Business Archives - Missourinet

Missouri Bicentennial leaders say every county and town has a story to tell (AUDIO)

December 1, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

August will be the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, and Missouri 2021 is rolling out a series of virtual programs called “First Tuesdays” that begin on December 1 at 11 a.m.

The Missouri Star Quilt Company, based in northwest Missouri’s Hamilton, has put together the Bicentennial quilt (photo courtesy of Missouri Bicentennial website)

Missouri Bicentennial spokeswoman Beth Pike says each Missouri county and community has a story to tell.

“This is Missouri’s Bicentennial, it’s for everybody,” Pike says. “We really want to engage people from all 114 counties in the state, to really feel a part of it.”

The first program begins Tuesday morning, when Missouri 2021 coordinator Michael Sweeney will provide an overview of the projects and events across the state to commemorate the Bicentennial.

You can find more information about the monthly virtual programs at Missouri2021.org. August 10, 2021 will mark Missouri’s 200th anniversary as the 24th state in the United States.

Meantime, a quilt company based in northwest Missouri’s Hamilton has volunteered to stich a large quilt together that celebrates Missouri’s upcoming Bicentennial. The company is Missouri Star Quilt Company, and Ms. Pike says the quilt showcases the unique characteristics of Missouri culture and style.

“It is large, it’s a huge quilt. We have it where you can see every county, including the independent city of St. Louis, because they’re not a county. They’re an independent city,” says Pike.

Missouri Bicentennial leaders say the mission of Missouri 2021 is to provide a better understanding of Missouri and its regions, both past and present.

Pike notes there is also a traveling photo exhibit and a poster contest. She also says Missouri’s PBS stations are currently working on a documentary, that will be finished in time for the Bicentennial.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Bicentennial spokeswoman Beth Pike, which was recorded on November 27, 2020:

$1.2 billion supplemental budget heading to Missouri Senate floor on Tuesday

November 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Senate is expected to vote on the proposed $1.27 billion supplemental budget Tuesday in Jefferson City.

Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, speaks at the Capitol in Jefferson City on May 7, 2020, as Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, (right) listens (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a Tuesday afternoon hearing at 1 in the Senate chamber, and committee chairman Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby, will outline the bills at that time.

The full Senate will convene Tuesday at 4 p.m. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet the plan is for the Senate to vote on the supplemental on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Missouri House approved the supplemental budget earlier this month, on a bipartisan 133-4 vote.

The money will provide additional resources to respond to COVID. The supplemental budget includes funding for school nutrition programs, job training grants, and it also includes $1 million for witness protection funding.

State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, is urging the Senate to add funding for daycares across the state, warning that many of them are suffering financially.

If the Senate approves the budget as is, it would go straight to the governor’s desk. If any changes are made, the budget would go to a conference committee.

Ameren Missouri warning about scammers threatening to disconnect your service

November 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

A St. Louis-based utility that serves 64 of Missouri’s 114 counties is warning residents about increasing utility scams, where scammers are posing as Ameren employees and threatening to disconnect your service if you don’t pay them.

Ameren Missouri corporate security supervisor Maria Gomez urges you to be vigilant. She says the best way to combat scams is to understand the tactics that criminals use to trick customers into providing personal information.

“They (scammers) call from a masked number which means the number on your caller ID will look like it’s from Ameren customer service, but it’s not so people will pick it up,” Gomez says.

Ameren serves the St. Louis metropolitan area and almost all of mid-Missouri, northeast Missouri and southeast Missouri. They have 1.2 million electric customers and another 130,000 natural gas customers.

Ms. Gomez is also emphasizing not to trust anyone who calls you, requesting or demanding immediate payment.

Gomez says scammers are using fake case numbers and fake truck identification numbers.

“They (scammers) have also copied our outgoing voice message, so you’ll probably hear something that sounds like an Ameren voice message. Or it could be the same one,” says Gomez.

She says other scammers are calling residents, saying they’ve overpaid on their Ameren bill. The callers request your personal bank information for your “refund.”

Gomez urges you to hang up and to contact Ameren Missouri if you have any questions. That phone number is 1-800-552-7583.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Ameren Missouri corporate security supervisor Maria Gomez, which was recorded on November 23, 2020:

Economist predicts 2021 to be a good year for Missouri agriculture

November 27, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Economist Ernie Goss says this year’s increase in farm income is leading to an increase in farmland prices.

“Farmers are out there and they’re feeling better about the economy, but unfortunately we’re not seeing it in the businesses on what we call ‘Rural Mainstreet,’” Goss says.

Dr. Ernie Goss

Every month, Goss surveys rural bankers for a Rural Mainstreet Index. His latest survey indicates the economy in Missouri and nine other states in the Great Plains and Mountain West will dip in the current 4th quarter.

“It looks like we’re hitting a hiccup in the global economy and a hiccup in the US economy and, for that matter, in the regional economy,” Goss says. “Growth is just slowing down and potentially moving what was a V shaped recovery into a W shaped recovery — in other words, back down into the recession.”

But Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University in Omaha, says commodity prices have been climbing “fairly dramatically” this fall, leading to optimism in the ag sector. About a third of U.S. farm income this year will have come, though, from the Trump Administration’s payments to make up for trade losses and Goss says those are likely to end with the Trump presidency.

“On the flip side, we’re likely to see the Biden Administration be a little more positive on trade,” Goss says. “…You’ve got some positives and some negatives. I expect 2021 – at least as we sit here now — to be pretty good for the agricultural sector given the expansion on trade.”

Rising global oil prices are generally good news for Missouri’s ethanol industry as well, according to Goss.

By Radio Iowa’s O.Kay Henderson

State Farm to close St. Louis County location and put 111 workers out of jobs

November 27, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

State Farm to close St. Louis County location and put 111 workers out of jobs

State Farm Insurance has informed the state of Missouri that it plans to lay off 111 workers by January 31, 2021 at its St. Louis County location. In a letter to the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, it says the company is closing its Earth City location.

Jobs effected include customer service representatives, consumer loan credit analysts and bank operations representatives. The company says the workers are not part of a union.

State Farm says the closing is part of the company’s move to exit all banking operations.

Missouri unveils new COVID-19 vaccine website

November 25, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor has announced the launch of a new vaccine website, which answers common questions and clarifies what it calls misinformation.

The new website is mostopscovid.com, and provides Missourians with information about the safety of the vaccines, research and production processes and when they could be eligible for vaccination.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (left) tours Milbank Manufacturing in Kansas City on November 20, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson emphasizes that safety involving the vaccines is not being sacrificed. The governor says research and development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines continue to show promising safety and effectiveness findings.

One tab on the website is titled “get the facts”, and says you cannot get COVID-19 from the vaccine. Another tab is called “rumor control”.

Missouri submitted its 111-page plan for administering the impending COVID vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in October.

State health officials say there are currently 2,680 COVID patients in Missouri hospitals, including 664 in the ICU. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says there have been 24,922 new COVID cases in the past week, which is down about 1,000 from Friday. There have been 78 new COVID deaths in the past week.

Schatz: Missouri Senate to return next week; two senators who tested positive for COVID have recovered (AUDIO)

November 24, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Senate leader says two state senators and a Senate staff member who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered.

Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) briefs Capitol reporters on March 12, 2020 in Jefferson City, as Democratic Leader John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) look on (file photo from Missourinet’s Alisa Nelson)

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, says the full Senate plans to return to Jefferson City next week.

“I haven’t spoken to both of them (the two state senators who tested positive for COVID) but I’ve spoken with one of those senators and he has fully recovered and feeling fine. And I do believe the other senator according to reports, that he is fine also and fully recovered,” Schatz says.

Schatz and Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, announced last Monday that the Senate would postpone debate and votes on the proposed $1.2 billion supplemental budget until after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, due to the positive COVID cases. Schatz says that decision was not made lightly and was done in the best interest of protecting senators, staff members and the public.

Pro Tem Schatz tells Missourinet that the Senate will return next Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on the supplemental budget. He says the Senate needs two days to get it done, and that will include time for committee hearings.

“Our plan is we adjourned until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1,” says Schatz. “So we are planning to come back and take up some of the appropriations work that the House has sent over to us.”

The House approved the supplemental budget on November 10, on a bipartisan 133-4 vote. The budget deploys federal resources across numerous state departments.

It also provides more authority to spend federal dollars on personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing. It also addresses Missouri’s unemployment fund shortage.

Schatz expects a final vote on the supplemental budget next Wednesday. If the Senate approves it as is, it would go straight to the governor’s desk. If any changes are made, the budget would go to a conference committee.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, which was recorded on November 23, 2020:

Columbia’s mayor touts radiopharmaceutical corridor and three massive construction projects (AUDIO)

November 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Columbia’s mayor says his fast-growing city and all of mid-Missouri will benefit greatly from three massive projects happening in the area.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (left) and Columbia Mayor Brian Treece (center) speak to businessman Greg Steinhoff on November 17, 2020 at a groundbreaking ceremony at Columbia Regional Airport (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Mayor Brian Treece notes that more than $500 million in new construction will be happening in the next 12 to 24 months, with some already underway.

“Between a new I-70 bridge at Rocheport, a $200 million NextGen precisional health complex, that will bring life saving cures to Columbia. And now a new $38 million airport terminal (at Columbia Regional). That’s great for mid-Missouri,” Treece says.

The NextGen Precision Health Institute, a $220 million facility, is under construction. It’s expected to train the next generation of scientists who will help Missouri address future health care needs.

The NextGen project is the UM System’s top capital priority, and enjoys bipartisan support in the Legislature from lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, State Rep. Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, and State Rep. (and State Sen.-Elect) Greg Razer, D-Kansas City.

Mizzou says researchers in medicine and engineering will work in the institute, to advance lifesaving research.

As for the I-70 Rocheport bridge, Missouri has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the current bridge, which was built in 1960. More than 12-million vehicles cross that bridge annually, including three million trucks.

Rocheport is just west of Columbia.

Mayor Treece also predicts that a new terminal that will be built at Columbia Regional Airport (COU) will be a generational investment that will pay big dividends in future economic development for his city and for central Missouri. The mayor says the terminal will also be huge for the University of Missouri.

“For new businesses that want to come to mid-Missouri, that want to take advantage of the University of Missouri’s nuclear reactor and building a radiopharmaceutical corridor right here in central Missouri for life-saving cures that we all benefit from,” says Treece.

The current COU terminal was built in 1968, and Columbia will soon begin flying to Charlotte. Mayor Treece says the new terminal will put further destinations in play, and says Atlanta and Phoenix are two major hub cities Columbia would like to fly to.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Columbia Mayor Brian Treece, which was recorded on November 17, 2020 at Columbia Regional Airport:

Mercy Springfield nurse says they’re running out of room for COVID and acute patients

November 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

(Missourinet Springfield television partner KOLR-10 contributed to this story)

Springfield’s mayor and hospital leaders and employees there are renewing their call for a statewide mask mandate. They held a Friday afternoon press conference.

The Missouri National Guard assists at a COVID-19 testing site in Callaway County on November 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Mayor Ken McClure, a Republican who served as chief of staff to former Governor Matt Blunt, says that while guidelines are fine, people are not following them.

Mercy Hospital Springfield registered nurse Wanda Brown agrees, saying Springfield hospitals are overwhelmed.

“At Mercy Springfield, we now have four COVID units, one of which is our dedicated COVID ICU. All of our units are continually full and are becoming overwhelmed,” Brown tells reporters.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says there are currently 2,817 COVID patients in Missouri hospitals, an increase of 83 from Friday. DHSS says 646 of those COVID patients are in the ICU, and 336 are on ventilators.

DHSS says there have been 24,570 new COVID cases in the past week, an average of 3,510 per day.

Ms. Brown says Mercy Springfield is running out of room for both COVID and acute patients.

“I know we have all heard statements made of how hospitals are not overwhelmed, and our ICU’s are not full. But this is untrue and it is misleading and I think it provides a false sense of security for our community,” says Brown.

Missourinet Springfield television partner KOLR-10 reports CoxHealth leaders also spoke at Friday’s press conference. You can read KOLR-10’s story here.

As for Governor Mike Parson, he told Missourinet last week that while he’s opposed to a mask mandate, he has and continues to urge you to wear a mask. He’s been promoting a program called the “Show Me You Care” campaign, which emphasizes the need for you to wear a mask, to wash your hands, practice good hygiene and to social distance.

During that interview with Missourinet, Governor Parson emphasized that the next 30 to 60 days are crucial. His administration has issued a statewide public health warning, due to the spread of COVID across the state.

Missouri is averaging 3,908 new COVID cases per day; public health warning issued

November 20, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Parson administration has issued a statewide public health warning, due to the continued increase in new COVID cases statewide.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says there are currently 2,588 COVID patients in Missouri hospitals, an increase of 135 in the past 24 hours. 608 of those patients are in the ICU and 310 are on ventilators.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (right) visits a COVID-19 testing site in mid-Missouri’s Fulton on November 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

DHSS says there have been 27,358 new COVID cases in Missouri in the past week, an average of 3,908 new cases per day.

The department has also issued a holiday travel advisory, urging you to minimize travel outside of Missouri and to wear a mask.