Overheard

Springfield Business Journal is accepting nominations through May 1 for its Economic Impact Awards, honoring area companies that generate the largest volumes of revenue, payroll, employment and community contributions. Honorees, selected by an independent panel of judges, will be announced June 5 and will be recognized July 27 at Bass Pro Shops’ White River Room. There are six categories: retail/wholesale, construction/manufacturing, services, entrepreneur of the year, innovator of the year and charitable organization of the year. SBJ also will present the Lifetime Achievement in Business Award. Past honorees are Edwin C. Rice Jr., Larry Wallis, Charlie O’Reilly, Ralph Manley, Jack Stack and John Q. Hammons.

Nomination forms are available at sbj.net and on the inside back cover of this issue.

Wal-Mart Unseated

Exxon Mobil knocked Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart from its four-year reign as the nation’s largest company, according to the 2006 edition of the Fortune 500, issued earlier this month.

High oil prices helped Exxon Mobil rake in $340 billion in sales and enjoy a 42.6 percent earnings increase during 2005. Wal-Mart ranked No. 2 with more than $315 billion in 2005 revenues. Ten Missouri companies made the Fortune 500 – including Carthage-based Leggett & Platt at No. 404. Springfield’s O’Reilly Automotive made the list at No. 796 with revenues of more than $2 billion. Twenty-eight Missouri companies made the magazine’s annual top-1,000 list. American corporations had record amounts of $9.1 trillion in sales and $610 billion in profits in 2005.

Simple Life

Springfield’s downtown renaissance last week attracted film crews from the PBS television show “Simple Living.” Cameras and show host Wanda Urbanska on April 13 visited the Lofts at the Seville, Gillioz Theatre, Discovery Center, Blue Block Lofts at Founders Park and other projects for an episode about downtown renovation. What’s happening in Springfield is symbolic of a nationwide downtown revitalization trend. “Resuscitating the downtown is like getting a heart transplant and bringing the heart and soul back into working order,” Urbanska said. Springfield’s episode is expected to air in spring 2007.

Stamina Recall

About 668,000 fitness trampolines produced by Springfield’s Stamina Products Inc. and sold locally at Wal-Mart and Play It Again Sports have been recalled because of a potential for injury during the product’s assembly and disassembly processes. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced April 6 that Stamina has voluntarily recalled certain models of its InMotion Trampolines and has revised the product’s manual to prevent injury.

According to a news release from the commission, the trampoline’s outside rail, if released momentarily, can snap back into the folded position and strike the consumer. Stamina has received 13 reports of injuries, the most severe being concussions and facial bone fractures. For more information, contact Stamina at (800) 375-7520.[[In-content Ad]]