St. Louis Better Business Bureau absorbs local office

The St. Louis Better Business Bureau absorbed the nonprofit organization’s southwest Missouri office covering 24 counties.

The southwest Missouri BBB’s office remains in Springfield, where staff members are staying on board led by Regional Director Jon Anfinson. The office’s coverage area includes the Queen City, Branson and Joplin, according to a news release. Terms were not disclosed.

“Efficiency gains and cost consolidations resulting from the merger will mean technological advancements that ultimately will mean more and improved services throughout our region,” St. Louis BBB board Chairman Michael Rottler said in the release.

Combined with the southwest Missouri regional office, the St. Louis BBB covers 166 counties and is now the seventh-largest BBB service territory out of 103 in North America. Approved by the boards of directors for both territories and their accredited businesses, the St. Louis BBB now has 9,000 accredited businesses. That puts the territory in the same league with Chicago and slightly below Boston and Washington, D.C. The southwest Missouri office has 1,504 accredited businesses.

The Springfield office joins the St. Louis BBB’s other regional locations in Columbia and Cape Girardeau, as well as Quincy, Illinois, according to the release.

The BBB provides reviews and complaints, as well as other information on area businesses. To maintain accreditation with the BBB, businesses must respond to the organization’s requests regarding patterns of complaints and advertising matters and are expected to respond to consumer problems. Members pay a monthly fee depending how many employees they have.

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