On the Street

Whitaker Publishing, publishers of 417 Magazine, and the Springfield Cardinals have entered a joint custom publishing agreement to produce the Official Guide to the 2005 Springfield Cardinals. The guide will include Cardinals player and manager profiles, a history of the St. Louis Cardinals organization’s connections to Springfield and an account of the creation of Hammons Field and relocation of the Cardinals 2005 double-A team to Springfield.

The Springfield Cardinals’ official guide will be available June 23 at Hammons Field.

Annual report deadline

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan says there are about 20,000 businesses that still need to file annual reports before the state’s April 30 deadline. Otherwise, penalties will be assessed, she said.

All Missouri corporations are required to file annual reports, and approximately 75,000 of Missouri’s 170,000 corporations have an April 30 deadline.

Mail-in filings include a $45 annual fee, while online filing requires a $20 fee. The difference in fees has saved $800,000 for the 68 percent of businesses that have chosen to file online this year.

For more information, call the secretary of state’s office at (866) 223-6535 or visit www.sos.mo.gov.

SLS sales record

Springfield speaker manufacturer SLS International Inc. hit record revenue of $869,569 in the first quarter, according to the company’s unaudited financials. New sales are up 62 percent compared with fourth-quarter 2004. For the complete fiscal year, revenue topped $2 million, yet the company suffered an $8.6 million net loss, continuing a trend of the past three years.

Officials at the publicly traded company are spending money on production and promotion, including a recently launched $1.5 million national ad campaign and a new retail product for select Wal-Mart stores in September. SLS ended 2004 with $10 million in cash, primarily due to two private placements of stocks. SLS stock (OTC BB: SITI.OB) closed April 20 at $2.35 per share.

Slice of Nice

Cashew Craze 2005, held April 10 at the Clarion, raised more than $12,000 for Developmental Center of the Ozarks.

The 2005 results are: New Chinese Chef, People’s Choice for best cashew chicken, People’s Choice for best display and Judges’ Choice for best display; Canton Inn, Judges’ Choice for best chicken; Mr. Yen’s and Cartoons, tie for Judges’ Choice for best sauce; and The Tower Club, Judges’ Choice for best cashew chicken.

DCO’s Marci Bowling said that about 1,500 people attended Cashew Craze 2005. Money raised will be used to further DCO’s mission of helping special-needs individuals and their families.