Opinion: Branson Airport flies ahead on SBJ.net in 2016

Geoff Pickle

Posted online December 19, 2016 | 1:34 pm

They don’t call it the live entertainment capital of the world for nothing.

News about Branson Airport topped this year’s list of the most viewed articles on SBJ.net.

We also noticed a pickup in traffic driven by search engine results and social media.
We subtracted articles about SBJ awards or state, national and international news via our Today in Business e-newsletter. Including those, the top two stories were announcements for the 2016 classes of 40 Under 40 and Most Influential Women awards, respectively.
Here’s the end result.

1. Branson Airport pens deal for year-round daily flights
In May, Branson Airport signed an agreement to provide customers new year-round daily flights to Denver, Colo., and Houston, Texas, through a partnership with Portland, Maine-based Elite Airways and Cheyenne, Wyoming-based Great Lakes Airlines. A late 2016 report conducted by Arizona State University for the Branson chamber and CVB found Branson Airport had a 2010-15 economic impact of $454.8 million despite operating losses posted by the airport.

After losing Southwest Airlines Co. and Frontier Airlines, that impact began to wane. Airport Executive Director Jeff Bourk says key to maintaining the region’s financial windfall is landing another big airline. The Taney County Partnership and the Air Service Development Committee have a fund with at least $1 million serving as a risk pool for new airlines entering the market that may take time to become established locally. Perhaps that fund will prove fruitful in 2017.

2. Wine Review: Arbor Mist leads wine revolution
Here’s the black sheep. You may be asking yourself the same question we asked: How did a review of an inexpensive wine brand make our top 10? To inspire further head-scratching, its was published in 2013. While I greatly appreciate the contributions of wine columnist Bennet Bodenstein, I was still a bit flabbergasted by this one. The answer? Google. Search for “Arbor Mist review” and it’ll be on your front page. Here’s a toast to the giant behemoth of search engines. Salut!

3. OakStar pens merger with Bank of Urbana
In July, OakStar Bank entered a deal to buy Bank of Urbana and absorb its $180 million in assets, 48 employees and four branches. The transaction closed Sept. 30, giving Springfield-based OakStar a combined $620 million in assets, 150 associates, six branches, a mortgage office in Kansas City and a loan production office in Florida.

4. Contractor cites paint supplier in worker’s death
It was a solemn day in March when an employee of painting contractor RF Barratt Enterprises LLC died after falling from the fifth floor of the $26 million Aspen Springfield center city housing complex. Via its attorney, RF Barratt placed partial blame on the death of 25-year-old Joshua Halphin on paint supplier Sherwin-Williams, saying an employee of the latter company mixed up work instructions.

5. Opinion: Hush on Trader Joe’s, Fresh Market satisfies
After visiting The Fresh Market in another city, SBJ Editor Eric Olson makes his case for why Springfieldians’ cries for Trader Joe’s should be quieted. The fate of The Fresh Market in Springfield, however, is still up in the air. The Greensboro, North Carolina-based chain announced plans in late 2015 to occupy 21,000 square feet at the 100,000-square-foot Glenstone Marketplace LLC, 3333 S. Glenstone Ave., in the fall of this year. The steel shell of a building is visible on the development, but it’s unclear when – or if – The Fresh Market is coming after the company announced it would close all of its stores in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Texas. Adding to the mystery, company officials and Glenstone Marketplace developer Brad Thessing are staying quiet. I guess we’ll see in 2017.