Overheard

Trolley’s Private-label Vodka
Trolley’s restaurant in downtown Springfield has revealed a private-label vodka. Trolley’s teamed with GD&J LLC, a Kansas City distributor, and High Plains Inc., an Atchison, Kan., distillery, to produce Trolley’s Premium Vodka and Trolley’s Private Reserve Vodka. The product is available locally at Trolley’s, Price Cutter Plus, Harter House, Cartoons, Millwood, The Roost and Gilardi’s. Tony Shalloup is the district sales manager for GD&J representing the Trolley’s vodka line.

Table Rock Cleanup
The Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce seeks volunteers and sponsors by March 19 for its annual lake shoreline cleanup day, slated for April 3. Last year, a record 1,400 people picked up 14 tons of trash along roughly 400 miles of shoreline. Event sponsorships range between $100 and $500. Donations cover organization and advertising efforts and can include cleanup supplies, such as Dumpsters, backhoes, boats, volunteer T-shirts and trash bags. The cleanup has been conducted since 2001.

Stamina Gets Sustainable
Stamina Products Inc. announced this month its 2009 sustainability savings, and they’ve earned the fitness equipment manufacturer an Ozarks GreenScore bronze score. During its first year of implementing eco-friendly practices in its office and warehouse facility, Stamina reduced paper use by about 66 percent, water usage by 4 percent and used around 10 percent fewer electric kilowatt hours. Stamina expects these savings to increase in 2010, and expects to report on further reductions as more initiative results are measured. Some of these initiatives include scrap metal recycling from returned products; air emission reductions due to more fuel-efficient shipping; and water, fertilizer and other groundskeeping resources saved by a more eco-friendly lawn maintenance program. Ozarks GreenScore assesses and scores organizations for their management of environmental practices and policies. Current scoring members are DeWitt & Associates, bronze, and Discovery Center, silver.

$12M in Fraudulent Sales
A Springfield business owner pleaded guilty in federal court Feb. 8 to fraudulently marketing and selling nearly $12 million worth of dietary supplements over the Internet, claiming the supplements could prevent, treat or cure multiple diseases. Mai Lor pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She was co-owner with her husband of Medycinex Inc., a Springfield company that purchased dietary supplements and sold them via multiple Web sites, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. She also, at the direction of her husband, formed Bio Nutrasource LLC to carry on the business previously conducted by Medycinex. Lor contracted with a co-defendant to market and distribute dietary supplements that conspirators claimed had been clinically proven to treat and prevent diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, gout, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heartburn and diarrhea. Federal law prohibits people from claiming that dietary supplements can treat, cure or prevent a specific disease, and none of the supplements were approved by the Food and Drug Administration or carried adequate directions for use.[[In-content Ad]]