Overheard

Webb’s Blinds & Wallpaper recently sold its longtime location at 313 S. Glenstone Ave. and moved south to 2,200 square feet in Brentwood Center, 2640 S. Glenstone Ave. Owner Bill Webb sold the 5,500-square-foot building to Bunker Hill Properties LLC in January. Bunker Hill Properties was created by attorneys Stuart King, Craig Hosmer and James Royce, who are partners at McDonald, Hosmer, King & Royce PC. The law firm plans to renovate the building. Mike Mellinger of Mellinger Commercial, who brokered the transaction, said the property was listed for $575,000. Bunker Hill borrowed $450,000 from Liberty Bank for the purchase, according to a deed of trust filed with the Greene County Recorder of Deeds. Webb said his business was able to downsize because of Internet sales, which require less on-site inventory. He said wallpaper accounts for about 60 percent of company revenue while 40 percent comes from blinds.

End of the Road

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson last week ended a one-year term as chairman and began as vice chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. Duane Michie, of Hayti, previously vice chairman, is the new chairman. Both Anderson and Michie will serve one-year terms. The six-member bipartisan commission governs the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Legislative Briefing

The National Federation of Independent Business, in conjunction with Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, is holding a legislative briefing this week for small-business owners. The event will be 7:30–9:30 a.m. March 19 at the chamber, 202 S. John Q. Hammons Parkway. Topics will include immigration and health care reform, and scheduled speakers are NFIB Legislative Affairs Manager Michelle Dimarob and Missouri Republican Reps. Bob Dixon and Shane Schoeller. There is no cost to attend, and a light breakfast is included. To register, go to www.nfib.com/mo or contact Kathy Peerson at kathy.peerson@nfib.org or (573) 634-7660. NFIB is a small-business advocacy association with offices in all state capitals.

AG Annual Report

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon generated or saved $28.04 for every dollar appropriated by his office in 2007, according to his annual report released March 10. According to a news release, that figure is the highest since 2001, when the office began determining the ratio of dollars saved to dollars received for the annual report.

Among the office’s other accomplishments in 2007: recovery of a record $9.3 million for consumers through informal mediation efforts, and an additional $8.95 million obtained through court judgments; recovery of more than $14 million of taxpayers’ money from individuals and businesses that defrauded the Medicaid program; $138 million brought in to state coffers from U.S. tobacco companies through a 1998 agreement; and a historic settlement of $175 million with Ameren, which resolved Nixon’s lawsuit over the Taum Sauk reservoir collapse. The entire report, “A Strong Voice for Missouri,” is available at www.ago.mo.gov.