CEO Magazine

airport

Columbia’s New Airport Terminal Lifts The Community’s Image

Photos by Ava Kitzi Here’s a travel tip for anyone who hasn’t been to the Columbia Regional Airport recently. It’s time to give it a second look and a second chance. Since its official opening, a year and a half ago, the new terminal is proving itself a welcome upgrade that makes traveling more of […]

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Experts Address Infrastructure Challenges and Affordable Housing

Photos by L.G. Patterson When people think of affordable housing, they don’t usually think of housing for middle-class families looking for a starter home. However, this is a growing issue since purchasing or constructing a home poses financial challenges for families and local businesses, attributed to factors such as interest rates, land costs, building supply […]

Kip Kendrick, Jessica Kempf and Randy Cole during the CEO Roundtable luncheon.

Local Leaders Discuss Affordable Housing, Homelessness

Photos by L.G. Patterson Finding affordable housing in mid-Missouri can be a real challenge. But it’s not an issue that’s unique to the Columbia area. Across the country, communities of all different sizes are grappling with a shortage of affordable housing. And when that is lacking, it ripples out and affects other issues, including homelessness, workforce […]

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Leading with Integrity: Former Mizzou Quarterback Cheers Others On

Photos by L.G. Patterson After his final game as a University of Missouri quarterback, Alex Demczak started the exciting part of his life. Leaving behind the roaring crowds, the game he loved and the thrill of being on an SEC-winning team, he girded him- self for greater challenges ahead of him. Today, at age 31, […]

Paytient founder Brian Whorley developed the concept for Health Payment Accounts after a decade in hospital finance.

Columbia-Based Startup Takes the Sting Out of High Deductibles

Photo by Scott Schaefer Like most employers, Angy Littrell was faced with a difficult choice. Littrell, CEO of Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Missouri, wanted to offer a robust benefits package that would help attract and retain highly qualified employees, but any new offerings had to be fiscally smart for the business. “Recruitment and retention are […]

ceo cacc

New Career Center Position Focuses on Industry Engagement

Photos by Ava Kitzi The Columbia Area Career Center has always sought to better prepare and train students for the careers available to them after graduation. And with the creation of a new position this year, that mission is being taken one step further. Stacy Elsbury is the new business and industry engagement coordinator at […]

Arden Walker

How Every True Tiger Foundation Builds Opportunities for MU Athletes

Photos by L.G. Patterson On a recent afternoon, Nick Garner, CEO of Every True Tiger Foundation (ETTF), sits in his office, a couple miles from the University of Missouri—Columbia campus, talking with potential donors, introducing them to the organization and asking them to support the foundation. Already in the first month, several major groups have gotten […]

CEO Roundtable

How Defining Columbia’s Identity May Be Key To Future Growth

Photos by L.G. Patterson As the Columbia area continues to grow, business leaders are looking to better define the community and find a common vision for what’s needed to move forward. Inside Columbia Publisher Emeritus Fred Parry and Zimmer Communications General Manager Carla Leible hosted a CEO Roundtable luncheon with 12 local young entrepreneurs and business […]

Ranken CEO

New Workforce Development Center to Open This Fall

The construction of Ranken Technical College’s new 21,000-square-foot Workforce Development Center at the southeast edge of the U.S. 63 Ashland overpass is progressing on target. When Ranken opens its doors this fall, the college hopes to attract students from six mid-Missouri counties who will begin learning skills needed to qualify for high-demand jobs. Ranken will […]

Midway golf

Construction Continues On TopTracer: Midway Golf & Games Expanding

Columbians can be swinging their clubs at the area’s newest TopTracer complex as soon as July, Taylor Burks, president of Rost Inc., says. “Little Dixie Construction’s been keeping us close to our target. We should be ready for a grand opening in early July,” Burks says. Rost Inc includes Rost Landscaping, Superior Garden Center, Superior […]

Johnny Johnson

A Positive Attitude is Always in Style at IV Ever Faded Grooming Salon

Photos by L.G. Patterson Tucked into an office building off Vandiver Drive, Johnny Johnson and his partner, Robert Bell, are quietly growing a business that offers good looks, good grooming and a positive attitude for their clients. About four months ago, they started IV (pronounced as the Roman numeral 4) Ever Faded Grooming Salon, a […]

Susan Schapira at the Rocheport General Store

Susan Schapira Takes Over Rocheport General Store

Photos by L.G. Patterson In June, Susan Schapira took over the Rocheport General Store as owner from Diane Dunn and John Zondca. She’s doing something she loves: cooking for the residents and visitors of Rocheport. Rocheport is where Schapira raised her kids and co-owned Abigails restaurant for many years. She started preparing food at the […]

Josh Johnson and Nicholas Peña of Fibersmith

Fibersmith Leaps Across the Digital Divide

Photos by L.G. Patterson Fibersmith, a Columbia-based company with a national impact and reputation, has been too busy growing to develop the prominent profile it deserves in the mid-Missouri business community. That hasn’t stopped it from making the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies for the past three years. Or the […]

CEO Roundtable

Planning for Long-Term Growth

Photos by L.G. Patterson Though Columbia and Boone County have typically seen steady growth over the years, local financial experts discussed ways to improve the area’s economy and stimulate large, long-term growth. Supporting startup companies, developing a community vision and enticing a young workforce to stay in Columbia after graduation were all topics on which […]

CEO Roundtable

A New Vision

The Columbia business community has had its share of struggles in the past few years. The global pandemic strained existing issues and created new ones, from supply chain problems to struggling to attract and retain workers.  Inside Columbia Publisher Emeritus Fred Parry hosted a CEO Roundtable at Zimmer Communications with 11 local business, civic and […]

Port 131

Port 131 Progresses

Photos by L.G. Patterson Ali Hamrah enters a room casually, wearing the polished and cordial demeanor of a host. It’s a look that he’s had more than 40 years to perfect. Greg DeLine hurries in, the model of a brisk, energetic CEO. Compatible yet different, they share an entrepreneurial spirit and will next year open […]

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Three Women Find Their Start-Up Niches

Photos by L.G. Patterson Over the past 15 years, women-owned firms have grown by one and a half times the rate of other small enterprises and now account for almost 30 percent of all businesses, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  These three local entrepreneurs are joining the growing numbers of female-led businesses. Emma […]

Laura Thomas

Laura Thomas Begins Journey As Boone Health System’s CFO

Photos by L.G. Patterson Since moving to Columbia five months ago to become vice president and chief financial officer at Boone Health System, Laura Thomas hasn’t had much time for leisure reading. For an avid reader of mysteries and popular novels, that says a lot about how much time and energy it takes to learn […]

Troy Greer, Matt Williams, Caleb Colbert and Dianne Lynch

Addressing Columbia’s Assets

While most people know that the University of Missouri is the largest employer in Columbia, participants at the most recent CEO Roundtable took the importance of the education sector a step further. According to the 11 attendees, education is the most vital thing to improving Columbia’s future. But, the roundtable participants said, education doesn’t only […]

Mike Alden

More Than Good Sports

Former University of Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden and Rockie, his wife, have moved on. Although Columbia remains their home and they still live within walking distance of the Mizzou Arena, they live their lives in a far larger arena. They’re the same approachable couple, unaffected by their years as university celebrities. Anchored to Columbia […]