Southwest Missouri News

Branson

Board of Realtors celebrates 50 years

Members of the Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors were scheduled to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their organization May 14 with the burial of a time capsule.

According to Bob Huels, president of the Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors, the time capsule will stay underground for the next 50 years.

"We'll try to provide a snapshot of the local real estate industry today in the capsule," Huels said in a news release. "Our business, like most others, is changing rapidly because of technology. I'm sure the Realtors who open the time capsule in 2049 will get a chuckle at how primitive we were."

Last year, the Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors became the first board in the country to have both the national and state president in the same year.

R. Layne Morrill, of Shepherd of the Hills Realtors, was president of the National Association of Realtors while Duane H. Gerken, of Century 21 & Associates, was the top elected official of the Missouri Association of Realtors.

Robert D. Pollock, association executive of the Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors, has just returned from the 1999 Joint Association Executives Institute conducted by the National Association of Realtors and the Canadian Real Estate Association.

More than 800 board members and executives attended the training April 30-May 4 in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

Stone, Taney unemployment tops 16%

Branson Job Service reported that the unemployment rate for Stone County was 16.2 percent, and it was 16.3 percent for Taney County for February. The state unemployment rate was 3.1 percent for the same month.

Chateau site of Midwest Hospitality Expo

The fourth annual Midwest Hospitality Expo 1999 will be held Aug. 24 at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson.

According to the Branson/Lakes Area Lodging Association, host of the event, the Expo is open to all tourism-related businesses.

Bill Fisher, president of the American Hotel and Motel Association, will be the guest speaker for the luncheon at the expo. Vendor space and sponsorships are available by calling the lodging association at 332-1400.

Mayor supports phosphorus limitations

Branson Mayor Lou Schaefer sent a letter to the Missouri Clean Water Commission May 7 supporting proposed limits to the amount of phosphorus that can be discharged into waterways that feed into Table Rock Lake.

In his letter, Schaefer commended the commission for the proposed amendment stating: "Statistics from the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce indicate that 24 percent of the visitors to the area specifically visit to fish, boat or participate in other lake activities. That translates to 1.5 million people.

"Clearly a significant portion of the economy of the Branson area is directly related to the health of our lakes. And, as the third largest source of sales tax in the state, a healthy economy for the Branson and surrounding lakes area translates to a healthy cash flow into Jefferson City."

Standard Transportation adds warehouse

Standard Transportation Services Inc. has bought the last spec shell building in the 200-acre Joplin-Webb City Industrial Park.

Geoff Roberts, co-owner and vice president of the transportation company, said the 105,000-square-foot building will be used for warehouse space.

The company has also taken an option on 10 acres in the Crossroads Center Business and Distribution Park being developed at Interstate 44 and U.S. Highway 71.

This last spec building, completed in 1998, was built under the direction of the Joplin Business and Industrial Development Corp.

Rob O'Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, said the availability of immediate buildings often means the difference between attracting industry to Joplin or losing out to other cities.

The shell building program has resulted in a dozen companies moving to or expanding in the city and has led to more than 1,100 jobs, he said.

The buildings are steel structures and cost about $10 per square foot to build. They are called shell buildings because the inside is empty, allowing buyers to set up their own production lines and equipment.

A group of 150 local investors finances the buildings.

Two more shell buildings are in the works and should be under way by this summer.

The first will be more than 100,000 square feet and located at the Crossroads Center Business and Distribution Park and the other spec building will be about 20,000 to 25,000 square feet in the aviation park near the Joplin Regional Airport.[[In-content Ad]]