Driven by Demand: A trio of women-owned businesses expands in the Ozarks

Several women-owned businesses in the Ozarks are experiencing growth this year, despite the nation's economic turmoil.

While the reasons businesses expand can be as varied as the companies themselves, three entrepreneurs cite a common reason: Awareness.

MaMa Jean's Natural Market

Growing is nothing new for Diana Hicks, co-owner with Susie Farbin of MaMa Jean's Natural Market, as they are now in the midst of adding onto their first store, 1727 S. Campbell Ave., which opened in 2002.

Hicks said part of the reason for their addition of a second location at 1110 E. Republic Road in 2008 can be attributed to customers becoming increasingly aware of the need for a healthy diet and lifestyle.

"People my age are thinking, 'Dang, I wish I'd started taking care of myself earlier,'" Hicks said.

A need for more space also led to the opening of the second store, which is located in developer Matt O'Reilly's Green Circle Shopping Center.

"Frankly, we couldn't keep up with the customers that we had at the original store, so we had to do something," Hicks said. "We didn't have enough freezer space or back stock. We'd get two trucks a week, but we'd run out of bread before the second run because we didn't have enough room for back stock to keep up with demand."

And now, Hicks and Farbin are expanding their first store.

The duo is adding 4,000 square feet to accommodate more deli and grocery space and a 900-square-foot meeting room where they plan to hold educational meetings for staff and the public. Hicks said she expects renovations to be complete by late October, though she declined to say how much they cost.

"We just try to keep up with demands," she said.

RivendaleInstitute

When Kerri Duncan bought Rivendale Institute, at 1613 W. Elfindale Drive, in June 2001, she was keenly aware of the need to educate students with autism. Now, eight years later, she's adding a second building to meet growing demand for autism services.

Prior to buying Rivendale, Duncan spent five years working with families affected by autism and, as an educator, had a passion for working with children with special educational needs. But no autism services were offered by Rivendale, which at that time focused solely on children with learning disabilities.

"I knew we needed something for those kids," said Duncan, who had experience as a teacher, special education director and school principal.

So in August 2001, she launched an autism program with six children enrolled. They joined the 14 children enrolled in the school's learning disabilities program.

"Now, we've purchased another building, which is across the street, and we're moving our entire (autism) program over there," Duncan said.

The new education center - the Center for Autism, set to open Sept. 28 - cost $400,000. She said renovations cost about $50,000. About $20,000 was financed out of the school's general revenue fund, with the remainder financed privately.

The move will double the school's space to roughly 8,000 square feet. Each building will accommodate up to 24 children. The existing building will continue to serve children with learning disabilities, but that program already is at capacity.

In addition to classes specifically for children with autism, the recently renovated second building will allow space for a typical pre-kindergarten program for children with no disabilities or diagnoses. The purpose of the reverse mainstreaming program, Duncan said, is to provide challenged students with peer role models. Currently, the school has 16 autistic children enrolled.

"My ultimate goal is to pay off that building - get that wiped off the budget - and make sure everything is running smoothly," Duncan said.

Professional Massage Training Center

Juliet Mee, owner of Professional Massage Training Center at 229 E. Commercial St., said people are more aware of the role massage plays in health and healing. And that awareness brings with it the demand for highly trained, knowledgeable massage therapists.

"There has to be ... a true knowledge base, rather than the kind of thing that I used to call Froot Loops and wind-chime information that I definitely was a part of," Mee said.

"Because of a lack of research, we didn't know why things worked. We just knew that they did. And that really isn't good enough for the consumers today," she added.

These days, clients want to know what works and why, how it will affect them and the options for treating anything from stress to recovering from injuries.

To accommodate that, Mee has expanded the types of training she offers, including Eastern practices such as ayurvedic approaches from India and Thai massage.

The training center has grown and diversified through the years. When Mee opened the school in 1994, she had two rooms and space for six tables, and she taught 12 students. This year, the school will train 100 students. Professional Massage Training Center offers two 900-hour massage training programs approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork.

Mee first expanded her business in late 2007 when she bought a nearby building to house spa training facilities and in June 2008 opened sister company Therapy Linen Care, an environmentally friendly linen cleaning service designed to serve Professional Massage Training Center as well as other businesses in the field.

"It was not working for us to have other companies do our linens," Mee said.

Now, she's growing again, turning her attention to the renovation of a 5,000-square-foot building directly east of the Professional Massage Training Center. The addition will bring total training space to 15,000 square feet.

Mee announced in June that she had purchased the building, formerly home to Davis Appliance Store, though the purchase price wasn't disclosed. Because the site was a gas station in the 1930s and backs up to a railroad track, the ground needed to be tested.

She is working with the city to obtain grant money to do required environmental work.

Mee has paid out of pocket for architectural, engineering and exterior building work, but she said she's working on securing private financing for the remainder of the cost, which she expects to run between $550,000 and $600,000.

She is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for the project, which she hopes will be finished next spring.

Her goal is to create a facility that will house the best training center in the United States.

"To be the best would mean our graduates came here, learned a lot and were able to support themselves in the field in the way they want to live," Mee said.