Heard on the Street

|tab|

SEND 'EM IN|ret||ret||tab|

The July 1 issue of the Springfield Business Journal will feature a new focus for the Inside Business section human resources. In it, Linda Bower, a human performance improvement consultant whose inaugural SBJ column appears on page 32 this week, will present a question-and-answer column about HR-specific questions. SBJ encourages readers who have performance and productivity questions to send them to Bower in care of SBJ at |bold_on|sbj@sbj.net, by fax at 417-831-5478, or by regular mail to PO Box 1365, Springfield MO 65801, so she may answer them in the July 1 issue. |ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

SIZE DOES MATTER|ret||ret||tab|

The most recent edition of the journal Science touts statistics indicating that 54 percent of all adults are now overweight and fully 22 percent of American adults now are obese. |ret||ret||tab|

Coincidentally, Ergodyne, an ergonomics manufacturer, has announced that nearly all of its back-support models now are available in 3XL and 4XL versions. |ret||ret||tab|

Mark Lindstrom, sales vice president for Ergodyne, said the company always has had back supports for different applications, and now, they have them for all body sizes. |ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

BIG BABY |ret||ret||tab|

Springfield's Dickerson Park Zoo is now home to a new arrival a nearly six-foot-tall giraffe calf born last month. Proud parents of the new giraffe are Gidget, who came to the zoo in 1993 and had calves in 1997, 1999 and 2001; and Stretch, who arrived in Springfield from Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo in 1988. The newest giraffe calf is the result of the 14th giraffe pregnancy at Dickerson Park Zoo, which participates in a newly formed species survival plan for giraffes via the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. |ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

INDEX|ret||ret||tab|

Missouri's Purchasing Managers' Index, a key economic indicator that gauges such factors as new orders, production, supplier delivery times, backlogs, inventory, prices, employment, import orders and exports, climbed to 63.6 in May. According to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, May was the sixth consecutive month the number increased and the fourth month straight that it remained above the critical 50 mark. When the PMI is above 50, it's considered to be a sign of an expansionary economy when it goes below 50, it forecasts a sluggish economy for the next three to six months. The department said that Missouri's index in November was just 35.9. |ret||ret||tab|

|ret||ret||tab|

ACHY BREAKY HEART|ret||ret||tab|

Country music artist and television performer Billy Ray Cyrus is slated to appear in five shows at Branson's Will Rogers Theater Aug. 29-Sept. 1. |ret||ret||tab|

"The Branson visitor base is getting younger, and we are experiencing a demand for more current touring artists," said Joe Sullivan, president of SullivanShows, which purchases talent, produces and promotes shows in several Branson theaters, including the Will Rogers Theater.|ret||ret||tab|

"Billy Ray Cyrus is one of the performers that Branson theater-goers have told us they would like to see," he added. |ret||ret||tab|

Cyrus now plays country doctor Clint Cassidy on the PAX-TV series, "Doc." He will have a new musical release in August just before his Branson performances. |ret||ret||tab|

[[In-content Ad]]