The Magic Bullet: City Pensions Back on Track
From the Royal Blue Columbia Police Department pullover and various police badges strewn across her desk, it’s easy to conclude …
Featured Articles
May 2013
Behind the Screen: Columbia Companies are Turning Profits from Behind Their Virtual Counters
Got glass It’s only natural that Veterans United chief storyteller Sarah Hill discovered she’d been chosen to test out google …
Read My Mind
My cover is blown. A commercial for the Boone County Fire Protection District flashes across the screen of a tv in …
Risks = Rewards
A young man from Mexico, Mo., leaves his hometown job selling real estate to travel the country as a band …
Fast, Flexible, Adaptable: Newsy’s Star Continues to Rise in the World of Journalism
Five years ago, Jim Spencer left his heart and established career in San Francisco. After pioneering ask Jeeves, one of …
Hub & Spoke: The Gears That Keep Dak Dillon Moving
Glass brimming with red wine clink over rounds of congratulations. Jazz piano from the stereo system melts into the background …
April 2013
Taxi!
On Thursday afternoon at about 3:45 p.m., Tracy Westbrook arrives for her shift. A bail bondsman for many years, she …
Money in the Sky
On the long gray tarmac, a handful of metallic planes glint against a white sky fifteen minutes south of Columbia. …
Skills to Compete
On Feb. 12, minority business owners gathered with city officials to discuss problems facing minority-owned businesses in Columbia. The luncheon, …
Beer Me
Tiny River Brewing Co.’s Old Town Porter, Tall Grass Brewing Co.’s Buffalo Sweat and even Shocktop’s Wheat IPA have, for …
Travel COU
When Kristi Ray boarded a 50-seat Delta plane at Columbia Regional Airport (COU), the well-connected executive vice president for the …
March 2013
It’s Not About What Mike Wants
Scraps of paper cover the top of Mike Brooks’ U-shaped desk. Regulation books and bright folders of notes and presentations …
Missouri Foods That Made It Big
Billy Goat Chips: St. Louis Originally a product of the kitchen at Billy Goat Restaurant & Bar, these chips’ demand …
The Unexpected Businessman
The first time Jeff Offutt saw a Five Guys restaurant, he wasn’t impressed. He was in Austin visiting Sandella’s, a …
A Freaky-Fast Franchise
They say that if you choose a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Perhaps that’s …
Rise of the Golden Arches
When Columbia’s first McDonald’s opened at 205 Business Loop, customers would walk up to the storefront and order their burgers …
Free Range
Jumping in ahead of the craze, Dustin and Austin Stanton have carved out their corner as the nation’s largest producer …
Bucking the trend
For a downtown surrounded by a state university and two colleges, it’s puzzling that Columbia’s centrally located bookstores keep going …
February 2013
Old, New and Unexpected
The Columbia Chamber of Commerce’s Business Showcase on March 5 will be all about innovation, bringing back some of the …
Brand Building
For Brynne and Bailye Stansberry, business is in their blood. Now they’re betting their futures on an idea they’ve held …