Overheard

Drury University President John Sellars will resign May 31 “for personal reasons,” and Drury alumnus and veteran Springfield businessman Todd Parnell will serve as interim president beginning June 1. Sellars, who succeeded John E. Moore Jr. in May 2005, said he will pursue other career opportunities. Prior to joining Drury, Sellars was Syracuse University’s senior vice president for institutional advancement. In March, Parnell was named executive director of Drury’s Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, also effective June 1. Parnell has been a Drury Breech School of Business advisory board member since 2003 and was a founding investor in Springfield-based The Bank, where he served as president and CEO. In 2004, The Bank merged with Signature Bank to form The Signature Bank, where Parnell served as president and chief operating officer until 2005. The university said a presidential search committee led by Drury trustee Rick Lester, of Colorado Springs, Colo., will be named, and will work to find a new president promptly. The committee will comprise faculty, students, staff, administrators, alumni and board members.

What’s the Deal in Real Estate?

Real estate schemes are on the rise in Missouri and particularly in the Springfield-Branson area, according to Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. Carnahan is warning Missourians to be wary of real estate investments because of a recent increase in complaints to the Missouri Securities Division. The division has 12 open investigations and ongoing administrative actions regarding schemes occurring across the state. Officials cite the downturn in the housing market and concerns in the subprime lending market. Complaints have been filed about time shares, mortgages, nonexistent commercial properties and fraudulent real estate investments offered and sold by unregistered individuals. Scams have included individuals offering fellow church members a fake opportunity to make a fortune in house flipping, a Springfield couple allegedly selling a 50 percent ownership interest in the same property to six different investors and an unregistered individual enticing a Missouri resident to invest more than $250,000 in nonexistent commercial real estate and spending the investment on personal expenses. Carnahan’s warning comes on the heels of the FBI’s ongoing investigations into Springfield-area mortgage fraud, which officials also say is on the rise. Alleged schemes have involved disproportionately high list prices in some subdivisions and a surge in foreclosures.

Carnahan’s office offers a toll-free hotline for investors and other individuals to file complaints; the number is (800) 721-7996.

Eyeing 100,000 Jobs

Gov. Matt Blunt visited Springfield’s Jordan Valley Innovation Center on April 21 to announce more than 90,000 jobs that have been created in Missouri in just more than two years. New employment figures show 93,000 jobs created since January 2005. About 10,800 of those new jobs came in March, when several industries saw employment gains: 3,500 construction jobs; 2,400 professional and business services jobs; 1,200 retail jobs; 800 wholesale jobs; 1,000 financial jobs; and 800 leisure and hospitality jobs.