Southwest Missouri News

Tax workshop for employers scheduled

An employer tax workshop will be held 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Division of Family Services in Branson.

The Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Deptartment of Labor, the Missouri Deptartment of Revenue and Division of Employment Security-Employer Contributions Section and the Social Security Administration will present the seminar.

For more information about the workshop, call Vonda Olson at 334-4156. There is a $5 fee.

Chamber's Before Hours set for Oct. 12

The Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its Business Before Hours at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 12 at the Show Me School of Trade at the Market Place Center near Branson.

The event's topic will be "Investments for the New Millennium."

Coles open shop in Factory Merchants Mall

Country Clutter Gifts, Collectibles & Home D?cor opened Sept. 25 at the Factory Merchants Mall in Branson.

Country Clutter is part of a growing franchise system by Country Visions, with 45 stores in operation and 12 more stores to open across the country in the next eight months, according to Janet Cole. She co-owns the Branson store with her husband, Michael.

Cole said the gift shop, with 2,600 square feet of retail space, will carry more than 3,000 different gifts and decorating ideas including such product lines as Boyds Bears, Village and Lang candles, David Frykman collectibles, fireman and policeman figurines, pottery and tapestries.

She said the business is a family venture which includes her daughter, who works there full-time with two other employees. Store hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.

Lodging group meets on workers' comp

Branson/Lakes Area Lodging Association will meet at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 12.

Members and guests will first tour Mountain Man Fruit & Nut Company, sponsor of the meeting.

Lunch will follow at the Branson Dance Barn. Both of the businesses are located at Factory Shoppes at Branson Meadows.

The program for the lunch will be "Detecting and Preventing Workers' Compensation Fraud," presented by Patrick Cary of Fremont Compensation Insurance of St. Louis.

Walton Theatre dedicated at Southern

Missouri Southern State College dedicated its new Bud Walton Theatre Sept. 28. The "black box" theater resembles just that and seats 250. It is designed to put the audience near the stage.

The 5,000-square-foot auditorium features sound equipment, seating and staging that can be moved around to suit the needs of each production. This building replaces the Barn Theatre, which was destroyed by fire nine years ago.

The theater is named after the late James L. "Bud" Walton, a member of the Walton family that founded Wal-Mart stores. Members of the Walton family, which made a significant contribution to the theater's construction, were on hand for the dedication.

Commerce names new officers for bank

Fred Osborn has been named president and chief executive officer of Commerce Bank in Joplin.

Osborn is a former president of Citizens National Bank of Independence, Kan., which recently merged with Commerce.

Dale Blanchard has been named chairman and chief credit officer of Commerce Bank. He will oversee lending and credit administration functions of the bank.

Konrad Heid has been named chairman emeritus, and will assist with business development and serve on the bank's board of directors.

Joplin area unemployment down

State unemployment figures showed the Joplin jobless rate at 3.9 percent in August. That's down from the 4.1 percent rate in July and also below the 4.6 percent unemployment for the area recorded in August 1998.

Brown Complex opens at Crowder

Dedication ceremonies were held Sept. 29 at the R. L. "Bob" and Ethel Brown Residence Complex at Crowder College.

The complex consists of 12 housing units, each of which houses 12 students. Students share a living and dining area and bathrooms.

Each unit has access to the college's computer network, which allows 24-hour access to Crowder's library, e-mail and Internet resources.

Kent Farnsworth, college president, noted that this is a milestone for the college.

"We've always wanted residential living to be part of the student learning experience at Crowder."

Bob and Mary Wright of Dallas, Texas, donated $500,000 toward construction of the dorms. Mary Wright is a daughter of Bob and Ethel Brown and grew up on her family's farm here before it was taken by the government to create Camp Crowder in 1941.

Atwood purchases vacant Wal-Mart

The vacant Wal-Mart building on South Madison Avenue has been purchased by Atwood Distributing Inc., based in Enid, Okla. Atwood's is a chain of farm and garden stores.

Brian Atwood, vice president of the family-owned business, said he was amazed and pleased at the volume of traffic at this location. The Wal-Mart was vacated when the retailer moved into its new 151,000-square-foot store a half mile north.

Atwood's carries tools, hardware, work wear such as overalls and boots, hydraulic and tillage equipment, animal and pet feed, brush hogs and automotive equipment.

Plans call for opening the store around Nov. 1.

The typical Atwood's employs about 50 full- and part-time workers. This will be the company's 15th store and the first one in Missouri. The others are located in Oklahoma, except for one in Fort Smith, Ark.