Southwest Missouri News

Branson

City wins motorcoach travel awards

For the eighth straight year, the American Bus Association has named Branson the Best All-Round City for Motorcoach Travel. In February 2002, at the American Bus Marketplace, more than 220 respondents voted for their favorites in several categories. Branson also earned the first position in two other areas and was within the top three in two additional categories.

Branson took top honors as the Destination with the Best Value for Money Spent and the City/Area That Works Hardest to Accommodate Group Tours. Branson was second only to Broadway shows for the Best Theater/ Entertainment for Groups and was third as the Hottest Up-and-Coming Destina-tion for Groups.

"Taking this honor year after year is a great testament to the entire Branson community," said Jim Langham, chairman of the Branson Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors. "This accolade could not happen without the collective effort of all who provide such great service to the group tour planners and participants."

In terms of trends, the fastest growing type of activity for groups is gaming, followed by soft adventure and in a tie for third place, interactive/hand-on activities and dinner shows/live performance.

"Branson truly has the attributes in both the soft adventure and live performance areas to continue to appeal to the group travel market for years to come," Langham added. "It's certainly within our best interests to continue to work with the group tour industry to ensure the needs of its evolving customer base are met."

The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB is among several properties in the Branson lakes community that participates in major group travel trade shows as the American Bus Association and National Tour Associa-tion annual conferences and additional shows as appropriate.

Branson was also recently voted the No. 1 motorcoach destination of the decade by the National Motorcoach Network.

Joplin

Drink producer to add 40 new jobs

A Joplin producer of soy and milk-based health drinks has announced plans to add more than 40 new jobs over the next few months. Jasper Products LLC recently completed the addition of three production lines to produce beverage products for several major national food companies.

The three new lines double the plant's capacity and allow for production of Aspetic and Extended Shelf Life nutritional beverage products.

"We are pleased to be working with several large, branded food companies to produce products that have great growth potential," said Ken Haubein, president of Jasper Products. "To meet this demand, we will need to expand our employment from the current 160 people to more than 200 by this fall."

Products to be produced on the lines include dairy milk, soymilk and nutritional beverages.

The state-of-the-art production techniques utilized by Jasper will allow the beverages to stay fresh for a period of time ranging from three to 12 months after production.

Monett

Jack Henry names new president

Computer services company Jack Henry & Associates Inc. has named Chief Operating Officer Jack Prim to replace Terry Thompson as president when Thompson retires at the end of the year.

Tony Wormington, currently general manager of technology services, will take the chief operating officer job when Prim is promoted, the company said.

Thompson joined Jack Henry in 1990 as chief financial officer and was promoted to president in 2000. Thompson said he is leaving to spend more time with his family and on personal interests.

Webb City

Farmers' market opens

The opening day at the Webb City Farmers' Market was a celebration for the entire town.

Mayor Glenn Dolence served grilled hotdogs to more than 300 customers, while 13 vendors hawked freshly harvested spring produce, baked goods, perennials, flowers, vegetable plants, herbs, eggs and meat.

Produce currently at the market includes leaf lettuce, spinach, broccoli, green onions, red and white radishes, peas and strawberries.

Market hours have been expanded for this season.

The market which is located under the pavilions at the entrance to King Jack Park at Main and MacArthur will be open from noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays.