Overheard

MML: So Long Springfield, Hello Branson

The Missouri Municipal League has chosen Branson over Springfield for its 2012 annual conference, which typically brings about 1,000 people, KSPR reported last week. MML previously rotated its conference location between four Missouri cities: Springfield, Kansas City, St. Louis and Lake of the Ozarks. The event was held in Springfield in 2008 and was slated to return in 2012, but an official with the group recently raised concerns about hotel space.

KSPR cites meeting minutes from the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau in which MML representative Gary Markinson said the MML had planned on returning to Springfield on the promise of a new John Q. Hammons hotel next to the Springfield Expo Center. Since then, the hotel project has been delayed and there no longer is a set completion date. MML officials were concerned that their delegates would be split in different hotels, according to the report.

What Recession?

A Springfield chapter of Business Networking International claims members have closed about $6.2 million in business the last 12 months, during the thick of a national recession. The chapter, named Business by Referral, was named BNI's Chapter of Excellence in March out of 90 chapters. To celebrate, an open house is scheduled May 20 at Great Southern Bank's operations center, 218 S. Glenstone Ave.

Local SIFE Success

Drury University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Southwest Baptist University all earned wins last week at the Students in Free Enterprise U.S. competition. Held May 10-12 in Philadelphia, the competition brought together the winners of SIFE's U.S. regional competitions. About 90 executives from companies across the country judged the 118 schools, according to a Drury news release.

Drury took second place overall among four-year schools. Florida's Flagler College was named the national champion and will compete at the SIFE World Cup, Oct. 4-6 in Berlin, Germany. Drury's team has been to the national competition six times and was named champion three times, in 2001, 2003 and 2005; the team won the World Cup in 2001 and 2003.

OTC earned the second runner-up trophy in its league at this year's event and was the only Missouri community college to reach the national competition, according to an OTC news release. This was the school's third consecutive year competing at the national level.

SBU was named first runner-up in its league, according to the SIFE Web site. Missouri State University and College of the Ozarks also competed at the event but did not place, according to the site.

The competition consisted of a 24-minute presentation of projects that each team completed during the previous year at their schools and respective communities, according to the OTC release. The projects must have been designed to instruct within six criteria areas - success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business ethics, environmental sustainability and market economics.[[In-content Ad]]