KBIA's Business Beat

Sandy Allison is the executive director at the Marshall-Saline Development Corporation. The corporation’s goal is to recruit new industries and businesses into the counties and strengthen existing business. As part of Missouri Business Alert’s Outstate project, KBIA's Seth Bodine spoke with Allison about her ideas on how to revitalize small towns like Marshall, Missouri.

Like many small towns, the heart of Marshall, Missouri is the town square -- home to several long-time and new businesses. But as urbanization to larger cities increases, small town businesses have had to find new ways to stay relevant. This week of Business Beat looks at the businesses in Marshall, Missouri. It’s part of a Missouri Business Alert special project called Outstate , a project that looks at entrepreneurship in small towns in missouri.

Karen Miller woke up and saw a flashing lights out the window of her home in Arrow Rock, Missouri. Miller works as the general manager of the J. Huston Tavern, which is the oldest continuously serving restaurant west of the Mississippi River. This wasn’t something someone would typically see in the small town of Arrow Rock, which has a population of 56, Miller said. So, she decided to investigate. Initially, she said she thought the lights were from the highway patrol. As she walked down the street, she ran into another resident who told her what was going on. “They said the tavern was on fire,” Miller said. “Then I started running.” An electrical fire started by a freezer had caused the blaze. The tavern had caught on fire by a freezer under the counter inside the kitchen. Luckily, firefighters were already working on putting out the fire by the time she arrived to the tavern. The kitchen, which was built in the 1950s, was destroyed. The rest of the tavern, which was built in 1834,

Ever since the first goat yoga class opened in 2016, the experience has become a national business trend for goat and yoga enthusiasts alike. The idea is simple: It’s a yoga class, except there are miniature goats roaming around that people can interact with.

Braid artists in Missouri used to have to obtain a cosmetology license to practice legally — but cosmetology training didn’t include instruction on hair braiding. Now, thanks to a bill that was signed into law last year and survived a legal fight that advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court , people desiring to braid hair in the state can apply for a hair braider’s license. It costs $20 and takes four to six hours of instructional video with a board’s assessment, rather than the 1,500 hours previously required. Wendy Doyle, founder and CEO of the Women’s Foundation, shared this story at the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Women in Leadership summit to illustrate why women should be engaged in policy decisions that affect women and why it’s important for them to hold positions of power. The inaugural summit, held Friday in Columbia, brought together businesswomen from across the state to address ways to help women advance in the workforce. Here are four main recommendations from

Kristen Williams, CEO and creative director of Hempsley, achieved what she considers a big accomplishment — she convinced her grandparents in Alabama to try CBD oil. They’re even recommending her business to their friends. Williams’ ever-evolving company sells CBD and aims to educate the public about cannabinoids like CBD. And for her, getting her reluctant grandparents to try CBD was a big deal. Williams considers herself an advocate of cannabis — the name of a plant that refers to both marijuana and hemp. In order for cannabis to be considered hemp, it must be less than .03% THC, the chemical that produces a “high” in marijuana. CBD is a non-psychoactive compound derived from hemp. Williams said she decided to stay in Columbia, where she believes cannabis products are less accepted, because she finds it rewarding to change the opinions of people who are apprehensive about CBD. But Williams wasn’t always so accepting of cannabis products. “D.A.R.E did a good one with me,” Williams

After more than 40 years with the same company, Rick Means will retire from his position as president and chief executive officer of Shelter Insurance in August. Matt Moore, currently executive vice president, will be the company’s next CEO. Means has spent nearly all of his adult life with Shelter, starting as a claims adjuster and working his way up the corporate ladder to claims supervisor, manager, vice president and eventually to his role as the leader of a nearly 2,000-employee insurance company that wrote about $2 billion worth of premiums last year. Missouri Business Alert sat down with Means in his office at Shelter’s Columbia headquarters to discuss his career, the future of the insurance industry and his plans for retirement. How did you get started in the insurance business? Means: I graduated from University of Missouri in 1977. I actually had an advanced personnel management class that required us to get three interviews, where we were to evaluate the interview process.

In the visitors room of the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center in Vandalia, nine women stand dressed in bright blue caps and gowns. They’re the first to graduate from ASPIRE MO, a program designed to teach inmates the entrepreneurial skills to start a business once they leave prison. The 20-week program teaches them various skills like market projections, advertising and feasibility studies. By the end of the course, they make a comprehensive business plan. Kellie Ann Coats, director of the Missouri Women’s Council, said she came up with the idea during a meeting with the Anne Precythe, Missouri’s director of corrections. Coats was told that Missouri had the fastest-growing female prison population in the country. “That really struck me,” Coats said. “I was like ‘Wow, what is going on, and what are we doing to help them?’” To read more, visit our partners at Missouri Business Alert.