LaBrunerie’s Leverage — Alex LaBrunerie, head of a small financial services company, realized China would be the next economic powerhouse. To take advantage of that, he fired up his networking skills and managed to connect with one of China’s main financial investment information provider. The result is an one-of-a-kind financial partnership and a center at the University of Missouri designed to analyze economic information and provide it to U.S. investors.
Russ Potterfield’s China presence proving profitable, Battenfeld improves logistics with satellite office — Why would the heir-apparent of a successful sporting-goods company open a new operation in Shenzhen, China, far from friends and family? Because, Potterfield explains, this is where the future is, a future he’s eager to embrace for himself and his young family.
Doing Business in China: Cautionary tales and advice — Columbia firms offer tips and cautionary tales on breaking into the Chinese markets.
Writer’s Welcome — My experience to China exposes the downside of this developing country.
Urban Farm Center strives to become self-sustaining — The nonprofit Urban Farm Center is making sure it can stay in the business of helping people grow their own vegetables by offering for-hire landscaping services to those who can afford to pay, so they can help those who can’t.
Cucumbers with that aspirin? — Kilgore’s Medical Pharmacy, a local drugstore, and a local rental agency are providing gardening space for neighbors in the hope that vegetables, berries and fruits can keep the need for drugs away.
Passion for Pizza: Greg Neichter’s pizzeria empire began with downtown Domino’s — In 1980, Greg Neichter was 22 years old, a college graduate, drove a beat-up Camaro and almost couldn’t get a loan to open his first Domino’s Pizza. By 1985, he had four locations and was driving a Jaguar. Today, he has 35 locations and three of his children and two of his brothers are in the business. And he still eats pizza almost every day. That’s passion for pizza.
Creating sounds of something great — Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could operate all your electronic gadgets, your sound system, your television, your home theatre all from one remote? With the help of Pure Audio & Video Specialty you can.
A Realtor’s Ordeal Birth becomes blessing, business gains perspective — The housing industry crash, his mother’s death and the life-threatening illness of his son didn’t slow down Freddy Spencer or the momentum of his then newly launched real estate firm, Advantage Century 21. How did he keep going despite all these challenges? Spencer credits his agents, and they point to his own positive attitude and faith in them and the business.
Parker building getting history friendly Atkins family touch — The 1907 building 16 N. Tenth St., once housed one of Columbia’s oldest businesses, the Parker Furniture Company, which, in tune with the those times built caskets. Since then, the company has moved next door and renamed itself the Parker Funeral Service, and the building is slated for renovation by Atkins Investments, a firm which has brought back several other historic buildings from derelict pasts and into new uses.
Winning Warehouse | Berry Building gets preservation award — A former warehouse and then dilapidated storefronts, the now renovated 1924 Berry Building garnered a state award for its preservation its owners John and Vicki Ott of Alley A Realty. Today, the building houses a gallery, a fitness studio and luxury condominiums. In addition to this $3 million renovation, the Otts have renovated nine other downtown buildings.
Capturing Columbia’s Cinema Century — Movies ad movie theatres are big business — and they have been for decades. Businessmen used to go to the movies at lunch and in the 1930s, Columbia boasted three movie palaces on Ninth Street, offering a total of 3,500 seats in a town of roughly people 15,000 people. Then cars, radio, and television came along and movie attendance took a dip. Today, Columbia features 4,227 movie theatre seats and a population of 100,000. This article looks at the movie theatre industry in Columbia then and now.
Notable Properties: Historic Renovation Boosts Community Commerce — What if historic renovation made economic sense? Many say it does including Richard King, who operates The Blue Note, a thriving live music venue housed in the first building named to the Notable Properties List by the Columbia Historic Preservation Commission.
Power Supply Answer Blowing in the Wind?
Dianna Borsi O'Brien, freelance writer 
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