Heard on the Street

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|bold_on|RESERVATIONS. A recent survey of more than 63,000 airline passenger tickets issued by Springfield travel agencies found that nearly two-thirds of the tickets were for trips originating from the Springfield/Branson Regional Airport. The survey, which included data for the year that ended March 31, 1999, was conducted by Robert. E. Dunn, with Simat, Hellieson & Eichner, a Maryland-based air transport consultant firm. The remaining one-third of the tickets surveyed were for trips originating from airports in Kansas City, St. Louis, or Tulsa, Okla. The survey reflects a decline of nearly 16 percent in the volume of airline tickets sold for trips originating from those airports, indicating, in part, the effects of Internet ticketing, which bypasses the travel agency, according to a release from the Springfield/Branson Regional Airport. The survey showed that despite the decline in tickets issued by travel agencies, air travel originating from the Springfield/Branson Regional Airport increased by nearly 10 percent during the same period.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|AMEX. John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. announced Feb. 18 that the company's stock will be traded on the American Stock Exchange, beginning Feb. 28. The stock will be traded on the AMEX under the ticker JQH, the same symbol now used to trade John Q. Hammons Hotels stock on the New York Stock Exchange.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|CHILD CARE. Uptown Kids child-care center entered a new management contract earlier this year with Childtime Learning Centers, according to Stephanie Grevillius, director of UpTown Kids. Grevillius said under the new contract, Uptown Kids operates as a for-profit center. Previously, the center at 1108 N. Robberson was not-for-profit. Uptown Kids, which is housed in a building owned by City Utilities, was created by a consortium of entities with offices near the center, including City Utilities, Greene County, the Springfield/Greene County Library, the Springfield News-Leader, Drury University and Springfield Public Schools. Grevillius said the consortium, which has a board of directors responsible for setting policies for the child-care center, will likely dissolve in a year or so after taking care of remaining business matters. She said the center will stay in its present location, with the same management and staff, and Childtime Learning Centers will lease the building from CU. The decision to allow Michigan-based Childtime Learning Centers to assume management of Uptown Kids was made primarily because the center was losing money on a monthly basis, according to Kathy Fritts, president of the employer consortium board. Fritts said the center was "months away from being out of money," but consortium members, for the most part, were not interested in offering further financial help to the center. She said the board received no money for allowing Childtime Learning Centers to take over the management of Uptown Kids, but the move prevented the board from having to close the center. In addition to assuming management of Uptown Kids, Childtime Learning Centers announced that it acquired three child-care centers in the St. Louis area.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|HIRING. Springfield will have an outstanding job market this spring, according to poll results released by Manpower Inc. About 57 percent of the companies that participated in the second quarter employment outlook survey conducted by Manpower indicated that they would recruit more workers during the months of April, May and June. Manpower Area Manager Lory Hobbs said none of the companies surveyed expected employee cutbacks, and 36 percent of the companies anticipate no changes. During the second quarter last year, 40 percent of local companies surveyed planned to add employees, and 3 percent predicted personnel reductions.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|DAYS INN OWNER. Information in the Feb. 21-27 Heard on the Street column regarding Days Inn was incorrect. The hotel is not owned by the public company John Q. Hammons Hotels, but is privately held by another Hammons corporation.|ret||ret||tab|

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|bold_on|SLICE OF NICE. The Ozark Science and Engineering Foundation is seeking the support of the area business community for its 40th annual fair, set for April 4-6. The Ozarks Science and Engineering Fair gives area students the opportunity to explore behavioral, natural and applied sciences in a challenging and rewarding forum. The foundation offers corporate event sponsorships that support the group's work throughout the year and include recognition at the fair. Based on a minimum donation of $1,000, underwriter, grand-prize sponsor and category sponsor levels are available. Deadline for the sponsors to receive recognition at this year's fair is March 15. For more information, contact Michelle Norgren, the foundation's executive director, at 836-6150 or via e-mail at mln442t@mail.smsu.edu.|ret||ret||tab|

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