Heard On The Street

STACK OF ETHICS. Springfield ReManufacturing Corp. President Jack Stack was named the winner of the first Dr. W. Curtis Strube Ethics in Business Award July 21. "We created the award to recognize individuals who, in their business or professional lives, faced unusual ethical dilemmas with courage, innovation and resourcefulness," said J. Miles Sweeney, a member of the Springfield Rotary Club. Drury College and the Springfield Rotary Club co-sponsored the award, that will be handed out annually. A release said Stack was chosen for turning SRC into one of the nation's most innovative businesses. Stack and other investors bought SRC's operations in a $9 million 1983 leveraged buyout while Stack was charged with marketing the Springfield operation of International Harvester. SRC now employs 1,000 in its 23 separate companies and has $125 million in annual sales. Strube was director of the Drury College Breech School of Business Administration and a former president of the Springfield Rotary Club before his death in 1997.

CHOO CHOO. Forty-one business, government and education officials from Springfield were off to Chattanooga, Tenn., July 23, led by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce on its fifth annual community leadership visit. The three-day trip is set to focus on sustainable development, center city revitalization and the Tennessee Aquarium. Same aquarium is a model for the Queen City's in-the-planning-stages American National Fish & Wildlife Living Museum and Aquarium. Without listing the 41 luminaries on the junket, suffice to say there'd be plenty of room for advancement in city government if the group's chartered plane entered the Bermuda Triangle for an extended stay.

NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON. Holiday Inn University Plaza in our fair city was recognized as the 1996 Hotel of the Year by its owner, John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc., at the company's biannual meeting. Word of the honor was given at JQH's meeting June 8-10 in Branson. The company's news release about the 1996 honor (revealed at the beginning of June, remember), was dated July 20. Congratulations, truly, if belatedly, to the staff and management of University Plaza.

BENTLEY LAURELS. The Missouri Vocational Association, which last week brought thousands of conventioneers to Springfield for its annual conference, bestowed its Recognition Award on state Sen. Roseann Bentley. "Sen. Bentley has dedicated her life to enhancing the educational opportunities of Missourians," said Dr. Donald Claycomb, president of MVA. Bentley is former president of the Springfield Public Schools Board, Missouri State Board of Education and the National Association of the State Boards of Education. She is the current chairman of the National Conference of State Legislatures Education Committee. "Vocational education opens many doors to potential careers and assists students in understanding that they must determine a pathway for their learning," Bentley said, expressing her thrill at receiving the award.

LESS ORION. The Ozarks Regional Information Online Network is changing its direction and getting out of the Internet access game. ORION's board announced July 22 it would return to its original mission as a local information provider. Beginning Sept. 1, no new text-based accounts will be accepted, a first step in phasing out its text-based modem pool by Sept. 1, 1999. "The world of technology has changed since a few year ago when there was no local access and the word Internet was new to people," said Kevin Tharp, ORION coordinator. "But now there is more than adequate accessibility in the private sector and free web-based e-mail readily available. In addition,

there are many public access points, including libraries, city kiosks and community centers." The ORION staff will now focus on making unique local information available on the World Wide Web.

SLICE OF NICE. The fifth annual United Way Day of Caring is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20. This year, the organization is holding a photography contest for the best Day of Caring photo. Photos may be submitted in

both black-and-white and color, and film will be provided. Participation is free. There are still Day of Caring projects available, and area businesses who wish to volunteer for one or more projects are invited to contact United Way of the Ozarks. To date, employees of 53 area companies will contribute their time to more than 100 projects which benefit the United Way's 27 member agencies. In 1997, more than 1,000 volunteers contributed 6,000 hours of free labor and completed 90 projects. For more information on how to participate in Day of Caring, contact Donna Fishel at United Way of the Ozarks, 863-7700.

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