Governor Mike Parson’s call for the Corps to manage the Missouri River differently.

Parson notes that he and fellow governors from Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska have met with the Corps, urging them to give states a seat at the table. Parson says states must have a significant say in Missouri River management.

Graves represents 36 counties across north Missouri. His sprawling district, which has more square miles than nine states, spans from the Missouri to the Mississippi rivers.

Graves’ district includes Brunswick, St. Joseph and Hannibal.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, which was recorded on August 7, 2019:

Springfield Police arrest heavily-armed man who carried tactical rifle into Walmart

August 8, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(Reporter Jason Rima at Missourinet Springfield affiliate KSGF contributed to this story)

Police in southwest Missouri’s Springfield say a man carrying a tactical rifle and more than 100 rounds of ammunition was arrested this afternoon, after walking into a Walmart in Springfield. Police say there was no injuries and that no shots were fired.

Missourinet Springfield affiliate KSGF (FM 104.1) reports the man, who was wearing body armor and military-style fatigues, entered the Walmart near Republic and Golden at about 4:10 p.m.

KSGF reports the store manager saw the man and pulled the fire alarm, and that terrified shoppers ran outside into the parking lot.

Springfield Police Lieutenant Mike Lucas tells reporters the suspect was using his cellphone to video himself as he pushed a shopping cart through Walmart.

Lieutenant Lucas says when other shoppers went outside, the man followed them and was confronted by an off-duty firefighter who pulled his own gun.

Springfield Police then arrived and arrested the suspect. Lucas describes the Walmart scene as chaotic, with people hiding behind barriers to stay safe.

Springfield Police describe the suspect as “an armed white male in his twenties”, adding that the investigation continues and that detectives are working to determine his motives.

Detectives are requesting that anyone who was at the Walmart during today’s incident who didn’t speak to an officer to contact Springfield Police to file a report. That phone number is (417) 864-1810.