Open for Business

Tradewinds Furniture Co. and Susan Sommer Luarca Art Gallery opened for business Oct. 22 at 315 South Ave. E.J. Luarca and Susan Sommer Luarca, at left, co-own the store and second-floor art gallery. E.J. Luarca said furniture styles are eclectic: ultramodern, Old World, organic modern, midcentury and contemporary. It is Luarca’s second downtown business, after opening Downtown Cleaners, 327 S. Patton, in October 2003. “I just stuck my pinky toe in it last time around with the cleaners because that was something they really needed down here,” he said. “This is something I’ve had in the works for the last couple years.” Artist Susan Sommer Luarca has completed work for downtown establishments Trolley’s, Ernie Biggs and Mille’s. The Luarcas lease 10,000 square feet from downtown developer Scott Tillman. Hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Ozarks Counseling Center opened a second office Jan. 18 at 332 S. Springfield Ave., Bolivar. The United Way of the Ozarks member agency provides mental health and relationship counseling to low-income individuals and families, said Steven Johnson, executive director. The center has operated in Springfield since 1952, when it was known as Greene County Child Guidance Clinic. The Springfield office employs seven counselors and four counselors in training. Johnson said therapist Patty Sommerfeld and a receptionist work in the Bolivar office, which is funded by a Missouri Foundation for Health grant. Office hours are noon-8 p.m. Monday, noon-6 p.m. Tuesday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Goddard School, a day care emphasizing education, opened Jan. 10 at 2238 W. Kingsley St. The 8,000-square-foot facility, constructed last fall, is built to accommodate 130 children ranging from 6 weeks to 6 years old. Owner Cynthia Chiu-Pinheiro employs nine teachers, including Education Director Heather Gilbert, and is looking to hire more. “Our enrollment is growing so rapidly,” Chiu-Pinheiro said four days after opening, when 68 children were enrolled. The Goddard School is part of a nationwide franchise system comprising 170 schools with 21,000 children enrolled. Care is available 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Missouri Career Center, a division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, relocated its Branson offices Jan. 11 to 2720 Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, Ste. D-3. The center moved from 1756 Bee Creek Road, Ste. B, where it had operated since 1994, said Tom Leonard, work force development supervisor for the Branson office. Shirley Click of Springfield’s Missouri Career Center oversees the five-employee Branson office, which serves more than 400 people per month. It is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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