Southwest Missouri News

Branson

Study shows park usage

According to a release from the city of Branson, a recent survey of city parks and recreation participants shows that during the 2001 youth baseball and softball programs, only 27 percent of the participants were Branson residents.

The remaining 73 percent came from outside the city, outside the county or even outside the state.

The study reinforced what city officials had determined from past studies: Branson park programs are serving a significantly larger region than the immediate Branson area.

In other parks news, a new park acquired earlier this year was named John Nygard Memorial Park in memory of former Alderman John Nygard.

Nygard, who also served on the Planning and Zoning Commission, died in May.

The new park is located at the old Branson Primary School, 611 South St.

City seeks residential plan

Branson's Planning and Development Department is proposing a change in the Municipal Code that would encourage residential development inside the city by easing the restrictions on landscaping for single-family homes.

The ordinance would eliminate the requirements for bonding and tree deposits on single-family developments, which would ease the financial burden on developers and therefore lower the price of homes.

City staff will continue to look at changes that support more affordable single-family home development. Only 14 percent of the zoned property in Branson is single-family residential.

Goodman

USDA approves Hunte loan

The United States Department of Agriculture has approved a $900,000 guaranteed rural development loan to allow the Hunte Corporation, a breeder of dogs, the funds to purchase equipment, restructure debt and provide working capital for expansion.

"The dog breeding industry has suffered a black eye in recent years, but we are out to change that image by putting animals first and ensuring they get the best humane professional treatment," said Gina Hunte, co-owner of Hunte Corporation.

The Hunte Corporation operations in Goodman include more than 150 employees under the direction of six veterinarians. The dogs are housed in a 30,000-square-foot building that is climate and odor controlled. The operation is federally and state inspected.

"We added 18 employees this year and we hope to keep expanding," Hunte said. "We want to be the educators of the industry. We are committed to excellence."

Jasper County

Commission awards grants

The Missouri Veterans Commission has awarded grants to two Jasper County towns to help renovate and maintain veterans' memorials.

Joplin received a grant of $168,765 for renovation for the city's Memorial Hall, while Carthage was awarded $234,381 for renovation of that city's Memorial Hall.

The Veterans Commission issues matching grants from its Capital Improvement Trust Fund for the construction or renovation of facilities dedicated as veterans' memorials in the state, which commemorate the actions and sacrifices made by Missouri veterans on behalf of their country.

Joplin

Southern Union sells assets

Southern Union Co. has announced the sale of most assets of the subsidiaries of ProvEnergy Oil Enterprises Inc. to Star Gas Partners LP of Stamford, Conn.

ProvEnergy Oil is a Rhode Island-based, wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Union, acquired last year with the acquisitions of ProvEnergy Corp., Valley Re-sources Inc. and Fall River Gas Co.

Southern Union is the parent company of Missouri Gas Energy, which provides natural gas to residential customers in Joplin and elsewhere in Missouri.

BerryDirect closing ends jobs

A Joplin company has plans to shut its doors, leaving 103 people without jobs.

Work reductions have already begun at BerryDirect and are expected to be completed by Nov. 30.

"The current economic climate, which has gripped the country, has worsened and unfortunately we at BerryDirect are not immune from the deepening impact," company officials said in a statement released on Sept. 5.

BerryDirect is a subsidiary of The Berry Co., which is owned by BellSouth, based in Atlanta.

BellSouth is one of America's largest companies, with $26 billion in revenue last year.

BerryDirect's Joplin employees primarily made business-to-business calls. Most of the work will be moved to a call center at the company's headquarters in Nacogdo-ches, Texas.

Mount Vernon

KC firm to build Vets Home

A Kansas City construction company, Building Construction Enterprises, has been awarded a $17.3 million contract to build the new Missouri Veterans Home in Mount Vernon.

Construction is expected to take two years, with completion scheduled for May 2003.

The state veterans' home now shares a campus with the Missouri Rehabilitation Center and the Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic.

Neosho

Twin Rivers adding 200 jobs

Twin Rivers Food officials have an-nounced plans to add 200 jobs at its Neosho plant.

The company intends to add another production line, and plant renovations have already begun to accommodate the additional line. The new line will consist of further processing of poultry meat and the development of some quick-frozen products. Plant officials also want to enlarge its deboning capacity.

Neosho's Twin River plant currently employs approximately 500 workers. In 2000, Twin Rivers purchased the Neosho facility from Tyson Foods.