Restaurant news may have taken the crown this year on SBJ.net’s list of the most viewed news stories, but the majority of the popular stories of 2014 focused on professional services.
The annual most-read list below comprises only news stories. Weekly feature pieces, SBJ event announcements and briefs via the Today in Business e-newsletter were excluded. However, one particular project in the print edition’s weekly From the Ground Up section deserves mention. Google clicks on our project profile for FD’s Grillhouse drove a ton of traffic our way, which put the restaurant construction project profile squarely at the top in terms of views this year. In fact, Google drove 77 percent of viewer traffic for the article on the restaurant at 245 E. Monastery St. Given that most of our traffic comes from our e-newsletters, it was a pleasant anomaly.
Otherwise, the year at SBJ.net was dominated by hotels and new starts, mergers and acquisitions, the O’Reilly family and a sprinkling of crime. Breaking news stories continued to be standouts. Of the top 10, nine were sent out to readers as breakers.
1. “Health Department shuts down Mr. Yen’s”South-side Chinese staple Mr. Yen’s couldn’t recover after a temporary February shutdown by the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. The 4117 S. National Ave. restaurant, founded in 1998 by Tobby Yen, was reprimanded for multiple repeated critical violations, including several live and dead cockroaches found throughout the kitchen, a cook smoking in the kitchen and general mishandling of food items. The restaurant would later close for good in the wake of the violations. John and Johnson Tan of Ocean Zen purchased the property in the fall and plan to move their Asian-fusion restaurant to the iconic Oriental restaurant site in early 2015.
2. “Springfield accounting firms to merge”Fresh from a January merger with Davis, Lynn & Moots, Springfield accounting firm KPM CPAs PC inked a deal in October to combine forces with Hlavacek Morris McIntyre Yates & Danielson PC. The combined firm moved into new headquarters at 1445 E. Republic Road, where they lease about 33,000 square feet on the first two floors of a recently completed $6 million building from Bill Beall Co. A related fact: KPM’s September 2013 announced merger with Davis, Lynn & Moots landed at No. 3 on SBJ.net’s list of the most viewed stories of 2013.
3. “Colorado developer to build $12M hotel in north Springfield”In July, we received word Aurora, Colo.-based H&H Management Group purchased a vacant 7-acre parcel at 2025 E. Kerr St. to build a SpringHill Suites by Marriott. H&H Management owner Hamant Patel said the company was planning to start construction on the four-story, 60,000-square-foot project within three months. However, work on the planned 96-room, $10 million to $12 million hotel fronting Interstate 44 has yet to begin.
4. “Ark. company to purchase Liberty Bank”In May, Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) revealed plans to expand its southwest Missouri presence with the purchase of Springfield-based Liberty Bancshares Inc. In the all-stock transaction valued at $206.9 million, Simmons picks up assets of $1.1 billion, loans of $811 million and deposits of $885 million. The Liberty branches will operate independently until systems are converted in the spring.
5. “Six Husch Blackwell partners start Springfield office for KC firm”Former Husch Blackwell LLP partners made a splash in the law world in June when they left the firm to start a Queen City office for another Kansas City-based firm, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP. Richard Walters serves as managing partner for Spencer Fane’s Springfield office, which now employs 13 former Husch employees and 21 overall. The original six were Walters, Charles Cowherd, Mike Nichols, Gary Powell, Jason Smith and Shawn Whitney. They operate out of temporary space at 3259 E. Ridgeview St. but are close to signing a lease in south Springfield at double the space.
6. “Former Bank of Billings president sentenced for fraud”Matthew Spillman, the former head officer of the Bank of Billings, was sentenced April 1 to 30 months in federal prison without parole for a $413,000 bank fraud and money laundering scheme he devised while president of the company. Spillman, of Nixa, also was ordered to pay $179,952 in restitution to the Bank of Billings and $233,952 to BancInsure. While serving as president of the bank, Spillman schemed to defraud and embezzle company funds from May 20, 2011, until he was suspended on April 13, 2012. He was later terminated from the post.
7. “Old Missouri Bank enters purchase agreement”Springfield-based Old Missouri Bank in March entered an agreement to buy the Bank of Ash Grove for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition, which closed this summer, doubled Old Missouri’s branch count to four. It assumed $65 million in assets from the Bank of Ash Grove and roughly $60 million in deposits. Old Missouri also increased its employee base to around 50 after taking on 15 employees through the purchase.
8. “O’Reilly Hospitality to build north Springfield hotel”In October, O'Reilly Hospitality Management LLC set in motion plans to build a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott next door to its DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton on North Glenstone Avenue. Owner Tim O’Reilly said the new hotel would be constructed alongside an expanded DoubleTree conference center space. Construction is scheduled to begin in second-quarter 2015 and wrap up in mid-2016. The Fairfield Inn would replace a 110-unit Budget Inn property, which already has been demolished.
9. “O'Reilly family makes naming-level donation to MSU”On a wintry day in November, Missouri State University held a news conference to announce the O’Reilly family had contributed a significant donation toward the health science center under construction on the Springfield campus. The donation was enough for naming rights, and the facility slated to open by the fall 2015 semester will be known as the O’Reilly Clinical Health Science Center. The donation was made by Charlie and Mary Beth O’Reilly, Larry O’Reilly, David O’Reilly, Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten and the Charles H. (Chub) O’Reilly Trust.
10. “Arvest names Springfield president”In May, Arvest Bank announced the successor to three-year market President Rodney Shepard, who left Springfield to work as president and CEO of Arvest's Fort Smith market. Effective June 2, Brad Crain took over the Arkansas-based banking company’s Queen City operations. Crain had worked since 2006 managing investment sales initiatives in Kansas City and throughout Oklahoma. Prior to joining Arvest, he worked as a senior vice president for SunTrust Bank in Atlanta.
Springfield Business Journal Web Editor Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net.
