Inside Columbia's CEO Spring 2016 by Inside Columbia Magazine

STORYTELLER

Sarah Hill Draws Inspiration From A Passionate Cause

STARTUP STRATEGY

Bill Turpin Takes Over At The MU Life Science Business Incubator

SPRING 2016

www.ColumbiaCEO.com

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

CONTENTS

Inside Columbia’s CEO • www.ColumbiaCEO.com • Volume 7, Issue 3

Opening Bell: The Buzz On CoMo Biz

Torchbearer: Carol Miller Blazes A Trail

Up & Coming: The Ladder Report

Shopping: It’s Trade Show Season!

Data Bank: Payroll Costs

CEO At Play: 3 Questions

The Conference Room: Need-ToKnow Changes In Obamacare For 2016

55 Networking 57

Publisher’s Note

Inspiration: Eyes On Freight Accelerates Into The Fast Lane

Closing Quotes

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Pakity Taps Into The Hiking Market

The Reading List: 5 Business Books To Read This Spring

Wheels: CoMo’s Shifting Auto Scene

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

21 on the cover: CEO Charles Oglesby is

settling in at Joe Machens Dealerships. Oglesby arrived in Columbia last fall to run the Machens operation after its purchase by McLarty Automotive Group. Read more about Columbia’s shifting auto market on Page 36.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

STAFF Publisher Fred Parry fred@insidecolumbia.net Associate Publisher Melody Parry melody@insidecolumbia.net Chief Executive Officer Cathy Atkins catkins@insidecolumbia.net Managing Editor Kathy Casteel kathy@insidecolumbia.net Editorial Assistant Peg Gill peg@insidecolumbia.net Contributing Writers Kate Hrdina, Porcshe Moran Photo Editor L.G. Patterson lg@insidecolumbia.net Graphic Designers Trever Griswold trever@insidecolumbia.net Joe Waner joewaner@insidecolumbia.net Operations Manager Kalie Clennin kalie@insidecolumbia.net Operations Assistant Lilly Smith lilly@insidecolumbia.net Marketing Representatives Rosemarie Peck rosemarie@insidecolumbia.net Sean Zullo sean@insidecolumbia.net Director of Customer Retention Gerri Shelton gerri@insidecolumbia.net Finance Manager Brenda Brooks brenda@insidecolumbia.net Distribution Manager John Lapsley

Inside Columbia’s CEO magazine 47 E. Broadway • Columbia, MO 65203

Office: 573-442-1430 • Web: www.ColumbiaCEO.com Inside Columbia’s CEO is published quarterly by OutFront Communications LLC, 47 E. Broadway, Columbia, Mo. 65203, 573-442-1430. Copyright OutFront Communications, 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Postage paid at Columbia, Mo. The annual subscription rate is $19.95 for four issues.

Please Recycle This Magazine.

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

OPENING BELL

THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

photo by L.G. PATTERSON

CHARGE IT The Holiday Inn Columbia-East has become a popular way station for Tesla drivers since the luxury electric-car company opened a Supercharger station at the hotel last September. At least three or four people stop there every day to charge their cars, says Scott DeYoung, sales manager at Holiday Inn Columbia-East. The station 10

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

at 915 Port Way has eight superchargers, available 24 hours a day for free use by Tesla owners. The Columbia station is one of three in Missouri; others are in St. Charles and Independence. Superchargers are proprietary, direct-current fast-charging stations that can provide up to 135 kilowatts of power, good for an additional 170

miles with a 30-minute charge, the company claims. DeYoung says it takes 40 minutes to get to an 80 percent charge and 75 minutes to fully charge. The hotel offers exclusive discounts for Tesla drivers who use the station, including room rates and the on-site restaurant. “All they have to do is show their key,” DeYoung says.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

OPENING BELL

THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

S&P Downgrades Outlook For UM System’s Credit Standard & Poor’s downgraded its outlook on the University of Missouri system’s credit rating from stable to negative in late January. The credit rating agency noted that the ratio of available resources to debt may not be consistent with the system’s AA+ rating. S&P also cited changes in senior management as reasons for a potential decrease in enrollment, which could add to short-term revenue pressures. University President Tim Wolfe and Columbia Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin both resigned on Nov. 9 after weeks of protests on the Columbia campus.

ARTIST’S RENDERING

Columbia College Begins Quad Construction Columbia College broke ground in February on a new project that will transform the heart of the campus into a studentcentric quad. Located north of historic St. Clair Hall and south of Brown and Buchanan Halls, the expansive space will feature an amphitheater for classes, student presentations and performances; a zero-entry fountain; the Christian College garden; and a new, centrally located campus safety office. Portions of the area will be paved with engraved bricks, which the college is selling to help support the project. Reinhardt Construction will complete the project by the fall of 2016.

Boone Hospital Center Opens Nifong Medical Plaza Boone Hospital Center officials cut the ribbon on its new Nifong Medical Plaza Feb. 8, an 80,000-square-foot medical services building at Nifong and Forum boulevards. The building houses Boone Medical Group-South, plus a convenient care center, imaging services, therapy, laboratories and a pharmacy. Coil Construction served as general contractor. In January, Boone Hospital opened its new $12.2 million surgical suite at the hospital’s main campus on William Street. The facility includes three cardiovascular operating rooms, including a hybrid room equipped with an advanced medical imaging device that allows diagnostic imaging during complex surgical procedures. Reinhardt Construction built the 6,000-square-foot space. 12

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

MFA Oil Expands Deeper Into Western Markets MFA Oil Co. has acquired two more fuel dealers, strengthening its foothold on markets in Oklahoma and Kansas. In January, the farmer-owned cooperative acquired R&S Propane Inc., a propane supplier based in Dibble, Okla. The acquisition strengthens MFA Oil’s position in central Oklahoma. “This purchase gives us a good entry point into the nearby Norman and Oklahoma City markets and fits well with our existing operations in Oklahoma,” says Mark Fenner, MFA Oil president and CEO. The cooperative followed up in February with the purchase of S&S Oil and Propane Co. Inc., a propane, refined fuels and lubricants retailer based in Emporia, Kan. The deal includes 17 propane storage facilities, five bulk fuel storage facilities, five card-refueling locations and an office in Emporia. S&S brings an additional 5.2 million gallons of annual propane sales and 5.1 million gallons of annual refined fuel sales into the MFA Oil fold. Headquartered in Columbia, MFA Oil is the seventh-largest propane retailer in the United States.

MU Offers Risk Management & Insurance Certificate The Missouri Coordinating Board for Higher Education has approved a new undergraduate certificate in risk management and insurance awarded by the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. University of Missouri students who complete the 15-credit-hour concentration will receive the certificate, which will be noted on their transcripts. The business school launched the academic program in 2013 to help fill an expected 400,000 positions in risk management and insurance by 2020.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

OPENING BELL

THE BUZZ ON COMO BIZ

BRIEFLY … u Fortune magazine has ranked VETERANS UNITED HOME LOANS

No. 4 on its list of the 50 Best Workplaces for Camaraderie. Founded in 2002 by Brock and Brant Bukowsky, the Columbiabased lender employs 1,745 nationwide. u BUR OAK BREWING CO. has expanded into the Chicago market.

The local craft brewer launched Boone County Brown, Lily and Big Tree IPA in the Windy City late last year. According to company President Craig Stichter, Bur Oak is the first Columbia brewery to sell its products in Chicago. u BRIGHTSTAR CARE OF MID-MISSOURI received the 2015 Rookie

SEMCO PRESIDENT AND CEO TREVOR YOUNG (LEFT) AT THE AHR EXPO WITH JOHN FISCHER (RIGHT), SEMCO DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

SEMCO Wins A Pair Of AHR Innovation Awards SEMCO LLC of Columbia won Innovation Awards in two categories in January at the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition in Orlando. SEMCO’s Ascendant Series took top honors in the Indoor Air Quality category. The desiccant hybrid system provides conventional cooling and dehumidification for commercial applications at 50 to 75 percent greater efficiency. The company’s Neuton controlled chilled-beam pump module won the Plumbing category. The Neuton is the industry’s first smart, plug-and-play proactive condensation control device for active chilled beams, promising easier installation and affordability for building projects. The annual awards competition honors the most inventive and original products, systems and technologies showcased at each year’s AHR Expo.

StorageMart Adds Facilities

StorageMart has purchased facilities in Blue Springs, Omaha and Ankeny, Iowa. The acquisition adds 57,381 square feet of storage space and 2,690 units to the self-storage company’s portfolio, which includes 18 stores in the Des Moines storage market, 37 in greater Kansas City and four in Omaha. Founded in 1999, Columbia-based StorageMart is one of the largest privately owned storage companies in North America, operating more than 165 facilities in the United States and Canada.

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

of the Year title and the Customer Satisfaction Award at the homecare and medical staffing company’s annual owners meeting in Nashville. The company recognized Matthew and Kristine Hayes, owners of the local BrightStar franchise, for their top customer satisfaction score and tremendous first-year sales. u COLUMBIA COLLEGE has opened an advising center at the

Columbia location of MOBERLY AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE in Parkade Center. The college also now offers upper-level coursework to MACC students at Parkade Center for those interested in earning a bachelor’s degree in business or general studies. u AIR MASTERS CORP. of Columbia rebranded in January as

INTEGRATED FACILITY SERVICES, the name of its corporate holding company in St. Louis. The move is part of a corporate initiative to better align the company name with the mechanical contractor’s integrated range of facility services including HVAC, plumbing, fire protection, building automation and building security systems. Engineering News Record named IFS a 2015 Midwest Top 50 Specialty Contractor. u LOGBOAT BREWING CO. has announced plans to double

production in the next year. According to co-owner Tyson Hunt, the increased output will fuel the local craft brewer’s expansion into the St. Louis market this spring. u THE BANK OF MISSOURI is now offering Apple Pay to its

customers. The fast, secure payment method requires an Apple iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus and a Bank of Missouri debit card. u Keystone Insurers Group has added HARRISON AGENCY INC.

in Columbia to its network of independent partner agencies in Missouri. The Harrison Agency, which opened in 1985, serves Columbia, Jefferson City and surrounding regions, specializing in personal and small-business insurance.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

OPENING BELL

UP & COMING

THE LADDER REPORT Look Who’s Moving Up In Business COLUMBIA COLLEGE has named three founding deans who will lead the college’s three new academic schools formed when the college’s board of trustees approved President Scott Dalrymple’s restructuring plan. DAVID ROEBUCK, a professor of political science at Columbia College, is the new dean of the college’s School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences. SHANDA TRAISER, currently the director of strategic planning at Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, N.D., will become dean of the School of Business Administration. SARAH VORDTRIEDEPATTON, currently serving as interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, will lead the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics. The new structure will take effect in the fall of 2016.

DAVE GRIGGS, owner of DAVE GRIGGS’ FLOORING AMERICA, has been named chairman of the state Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Business. The Leadership Council is an advisory board that assists the 16

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

association in developing strategies to support small businesses throughout Missouri. NFIB/Missouri represents more than 8,000 member businesses in the state. Griggs’ flooring company, founded in 1975, became an NFIB member business in 1991.

JONATHAN CURTRIGHT joined UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI HEALTH CARE as chief operating officer in February. Curtright will be responsible for all acute and ambulatory care operations of MU Health Care, as well as professional and support services. He succeeds Mitch Wasden, who has served as both chief executive officer and chief operating officer of MU Health Care since January 2013. Curtright comes to Columbia from Indiana University Health, where he served as chief operating officer since 2013. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance, a master’s degree in health administration and an MBA, all from the University of Missouri.

PROVIDENCE BANK has named CRAIG MEYER vice president, commercial banking officer. Meyer, who has more than 20 years’ banking and lending experience, will be responsible for originating commercial loans in Boone County and surrounding areas. A University of Missouri graduate, Meyer earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture with an emphasis in agricultural economics. He also holds a Missouri general life insurance license and is a member of the Central Missouri Board of Realtors.

MFA OIL CO. has promoted EDWARD HARPER to vice president of retail automotive. Harper will oversee MFA Oil’s Big O Tires and Jiffy Lube operations in addition to the company’s construction and maintenance departments. He previously served as director of Jiffy Lube operations, retail construction and maintenance. Harper has been with MFA Oil since 1995.

LANA POOLE has joined WESTMINSTER COLLEGE as vice president and chief communications officer. Her office coordinates all aspects of the college’s strategic communications and marketing, both externally and internally. Poole is the former executive director of marketing at Columbia College.

PATRICE DELAFONTAINE is once again the dean of the UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE. Delafontaine, who served as dean from December 2014 to September 2015, had remained at MU as a faculty member; he was reinstated in February. He previously served as chief of cardiology at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Share your business news with Inside Columbia’s CEO. Email the editor at kathy@insidecolumbia.net.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

OPENING BELL

DATA BANK

COSTS FOR THE BOSS Compensation costs continued to rise for U.S. employers in 2015, up 2 percent for civilian workers over 2014. Since 2005, total compensation costs (wages and salaries, plus benefits) has risen 125.2 percent. In that same period, benefits costs have risen 128.7 percent.

Employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Compensation Costs Breakdown

Wages & Salaries 68.5%

Benefits 31.5%

$50

2015 Average Hourly Cost Of Compensation

$40 0

$30

$20

$10

All Civilian Workers .................. $33.57/hour Private Industry ........................ $31.69/hour State & Local Government ... $45.02/hour

Benefits Costs Breakdown

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Cost Index (ECI excludes compensation for federal employees and members of the U.S. military) 18

INSIDE COLUMBIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CEO

SPRING 2016

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

THE CONFERENCE ROOM

RISK & RETURN

Decoding This Year’s Changes In Insurance Law

Brenda Procter (left), an associate extension professor, has a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in consumer and family economics from the University of Missouri. She served on the MU personal financial planning faculty as a state Extension specialist supporting poverty programming for 23 years, retiring from that role in 2013. Graham McCaulley (right), an assistant extension professor, earned his B.S. in consumer and family economics, and both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in human development and family studies from the University of Missouri. He serves on the MU personal financial planning faculty, supporting family financial education programming statewide.

he rollout of health insurance changes for businesses reaches its peak this year. The Affordable Care Act has frustrated and confused business owners and individuals since it was signed into law in 2010. Each year brings changes that can affect your company’s tax burden and your bottom line. We asked the experts at University of Missouri Extension for advice on how to deal with this year’s changes for businesses. Extension specialists Brenda Procter and Graham McCaulley — leaders of the statewide Health Insurance Education Initiative — have reached nearly a million Missourians with information on Affordable Care Act requirements and options for accessing health insurance. And now, they’re in the conference room, with the answers to our questions.

What are the changes in insurance requirements for businesses for 2016? The implementation of the Affordable Care Act has been staggered for businesses; final transitions take place this year. Employers with 50 to 99 employees previously were exempt from the requirement to offer coverage to employees and their dependents, but that’s not the case this year. Each time we move into a new calendar year, there are price adjustments tied to inflation. The annual in-network out-ofpocket maximum that employers can require employees to pay rose from $6,600 ($13,200 for a family plan) to $6,850 ($13,700 for a family). Grandfathered or transitional plans are exempt from this maximum. Penalties are also rising in 2016 for noncompliance with rules on information reporting to the Internal Revenue Service and to employees.

See IRS Publication 5196, Understanding Employer Reporting Requirements of the Health Care Law, for details on information reporting requirements. Although these 2016 changes were somewhat predictable, a few recent developments were not. One change for 2016 expanded the definition of a “small group” plan to include employer group plans for any business with 100 or fewer full-time and full-time-equivalent employees. Issuers now have less flexibility in setting premiums for their plans. Because small group plans must cover ACAmandated essential health benefits and meet ACA rating requirements, 2016 means a greater number of businesses must now offer plans with ACA-mandated essential health benefits and set rates under ACA rules, even if they are self-insured. Other recent changes reduced ACA requirements for employers. Late 2015 legislation removed the requirement that SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

Size Matters

ILLUSTRATION BY JOE WANER

employers with 200 or more employees must automatically enroll them in coverage while offering employees the chance to opt out. Additionally, the so-called “Cadillac tax,” a 40 percent excise tax on high-premium (but often high-benefit) employer-sponsored plans slated to start in 2018, was pushed back until 2020 to give employers more time to work on finding alternatives.

What should business owners and managers expect in 2016? Throughout the implementation of the ACA, businesses and individuals have experienced changes, time extensions and tweaking of the rules to allow for a transition to new requirements, and in 2013, to make up for 22

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

technological glitches. Given the current political environment in an election year, we expect this to continue. Delays, deadlines and exemptions cannot be predicted but are not unexpected. That is why it is important to stay on top of the law. There is one time extension already for 2016. Late last year, the IRS extended ACA reporting deadlines for the 2015 tax year. Starting this year, employers are required to report health plan information to their employees and the IRS; however, they now have more time to do so. The deadline for sending ACA tax forms to employees is March 31 (form 1095-C). Employers have even more time to get them to the IRS (May 31 for manually filed 1094-Cs and 1095-Cs, June 30 for those electronically filed). Large employers (those with 50 or more full-time

The Affordable Care Act designates different consequences for different-size businesses. The process for calculating business size is tricky. In short, business size is determined by adding full-time employees (those who work 30 or more hours per week) and total number of full-time equivalents (the combination of part-time employee hours that add up to 30 hours). Independent contractors are not included in the calculation and short-term seasonal workers may not be included. Learn more at www.irs.gov. A “small employer” is a business with 1 to 49 full-time employees plus FTEs. Small employers are not required to offer health insurance to employees or their dependents. Employers with 24 or fewer employees may be eligible for a smallbusiness tax credit if they offer coverage through the Small Business Health Options Program online marketplace. Employees of a small business that doesn’t offer health insurance may purchase coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace at www.healthcare.gov. A “large employer” has 50 or more fulltime employees and FTEs. Large employers are subject to the employer mandate — they must offer coverage to at least 95 percent of full-time employees and their dependents up to age 26; spousal coverage is optional. Employees and dependents do not have to enroll in coverage but large employers must make the offer to avoid a penalty. The penalty for not offering coverage is $2,160 per full-time employee, excluding the first 30 full-time employees. The penalty is triggered only if an employee gets health insurance and a premium tax credit through the Health Insurance Marketplace. In 2015, the mandate applied only to employers with 100 or more full-time equivalent employees who had to offer insurance to 70 percent of employees. This year, businesses of 50 or more employees must comply. The law requires employer-sponsored health insurance be affordable (employee’s premium share must be less than 9.66 percent of total household income) and meet a minimum standard of coverage (on average, the plan pays 60 percent of covered health care costs). An employer who offers coverage that doesn’t meet these requirements could face a penalty of $3,240 for each employee who receives a premium tax credit in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

Find Out More

employees, including FTEs) who fail to file their 2015 forms with the IRS or provide the informational returns to employees may be subject to penalties similar to those for not filing W-2 forms.

What is the impact of the Affordable Care Act on businesses? At this early stage, there is little peerreviewed research about the impact of the ACA on businesses and their bottom line. Adjusting to new reporting and recordkeeping requirements may impose some costs, especially initially, but the benefits of the ACA should be balanced against those costs. The picture may not be as bleak as many business owners assume, but it would also be wrong to conclude these changes haven’t caused frustration for employers. An assessment of the overall impact of the ACA on businesses should take into account the number of businesses actually affected. When the mandate kicked in for large employers to offer coverage to employees, 99.2 percent of Missouri’s large employers were already offering health insurance to their employees. Note that, in line with the rest of the country, more than 96 percent of Missouri employers are small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time plus FTE workers, which means that the vast majority of businesses are not affected by the mandate to offer insurance. Has the ACA mandate spurred employers to hire less, fire more, or use more part-time employees to get around 24

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

the law? Recent data doesn’t support this premise. In fact, the unemployment rate has declined to its lowest point in eight years. The percentage of the population working part-time for economic reasons (such as having their hours cut by an employer or only being able to find parttime jobs) has actually been declining since the ACA passed in 2010. Has the ACA made health insurance more affordable? Yes and no. Health insurance premiums have gone up since the ACA was passed; however, historical data shows premiums have been trending up for decades. Some insurers have increased their rates more sharply over the last few years, but the ACA may not always be the reason why — in theory, it should have decreased underwriting costs and administrative costs. Even with the ACA requirement that most insurers pay out 80 cents of every premium dollar they take in on clients’ health care, many have recently reported rising revenue and profits. The ACA contains provisions aimed at making insurance more affordable to small businesses, which have traditionally paid more than big businesses for health insurance because of administrative costs. The SHOP offers small employers increased purchasing power to get higherquality coverage at a lower cost by pooling risk. But the theoretical potential of the SHOP hasn’t panned out yet; few insurers are offering plans and few businesses have bought SHOP plans. A substantial body of research finds that those with health insurance are healthier, less stressed, more financially stable and less likely to die early from preventable

MU Extension’s Health Insurance Education Initiative offers local workshops throughout Missouri to provide politically neutral education to consumers and businesses about the Affordable Care Act and all health insurance options. Visit online at extension.missouri.edu/insure to learn more, see a calendar of events and locate nearby faculty who can answer questions and offer workshops. Other resources include the Small Business Majority website (www.smallbusinessmajority.org), which offers webinars and other information on how the Affordable Care Act affects small business.The Cover Missouri Coalition is a statewide coalition convened by the Missouri Foundation for Health with more than 800 members who meet monthly to share learning and best practices, maximize limited resources, identify challenges and opportunities, and build an inclusive plan to reduce the number of uninsured Missourians. The coalition has produced a number of tools to help consumers and businesses. Learn more at www.covermissouri.org. Procter and McCaulley urge all businesses to critically evaluate ACA information from any source, especially those on the Internet. Most official ACA information is available at www.healthcare.gov. illnesses. This results in a more productive workforce that takes less time off work, which should benefit businesses’ bottom line. Access to health insurance, in theory, should contribute to a healthier workforce. While we won’t have that data for a while, we do know that the uninsured rate has dropped in Missouri and the rest of the nation since the ACA was passed and is now at its lowest point ever.

How has ACA changed since it was first passed in 2010? Some changes to the law have been enacted to extend deadlines to make up for technical glitches and ease the transition for businesses as employer mandates kicked in. The initial open enrollment period was extended

because of early website problems. Aside from clarifications and transition relief over the last few years, major changes revolved around two U.S. Supreme Court challenges. The National Federation of Independent Business challenged the ACA at the Supreme Court in 2012. In NFIB v. Sebelius, the court upheld the bulk of the law, establishing that premium tax credits are legal and the IRS is able to issue subsidies on behalf of those who purchased a plan via the Healthcare.gov website. The ruling did, however, strike down the requirement for states to expand their Medicaid programs, making it optional. The law was challenged again last year at the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell. Last June, the court ruled that subsidies issued in states with a federally facilitated exchange are legal. If the court had ruled against the subsidies, consumers in states that do not operate their own health insurance exchange — including Missouri — would no longer have been eligible for premium tax credits.

Is Missouri’s situation unique?

Like many other states, Missouri chooses to allow the federal government to facilitate Missouri marketplace operations, even though they are specific to Missouri. Missouri does not offer expanded Medicaid as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act. The ACA law aimed to provide Medicaid expansion to cover everyone up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. When the Supreme Court ruled that expansion is optional, several states, including Missouri, opted out. As a result, Missouri has a so-called “Medicaid gap,” which leaves childless adults below the federal poverty level without premium assistance or Medicaid, as well as working parents if they earn more than 18 percent of the federal poverty level (about $3,600 per year). Some disabled adults also fall into the Medicaid gap. However one feels about this highly political issue — and we don’t take a side on it — the effect of the Medicaid gap is likely reflected in the state’s uninsured rate. Since the marketplace opened, Missouri’s uninsured rate has been declining, but it is still higher than the national average or neighboring states that have transformed their Medicaid systems. SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSPIRATION

THE EXPRESS LANE

Eyes On Freight Accelerates Its Path For Growth by KATE HRDINA

ast spring, Chris and Anita Nyenhuis made a business decision that took them 1,900 miles across the map. Their startup, Eyes on Freight, was ready to take off, so they decided to take off for a four-month stay at an accelerator in California’s Bay Area, where innovation rules the day. They’d be moving from Columbia to San Francisco in July.

The Company

Eyes on Freight is a tech platform that matches people and companies globally with logistics and supply-chain providers that best fit their needs, preferences and budget. It’s a logistics and supply chain marketplace. “It’s like Match.com,” says Chris. Each user provides basic information, and Eyes on Freight does the work of finding where needs and budget match up. In an effort to make communication more transparent and direct, Eyes on Freight even allows users to communicate within the platform. “If we do our job right,” Chris says, “we create a good match, and we can have a long-term relationship with both shippers and shipping companies.” As those relationships continue to grow, so does Chris and Anita’s desire to grow the company. That desire met opportunity last spring.

The Offer

At the time, the company had two full-time employees and a team of outsourced software developers. They were working out of the Missouri Innovation Center’s MU Life Science Business Incubator and actively pursuing funding from angel investors. The Nyenhuises had moved the business from Kansas City to Columbia in November 2014. Eyes on Freight was PHOTO BY L.G. PATTERSON 26

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

Chris Nyenhuis describes his business, Eyes on Freight, as “the Match.com of the logistics industry.” in an important stage of growth at this point, and the couple felt the Kansas City entrepreneurial culture wasn’t conducive to moving the company forward. “In KC, there are so many startups going up,” Chris says. “People would say, ‘Oh, you’re just like company X.’ And we’d have to say, ‘No, actually we’re not.’ ” The two 30-somethings came up with the idea for Eyes on Freight in 2012, although they didn’t devote their full time to it until the move to Columbia. Chris, a native of Pretoria, South Africa, has more than eight years’ logistics experience in international

sales and business development. Anita, from Kirksville, has a background in compensation analysis and business, and worked previously with the procurement/ logistics division of a Fortune 500 engineering company. It was AngelList, a website for startups and investors, that really shifted the rest of 2015 for the company. Through AngelList, Eyes on Freight applied to an accelerator in San Francisco called 500 Startups. The seed fund and accelerator, which has locations in San Francisco and Silicon Valley’s Mountain View, was

founded in 2010 by Dave McClure, the former marketing director at PayPal, and Christine Tsai, a former product manager at YouTube and Google. Once Eyes on Freight applied, 500 Startups asked for an interview, and they Skyped the next day. A week later, 500 Startups officially accepted Eyes on Freight into the accelerator. 500 Startups would invest $125,000 in Eyes on Freight for a 5 percent share of the company, and would charge a $25,000 fee for participation in the program. Chris and Anita started planning their move to San Francisco. SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

FOR THE ENTREPRENEUR

Chris and Anita Nyenhuis at Demo Day in the 500 Startups accelerator in San Francisco

The Buffet

The two walked into 814 Mission St. on July 14 for their first day of the 500 Startups accelerator. “They told us on the first day, ‘Think of it as a buffet line — you can get as much or as little as you want out of this,’ ” Chris says. True to form, the accelerator made the entrepreneurs hit the ground running. At the end of their time at 500 Startups, everyone would be pitching their businesses to a room of venture capitalists during “Demo Day.” One of the first welcoming activities brought the group together to pitch their startups and start the editing process. “500 Startups does a great job in constructively tearing your pitch apart and then people like Andrea Barrica help you restructure a much better two-minute pitch for Demo Day,” Anita says. “They start this process early and encourage you to pitch frequently, so by 28

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

the time you get to Demo Day, you have lost your nerves and are so comfortable with your pitch you sound like you’re telling a story, not trying to remember facts about your company.” From there, the weekly schedule was a mixture of presentations, workshops, advising sessions and interaction with the other startups in the program. Once a week, Chris and Anita spent their lunchtime learning from 500 Startups alumni, venture capital investors and other industry leaders (think Uber, Yelp, etc.). The program directors also hosted fireside chats each week, where any question was fair game. To guide the companies through the accelerator, each startup connected with a main point of contact. For Eyes on Freight, it was Entrepreneur in Residence Ed Spiegel, founder of rental marketer RentMineOnline and a former executive with RealPage and DFJ ePlanet Ventures.

Of course, Chris and Anita Nyenhuis learned tactical skills for running their business during their time at the accelerator, but 500 Startups also taught them more about what it means to be a startup today. If you’re looking for an accelerator for your company, Chris says you should be picky. “You’re so trained as a startup to get to the next level, but it’s not always numbers, numbers, numbers,” he says. “Try to find an accelerator that fits your personality.” Once you’ve chosen a program, start prepping. Though it may be tempting to sit back and act like a sponge while you’re learning all that new information, Chris says you have to be an active learner. “Come up with a strategy that can best make use of all the great information and resources you will be exposed to,” he says. “Four months sounds like a lot of time but, in reality, it will fly by and you will be busier than you think and pulled in many directions during the program. Remind yourself that throughout the chaos and experience, you still have to be building a business.” For more information about 500 Startups applications, visit www.500.co. “He was a great resource,” Chris says, “and was always telling us to make sure you make decisions that are best for you and for your business. Don’t let outside factors or influences determine what’s best for you and/or your business.” Since a major focus of 500 Startups is helping the companies develop their marketing and distribution channels, one of the highlights of the accelerator is Marketing Hell Week. A more formalized training than some of the other lessons, participants spend the week diving deep into the topics of social media, outreach, inside/outside sales and more. “We found it very helpful in so many ways,” Anita says. “Some of the brightest and most successful entrepreneurs in the world shared their insight and secrets for success.” As Demo Day grew closer, Chris and Anita leaned more and more on their coaches and colleagues in the program. Barrica — a 500 Startups venture partner and co-founder of inDinero — continued to help them hone their pitch, and Spiegel

helped them draw a tighter focus on their audience for Eyes on Freight. “Ed did a great job in helping us narrow down our focus and build a strategy in our growth model,” Chris says. “Instead of having a large net to attract all types of logistics and supplychain companies, to rather focus on niche market opportunities such as oil, gas and heavy machinery, and then grow from there.” So that’s exactly the kind of company Chris and Anita pitched on Oct. 30, 2015. And what they got out of the experience was one of the most important things for a startup — a path for growth. “Being a Midwest company, we’d previously had limited access to VC firms,” Anita says. “At Demo Day we were exposed to numerous venture capitalists, started building our VC network and became more comfortable talking to and working with them.”

The Aftermath

One of the hallmarks of 500 Startups, Chris says, is the network gained from working alongside such bright, talented entrepreneurs. Upon completing the accelerator, alumni become part of the “500 Family.” Chris says the group is in constant communication with each other. If they need a contact, they reach out to the 500 Startups network. If they need advice on the next step for their business, they reach out to the network. At 500 Startups, “you have companies from all over the world,” Chris says. “It’s like a fraternity network. You realize these people are going through the same headaches, pain and excitement as you are.” Since completing the 500 Startups program, Eyes on Freight has grown and changed. The investment from 500 Startups has funded marketing, business development and technological growth. The team now has four full-time members and one part-time member; the development team has been fully outsourced to Europe. Eyes on Freight now has offices in Columbia and San Francisco, and there’s thought about moving the home base to Europe. “We have to have an international presence to grow,” Chris says. SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

PACK IT IN

Startup Pakity Taps Into The Hiking Market by PORCSHE N. MORAN

KIM STADING

im Stading was planning a hiking trip for her birthday when she came up with a business idea. The St. Louis native talked to friends and searched multiple websites to figure out what gear she needed, but she knew there had to be a more efficient way to get ready. Her search prompted her to found Pakity, a Web-based company that prepares custom kits of lightweight, easy-to-use supplies for inexperienced hikers and backpackers.

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

“I wanted a pre-packed backpack because I didn’t know what I needed for the hike,” says the 23-year-old entrepreneur. “I couldn’t find a company that offered them, so I decided that I needed to create it.” In 2014, Stading was the content developer for EquipmentShare, which took first place at that year’s Columbia Startup Weekend. She decided to return to the event in September 2015 to pitch her new concept. Pakity competed against 37 other businesses to earn an honorable mention.

“We received a lot of positive feedback from judges, volunteer mentors and other participants,” she says. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to actually be interested in the business. The feedback was what encouraged me to take Pakity from simply a weekend idea to a company.” The journey from idea to full-fledged company hasn’t been simple for Stading. She says she didn’t know much about hiking before she started Pakity. Her initial lack of knowledge about the outdoor recreation industry forced her to turn down investors. PHOTO BY L.G. PATTERSON

The Name Game Kim Stading jokes that her company’s unusual name comes from a lack of sleep and a lot of coffee during a marathon brainstorming session at Columbia Startup Weekend 2015. “The name is a collaboration between the members of the Startup Weekend team,” she explains. “We were all just throwing out bizarre words that had anything to do with backpacking, hiking, etcetera. We landed on Pakity.”

“I have done a lot of research through blogs, speaking with experienced hikers, and researching gear and recommendations,” she says. “The learning curve has been huge. I have no problem admitting that I am not an expert. I rely on the experts for help.” After Startup Weekend, Stading joined the Regional Economic Development Inc. Innovation Hub. The organization provides business counseling, programming and coworking space for entrepreneurs in Columbia and Boone County. “There are more entrepreneurs in Columbia than people realize,” Stading says. “There are a lot of resources you can find. Whenever I have a question, there are at least six people I can ask. We help each other within the entrepreneur community by trading our professional skills and talents.” To move Pakity forward, Stading enlisted four others to work on the project. She gave each a vested equity in the company. The team’s first task was market testing to get feedback from consumers. They soon realized their original business model focused mostly on novice hikers, and didn’t have enough potential for returning customers. “We had to pivot and figure out a demand to also serve more experienced hikers without changing the original concept too much,” Stading says. “There are millions of ways to pivot the idea, but we wanted to make sure that we stayed true to what everyone was so excited about in the beginning. We need a viable minimal product to get us going before we can be everything to everyone.”

ILLUSTRATION BY JOE WANER SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT These types of challenges are what Stading says draw her to entrepreneurship. As a college sophomore, the University of Missouri graduate changed her major from graphic design to business administration. She was active in the university’s Entrepreneurship Alliance. Stading cofounded a concert promotion company during her freshman year. “While my college degree has been very helpful in my full-time position, I cannot say it has paid off too much in my entrepreneurial adventures,” Stading says. “The greatest experience I have gained is from doing, not from book work.” Aside from Pakity, Stading has a full-time career as a wealth management associate for financial services company Smith Moore in Columbia. She is also a gymnastics coach at Flipz USA. Stading says she devotes eight to 10 hours each week to working on Pakity, including email communications, research and updating the website. “Afternoons and weekends are when Pakity happens,” she says. “Our team meets once every two weeks. Currently, a lot of

Balancing Act

Kim Stading works an 8-to-5 job in addition to operating her startup Pakity. Here is her advice for balancing both. 1. Block out specific time during the week for your startup. “For example, Tuesday and Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. is distraction-free time to update the website and do research,” she says. “Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. is calling and feedback time.” 2. Join a support community. “Having a group behind you keeps you motivated, allows help and support when needed, and makes access to resources and investors much easier,” Stading says. 3. Allow free time. “It is so easy to get in a zone and forget to do things, like go out and work out,” she says. “I like to schedule that stuff in my calendar too.” 4. Keep talking about your business. “It is very simple to say, ‘I don’t have time for this,’ but the more you talk about your idea with friends, family and even the guy at the grocery store, the more it will become something you are excited to continue to grow,” she says. 32

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

Everything in its place: Pakity’s packed-to-order backpacks include all the supplies a hiker needs for a trip, ready to go in an ultra-light pack.

the collaboration is done via technology. I have a lot of support from my friends. Being part of the REDI community really helps, too.” The Pakity website went live in January, offering customized, pre-packed backpacks for two types of hiking trips: one to three days and three to 10 days. The custompacked backpacks are created after the customer places the individual order. “Each and every pack is different,” Stading says. “They are custom based on the hiker’s needs or group’s needs.” The team continues to tweak the website at www.pakity.com to make it as user-friendly and interactive as possible. One example is the company blog, which gives an inside look at the items expert hikers pack for their excursions. Social media — Facebook, Twitter and Instagram — is the primary means of marketing. Stading says, in the future, Pakity might place advertisements in hiking magazines. The company’s short-term goals include networking, assembling a variety of sample packs for a second round of consumer testing, analyzing shipping options and seeking investors. “Every day is different when you are in business,” Stading says. “I am an avid believer in learning nonstop. I am constantly reading, asking questions, going to events and watching TED Talks. “You can have a plan, but you might hit a roadblock, and then you have to figure out how to adapt.” SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

THE READING LIST

5 Business Books To Read This Spring

The Good Ones

By Bruce Weinstein (New World Library, 2015)

Most employers look for two things when hiring or promoting people: knowledge and skill. Author Bruce Weinstein says bosses should add a third parameter to that search: character. Weinstein — a consultant who helps organizations hire and promote high-character people — makes the case for 10 crucial qualities of good employees. Honesty tops the list (no surprise from someone known as The Ethics Guy). Weinstein also values accountability, care, courage, fairness, gratitude, humility, loyalty, patience and presence. Filled with anecdotes, this book has a compelling message for those who hire as well as those who seek employment. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to enhance employee satisfaction, develop better relationships with clients and improve the bottom line. 34

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

The Right Kind of Crazy

By Adam Steltzner with William Patrick (Portfolio, 2016)

In 2012, the wizards at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory boldly went where no one had gone before. Their 10year mission: to land a NASA rover the size of a small car on Mars, from 140 million miles away. When an 11thhour software glitch nearly derailed the $2.5 billion project, engineer Adam Steltzner made a radical — some would say crazy — decision to reprogram the navigation system hours before touchdown. The fix worked, and the rover Curiosity has been merrily exploring the Red Planet ever since. Steltzner’s easy-reading memoir traces how his team went from fear-based to curiositybased decision making as they learned how to overcome creative blocks, sift through ideas and foster mutual respect. Leadership may not be rocket science, but sometimes it needs a little craziness.

SPRING 2016

When Millennials Take Over

By Jamie Notter & Maddie Grant (Ideapress Publishing, 2015)

Ready or not, the future is here. And those ushering business into the future belong to the millennial generation — those born between 1982 and 2004. Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant credit millennials, soon to be the largest generation in the workforce, as the driving force behind companies learning how to move faster, flatten hierarchies, share more openly and operate more digitally. Organizations would be wise, the authors say, to realize what this generation has to offer in a rapidly changing world. Packed with tips and guidance for creating stronger workplace cultures, this book stresses results over process for companies that want to stay relevant to customers, capitalize on opportunities in the marketplace and attract top talent.

Making Money

By John D. Rockefeller (Skyhorse Publishing, 2015)

Want to make money? Take advice from the master. This little volume of classic quotations from John D. Rockefeller is an easy read, offering advice and insights on building and sharing wealth. The co-founder of Standard Oil Co., Rockefeller was the wealthiest man in U.S. history (adjusting for inflation) whose innovations in the petroleum industry revolutionized American business. As his wealth grew, so did his philanthropy — about $550 million over his lifetime. In this collection, the man who believed “the growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest” also advises, “If your only goal is to become rich, you’ll never achieve it.” The book’s closing chapter includes personal letters between Rockefeller and his children.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World By Adam Grant (Viking, 2016)

Best-selling author Adam Grant looks at how people overcome inertia to champion novel ideas, and how leaders encourage originality in their organizations. Sharing stories from business, politics, sports and entertainment, Grant explores how successful people recognize a good idea and act on it: the woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, a CIA analyst who overturned the agency’s rule of secrecy, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him, the television executive who saved “Seinfeld” from the cutting-room floor. By challenging the myths of success, Grant encourages readers to fight groupthink and build cultures that welcome dissent and improve the status quo.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

JOE MACHENS DEALERSHIPS McLarty Automotive Group Charles Oglesby, CEO

harles Oglesby loves cars so much, he has “unretired” himself from the auto business three times. “This is fun,” says the CEO of McLarty Automotive Group, new owner of Joe Machens Dealerships. “A dream.” The dream for Oglesby began last year in Little Rock when the newly formed McLarty Automotive Group purchased all but two of Gary Drewing’s Joe Machens auto dealerships. The purchase on Oct. 19 transferred to group owner Mark McLarty the Columbia dealerships for Ford, Lincoln, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Nissan, Hyundai, Fiat, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Toyota, Scion and Volkswagen, plus Joe Machens Capital City Ford Lincoln in Jefferson City. “Machens is the first acquisition of McLarty Automotive Group,” Oglesby says. An earlier 2015 Mark McLarty purchase of Fletcher Honda — renamed Columbia Honda — was added to the Machens fold. McLarty Automotive Group also owns five dealerships in the Little Rock area as well, selling Honda, Mazda, Nissan and Volkswagen. McLarty Automotive Group may be a new entity, but Mark McLarty is no stranger to the auto industry. Columbians may recognize the last name — his father is Thomas “Mack” McLarty, former White 38

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton — but in automotive circles, the McLarty name has been well-known for four generations, since Mark’s great-grandfather entered the business in 1921. When Mack McLarty sold the family dealerships to Asbury Automotive Group in 1995, a noncompete agreement restricted Mark from owning dealerships in the United States; he moved to Brazil and later China where he built dealership groups in both countries. He returned to the United States in 2014 to establish McLarty Automotive Group and tapped former Asbury chairman Charles Oglesby to head up the company. A 45-year veteran of the auto business, Oglesby began his career in 1972 after graduating from the University of Georgia, selling Oldsmobiles in his hometown of Savannah. By 1985, he had moved on to a Nissan dealership in Dallas, then to other dealerships and consolidated groups in Kansas City, San Francisco, Atlanta and New York. He worked his way up the ranks of the industry — finance manager, sales manager, general manager, partner and dealer. “I found I had a gift for building businesses,” he says. In 2002, Oglesby joined Asbury, the sixth-largest automotive retailer in the country. A Fortune 500 company, Asbury currently operates more than

100 franchises selling 28 brands. Oglesby spent nearly a decade rebuilding dealerships and overseeing the group’s consolidation efforts, retiring as chairman in 2011. The prospect of McLarty’s Machens purchase last year was intriguing — enough to lure Oglesby out of his third try at retirement. The McLarty group’s move into mid-Missouri marked a change in ownership of eight Joe Machens stores selling 14 brands at some of the top volume dealerships in the state. The flagship Joe Machens Ford Lincoln dealership, in business here since 1969, has ranked as the No. 1 volume dealer in Missouri for the past 18 years. With a track record like that, the new owners wisely decided to keep the Joe Machens name. “This operation is so expansive,” Oglesby says. “Joe Machens is the largest automotive group in Missouri. Before we made the investment to buy this group, we looked at the position of the dealerships. Quantity reflects quality. Consumers will not reward you with their business over and over unless they believe they’re receiving value. Customers always go where the value is.” The McLarty group intends to sustain the momentum Machens has built over the years.

“This is a great legacy,” Oglesby says. “We saw the value here; we understand the Joe Machens legacy and what that history represents.” There have been few changes at the company since the purchase last October. With Honda in the fold, the company employs about 1,100 in Columbia and Jefferson City. A few managerial changes resulted from the departure of Drewing family members and shifting of duties. But there are no plans to add to the company structure, Oglesby says. “The dealerships are designed to stand on their own,” he says. “Our business model is partnerships. Our general managers are our partners. We’re not bringing a playbook in here.” McLarty Automotive Group, he adds, “thinks global but acts local. Joe Machens is still a local company in most aspects. We’re making investments here in local relationships with our employees and with the charities Machens has long supported. It’s a value given back.” Indeed, Oglesby’s first priority after his arrival last fall was winning over Machens employees, many who have been with the company for decades. “We had to sell them on us,” he says. “Every market I’ve been in is different, but the people are always the same. You have to listen to the employees and the customer — that’s what sets the direction of the company. Gary Drewing did it for years.” The holiday party in December proved a turning point in the transition, Oglesby says. Mark McLarty attended, as did the Drewing family. The appearance of Rusty Drewing as Santa Claus — a tradition at many past Machens parties — elicited a thunderous welcome. “We kept it a secret,” Oglesby recalls. “When Rusty walked out as Santa, the roar nearly raised the roof.” The future is bright for the Joe Machens dealerships, Oglesby says. “We’re opportunistic,” he says. “We expect to continue to grow. We like stable markets like Columbia. They seem to weather the financial storms.” A new recruiting effort, headed up by Brian Neuner, director of business development at Joe Machens Ford Lincoln, will help to sustain growth, he adds. The company will be looking at efficiencies as technology enables the dealerships to move to a dynamic system. “There are some sophisticated systems, electronic processes,” Oglesby says, “that allow ease of information gathering and support to enhance both the customer and employee experience.” McLarty Automotive Group aims to fit in with the community, Oglesby says. “Joe Machens has had rapid growth in the last few years,” he says. “When absorbing that growth, the first thing you notice is the desire to not be noticed. We’ll be successful here when this change is no longer a topic of discussion.”

BOB JACAWAY has been executive manager of Joe Machens Dealerships since 2008. “Joe Machens Dealerships are still as aggressive as ever and will continue to be community driven, customer focused and employer of choice,” he says. “We take great pride in our employee satisfaction as well as a positive customer experience.”

STEPHEN NAGEL, general manager of Joe Machens Ford Lincoln, is a Missouri native who grew up in Middletown. After a stint in the Navy and a career with Autonation in Memphis, Tenn., Nagel returned to the Show-Me State last year to manage Columbia Honda for Mark McLarty. After the purchase of Joe Machens Dealerships, Nagel moved to the Ford dealership. “Our plan is to maintain and expand on the community relationships that the Drewings established,” Nagel says. “As one of the largest employers in the area, we are extremely sensitive to maintaining continuity from the Drewings to us. We realize our employees are our greatest asset in servicing the customer base in the community. Joe Machens Ford Lincoln already is a legend and great community partner. My vision is to build on that with a new set of eyes looking for new opportunities, but not forgetting the history of what got us here.”

TOM STEGEMAN, general manager of Joe Machens Capital City Ford Lincoln, is a 22-year veteran of the Jefferson City dealership. “Almost five years ago, the [former Mike Kehoe Ford] dealership became part of the Joe Machen’s family,” he says. “This transition gave the Jefferson City location access to a huge inventory of vehicles, which gives our customers the best selection of cars and trucks in Missouri. We were able to retain our long-term employees and maintain the service and feel of a hometown dealer. The most recent change in ownership has resulted in very little change in day-to-day operations. We have been able to invest in technology, however, to update our website to make it easier for our customers to shop online if they choose. The owners, managers and employees understand the recipe for success — a huge selection of inventory, competitive pricing and great customer service.”

DANNY HAMMACK began his automotive career with Frank Fletcher in Arkansas, moving to Columbia in 2011 to manage the Honda store for Fletcher. A move to Joe Machens Ford Lincoln in 2013 was followed by a trip back to Columbia Honda last fall. Hammack says the dealership’s most recent ownership change has been well-received by both staff and customers. “We continue to be involved in our community,” Hammack says, “and strive to ensure that customer service is our top priority. There is a very bright future for our dealership and brand.”

CARL YOUNG, longtime Machens employee and general manager of Joe Machens Nissan, promises, “The change will not look different in the customer’s eyes. We still have the same team and taking care of our customers is still our first priority. We will continue to grow the Machens Nissan brand.”

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

t was the cold call that changed Dan Kellar’s life. In the winter of 2015, the general manager of Joe Machens Toyota Scion was ready to move up another rung on his career ladder and become an owner/partner of his own dealership. Out of the blue, he called Kia dealer Stuart Head, co-owner of Head Motor Co. “I just came right out and asked, ‘This is a weird question, but are you interested in selling your Kia franchise?’ And he answered, ‘As a matter of fact, we were just talking about that this morning.’ ” By summer’s end, Kellar had found an investment partner in Larry Morgan, who with his son Brett owns Morgan Automotive Group, a network of 14 dealerships in Florida. Kellar and Morgan, friends for the past several years, partnered to form Columbia Automotive Management LLC; principals are Dan and Chris Kellar, and Larry and Brett Morgan. The Kellars met the Morgans eight years ago as fellow travelers. Larry Morgan, a Hannibal native and University of Missouri graduate, shared a passion with the Kellars for the Mizzou Tigers. They struck up a friendship, nurtured through travel and Southeastern Conference football games. “Larry told me, ‘If you ever find something, let’s talk,’ ” Kellar recalls. “I happen to run across a good deal, and the race was on.” Morgan found the Columbia auto market an attractive draw, despite the distance from his Florida base. “The Columbia market has been dominated for years by one dealership group, and the residents deserve options,” Morgan says. “We believe Columbia is a stable economy and the store has tons of upside potential with the growing Kia brand.” Why Kia? “After I discovered it was available, I realized I didn’t know much about Kia,” Kellar says. “I don’t think many people here do. Kia is the best-kept secret in the business. It has taken the auto industry by storm the last 12 to 24 months.” Kia, named for a Korean word that means “rising out of Asia,” entered the U.S. market in 1992. The company has manufactured cars in its West Point, Ga., factory since 2010. “Korea makes good products,” Kellar says. “What I learned only reinforced my desire to move forward with the purchase. I see Kia right now where Toyota was 12 years ago, focusing on customer service.”

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

KIA OF COLUMBIA Morgan Automotive Group Chris & Dan Kellar, Partners

Kellar’s career has been all about customer service. A Jefferson City native, he arrived in Columbia in 1985 to attend college. By 1988, he had entered the workaday world, selling used cars at the Orscheln lot (where BMW is today). A co-worker left to work at Joe Machens Ford Lincoln, “and he talked me into coming along,” Kellar says. He worked his way up at the Machens Ford and Toyota stores, serving as sales manager and finance manager. In 2006, Kellar became the general manager at the Joe Machens Toyota Scion dealership. “I learned a lot from Gary Drewing,” Kellar says. “He’s a good businessman, very customer oriented.” Kellar left the Machens organization last summer, as he busied himself with negotiations for the Kia franchise. They closed the deal on Sept. 1, retaining the majority of fixed operations and the service and parts departments. About 80 percent of the sales staff is new to the dealership, Kellar says. Total employees number 38. “We’ll grow it slowly,” Kellar says. “Build a solid foundation.” Mid-year, that building effort will take on a physical quality as Keller and Morgan

embark on a complete renovation of the facility on Business Loop 70. Plans call for a new gallery showroom that meets Kia’s specifications to allow sales of the automaker’s top-of-the-line K900 luxury car, the only Kia model the Columbia dealership does not currently sell. Square footage will increase from 23,000 to 26,000; plans also call for adding a three-lane service reception area outside. Construction should last six to seven months, Kellar says, and will be set up so the business can work around the project. In the first four months of new ownership, sales at the dealership were up 15 percent over the same period in 2014, Kellar says. Goals are to increase sales growth by 20 percent in the dealership’s first year, and add 15 to 20 percent growth every year after, he says. Kellar hopes to add five salespeople and five employees in service and parts soon — getting the right people in the right places, he says. Dealership inventory is typically 150 new cars and 100 used. “The best customer experience in all departments is my No. 1 goal,” Kellar says. “If we can provide that, everything else will take care of itself.”

BOB McCOSH CHEVROLET BUICK GMC CADILLAC Bob McCosh, Owner

ob McCosh has weathered tough times in the auto business. But nothing — not the Great Recession, not the government bailout, not the consumer backlash — could match the tough time he endured with the loss of his work buddy. Tango, a little black poodle that for nearly 20 years shadowed McCosh everywhere at his dealership, succumbed to cancer in the fall of 2014. “Tango went to work with me every day for 19 years and 8 months,” McCosh says. “I loved that dog. He was my partner. I didn’t think I’d ever want another dog again.” Time doesn’t really heal all wounds, and after six months of grieving McCosh still had a hole in his heart and an empty spot at his dealership. Through friend Pete Kemper and dealership General Manager Jeff Miller’s connection to Second Chance, another black poodle appeared in his life last year. This one is Tango Reloaded, McCosh says, or T2 for short. Balance has been restored to the General Motors dealership on the Business Loop. From his spot under McCosh’s desk or following close on his heels through the showroom, T2 is privy to all the inner dealings of the car business, Bob McCosh style. And he doesn’t spill any secrets. If the dog could talk, he might offer some insight into McCosh’s success. But since T2 is so people-oriented, it might be the same answer McCosh gives: “I have great people. They take this business personally and it spills over to

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOB McCOSH

our clientele. I wake up every day feeling fortunate that we have the people we do.” The son of an auto mechanic, McCosh grew up around the car business, working for his father. A stint in sales and finance at Valley Ford in Florissant led the native St. Louisan to Columbia in early 1984. Gary Drewing hired him to sell used cars at Joe Machens Ford. “Gary was a great mentor,” he says. “He’s very driven.” McCosh moved to Joe Machens Honda in Jefferson City in 1989. In 1990, he joined Justin Perry as managing partner of Perry Chevrolet. The next year, McCosh bought into Perry Nissan. Perry bought out McCosh’s share of Nissan in 2003; five years later, McCosh bought out Perry’s share of the Chevrolet franchise. By early 2009, McCosh was in the middle of the GM “government motors” firestorm, which didn’t let up until 2010. “Business began picking up again in 2010 and we started adding people,” he says. He also began adding franchises — Buick and GMC from Don Albert and Cadillac from Joe Machens. He had 76 employees when he bought the Chevrolet franchise; today his full- and part-time employees number 176. “And very low turnover,” he adds. Employee turnover runs about 5 to 8 percent at the dealership, minimal compared to the industry rate of 35 percent. For McCosh, it’s all about his people. Intensely private, he wasn’t even planning to put his name on the dealership when he became sole owner, leaning toward calling it Columbia Chevrolet. But a friend pointed

out that Bob McCosh was also his father’s name and sentiment won him over. He is active in the day-to-day business of the dealership. “I try to lead by example,” he says. “I do what I expect people to do, and I act the way I expect people to act. But I’m not afraid to jump in and manage a situation.” Sales consultant Sonja Ellis appreciates that McCosh isn’t a micromanager, “but he doesn’t miss much,” she adds. Longtime General Manager Jeff Miller likens the staff ’s autonomy to a long rope. “Bob gives those of us he trusts just enough rope to where it snaps, and then he reels it back in. I’ve heard that rope snap a few times.” Ellis laughs. “I just want a new rope.” Concerned with what he calls the “Walmartization” of the car business, McCosh wants to preserve the personal style of customer service that local dealerships offer. “An automobile is the second-largest purchase in a customer’s life,” he notes. He credits those relationships his staff has built — honed through camaraderie and personal commitment — as the key to his dealership’s future, even more important than the 13 new GM products headed to the market in the next 17 months. “Success or failure lies in our own hands,” he says. “Our focus is to be in the game and do the right thing by our customers and in our business.” SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

HEAD MOTOR CO. Steve & Stuart Head, Owners

teve and Stuart Head are in it for the fun with their latest venture. “The motorcycle side of the auto business is so much fun,” says Stuart Head. “There’s definitely a fun factor.” The Head brothers plunged into the motorcycle market last fall, shortly after they sold their Kia franchise to Dan and Chris Kellar and Morgan Automotive Group. Longtime bike enthusiasts, the brothers kept an eye on Indian

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

motorcycles. Finally, they convinced Indian to take a look at them. After the Kia sale closed on Sept. 1, they turned to rearranging their remaining car lot a few blocks away on the Business Loop, making room for motorcycles with the used cars. They remodeled the showroom to meet Indian’s requirements, and began stocking the motorcycles in late November. “It’s been fun ever since,” Head says. “Test drives are great, because I get to hop on another bike and go riding with the

customer. Sunny days are good for business.” The twin brothers (Steve is four minutes older) grew up in the auto business. Their father, Richard Head, opened Head Motor Co. in downtown Columbia in 1960. He moved his business to 400 Business Loop 70 W. in the mid-’60s. For years, Head Motor Co. was the No. 1 independent auto dealer in central Missouri, Stuart says. From 1971 to 1981, the dealership held a Toyota franchise. In 1998, the Heads acquired a Kia franchise, and for the first

few years of the 21st century sold Suzuki cars as well. By 2004, they had dropped Suzuki and bought another Business Loop property dedicated to Kia sales. “We like to focus on one new-car brand at a time,” Head says. “With multiple franchises, it’s hard to give each brand the proper attention. We got behind Kia because it’s a great company.” The brothers are even more effusive in their praise for the Indian brand. The Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing

Co. originally produced motorcycles from 1901 to 1953 in Springfield, Mass., dominating the market as the largest manufacturer in the world. Bankruptcy in 1953 closed the company until Polaris Industries resurrected it in 2011 and moved production to Spirit Lake, Iowa. “These road bikes are Polaris’ top of the line,” Head says. Expansion plans are in the works at the dealership. The Heads will add on to the building for a second showroom to

display used motorcycles and additional space in the service department. The 6- to 12-month project, which will also include a remodel of the parking area, will double the facility’s square footage from 6,000 to 12,500. Currently, the dealership’s inventory includes 20 new Indian motorcycles, 75 to 100 used cars and about 50 used motorcycles in storage. The Heads continue to operate their Allstate Insurance agency at the dealership, and an Allstate office in the Kia facility. They affiliated with Allstate in April 2015. “I wish I’d gone into insurance 20 years ago,” Head says. “I wish I’d had the vision! It adds value to the business as a convenience for our customers, and the competitive rates can save them some money. We’re looking to expand our insurance operations.” Another added value for Indian customers is the apparel and accessory department at the dealership. “The aftermarket with cars is nothing like motorcycles,” Head says. “People want to customize their bikes. Apparel, accessories and aftermarket add-ons make up 25 percent of our business now.” There’s a fan factor involved, too, he adds. “If you can’t get one of the limitedproduction Jack Daniels bikes — Indian is making only 150 and I’m hoping to get two — you can come by and get a T-shirt,” Head says with a grin. The dealership employs 12 now, down from 40 when the brothers had the Kia franchise. Other business ventures keep the Heads in a whirlwind of entrepreneurial activity. Stuart is an auctioneer like his father, often donating his services to charities; Steve is a ringman. They continue to run a wholesaling operation, acting as middlemen to acquire preowned vehicles throughout the country and deliver them to other dealers. They keep a collection of classic cars off-site, refurbishing them for sale at classic car auctions. Their current treasures include a 1938 Ford, a 1969 Chevrolet truck, a 1969 Chevy Nova and a 1968 Camaro. Steve and Stuart Head are both quick to point out that they only work the sale end of their classic-car passion; they don’t do the refurbishing work. “I can only manage so much,” Stuart says. His wife, Martha, laughs. “He has to sleep sometime.”

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

DREWING AUTOMOTIVE Rusty & Gary Drewing, Owners

on’t think for a moment that Gary Drewing is slowing down or even considering retirement. “We love the automobile business,” Drewing says. “I don’t look at the car business as work.” Last fall, Drewing sold all but two of his Joe Machens dealerships to McLarty Automotive Group of Little Rock. The former “car czar” of Columbia, owner of the largest dealership group in Missouri, retained only his BMW and MercedesBenz franchises to form Drewing Automotive with his son Rusty. “We wanted to keep something after the sale and see where it goes,” he says. Drewing arrived in Columbia from his native St. Louis in 1983, an experienced representative of the Ford Motor Co. He joined auto dealer Joe Machens as his partner and general manager. “We had three franchises and 34 employees,” Drewing recalls. A collection of vehicle franchises rotated in and out of the Machens dealership as it continued to grow. Owner Joe Machens died in 1997, leaving his son, Dave, and Drewing as partners in the operation. Drewing bought out Dave Machens in 2006 to become sole owner. By the end of 2013, the Joe Machens dealerships numbered 16 franchises and nearly 1,100 employees. The flagship Joe Machens Ford Lincoln dealership was Missouri’s No. 1 volume dealer, a top ranking it had held since 1997.

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

The operation has had many suitors, hoping to buy a piece of the Machens magic. “Several groups approached us over the years,” Drewing says. “But when McLarty contacted us, we looked at what they were offering and what we thought we could get done. With any deal, we wanted to maintain the body of the organization and the name, and we wanted to make sure our employees could look at a new owner as family.” The sale closed on Oct. 19. Drewing rechristened his remaining dealerships as BMW of Columbia and MercedesBenz of Columbia. Son Rusty, former president/owner of Joe Machens Capital City Ford Lincoln, is president and majority owner of Drewing Automotive. One other son, Gary Jr., also works at the dealerships, which employ 80. Drewing is proud of his sons’ involvement in the family business. “I’m a proud father to begin with,” he says. “It’s been very rewarding to watch what my children do. Rusty is a phenomenal owner, a sharp car person. He’s the one responsible for our growth over the last seven or eight years.” There are already plans to grow the two luxury German auto dealerships. “My motto is, you either get better or you get worse,” Drewing says. A new BMW facility is under construction at the site of the old Days Inn, on a 5-acre parcel near the Mercedes-Benz lot on I-70 Drive S.W. The 25,000-square-foot showroom is scheduled to open at the end of the

year. The old BMW facility will transition to extra space for more vehicles. The two dealerships currently have a combined inventory of about 400 new and used cars. “Turnover is the key,” he says. “Typically, a car stays on the lot 30 to 60 days. You want to turn over your inventory as often as possible.” The Drewings expect to grow sales 20 to 25 percent over the next few years and increase employee numbers by 20 percent. “Selling BMW and Mercedes-Benz is no different than selling any other car brand,” Drewing says. “We approach the business with the same philosophy. The No. 1 goal in selling cars is happy customers. You don’t want to sell one vehicle to that customer — you want to sell 10.” He says this philosophy works, even with luxury brands. “BMW and Mercedes-Benz are phenomenal cars,” Drewing says. “They’re a lot more affordable than people realize. We want to offer a luxury buying experience at affordable prices. Customers can enjoy the experience and still get a payment or lease they can afford.” Drewing doesn’t rule out another round of expansion for his family’s new auto group. “We’ll see what the opportunities are, see what develops,” he says. “We still want to assist Joe Machens in the transition, and we’ll continue to help sell for McLarty.” The Drewings’ long tradition of community involvement will not change, he insists. “We’re going to stay very active in the community,” Drewing says. “That was a big part of the deal when we sold Machens. We will always support the community and our customers in the community.” Drewing sees a bright future for the Columbia auto market. “BMW and Mercedes-Benz will change and grow,” he predicts. “Joe Machens should maintain its market dominance. I don’t see anybody challenging it.” The local market is stable, he adds, and the 2016 forecast for the industry is strong. “Low interest rates and low oil prices help,” he notes. “It’s fun to do business with the people we do business with,” Drewing says. “We have outstanding people here at the dealerships. They’re excited for the future, and so am I. We’ve always had an open-door policy but we’re more handson now. With just two dealerships, our people are seeing us a lot.”

UNIVERSITY SUBARU Danny Burks & Dave Drane, Owners

ave Drane and Danny Burks say they are “just folks.” “It’s hard to be snooty when you’re from Harrisburg,” Burks says. Humble beginnings aside, Drane and Burks have perfected an “aw shucks” public persona that belies a savvy business sense, running an integrated enterprise that spans auto dealerships, rent-to-own cars, real estate, insurance and a new foray into technology. The two are the faces of their auto dealerships — University Subaru in Columbia and Capital City Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Jefferson City — by virtue of their amusing TV commercials. “Apparently they work,” says Burks. “We get a lot of positive feedback. I guess people enjoy laughing at us.” The business partners — seventh- and eighth-generation Boone Countians — met in Columbia while working at Dodge City Motors. Their first joint project wasn’t cars, though; it was real estate. “I couldn’t find a house I liked in Columbia,” Drane says. “Dan had seen some lots in Oberlin Valley he thought I might like, so we went over and looked. We bought the whole subdivision.” Several real estate deals later, the two partnered to buy University Chrysler and Subaru in 2004. They bought the Capital

City dealership in 2005. In 2011, the two sold their Columbia Chrysler franchise to Frank Fletcher, making it easier for two people to run two dealerships. As the only Subaru dealer between St. Louis and Kansas City, and Springfield and Iowa, the Columbia lot bustles with turnover in its 40-car inventory. “It never seems like we have enough,” Burks says. “The new-car business is really good right now,” Drane adds. “Subaru sales were up 15 percent last year.” Between the two dealerships, Drane and Burk employ 150 — 45 in Columbia and the rest in Jefferson City, where there is a 500-car inventory. The secret to a smooth operation amid their varied enterprises is good management, they say. “We have very good management teams in both stores,” Drane says. “We have a different kind of relationship with our employees, very long term. We know everybody who works for us.” The Subaru store has five salespeople, Burks says. “Three have been with us since the day we opened.” They’re too busy to expand their auto market, the partners say. Other ventures with a claim on their attention include what they call “real estate pockets” of commercial and residential properties; a Global Green

Insurance agency they run for the convenience of their customers; and Rent-N-Go Autos, a rent-to-own car lot with locations in Columbia and Jefferson City. Yet the project that has captivated them this year is Vizicar, the computer program they’ve created that they say will revolutionize dealership management. “There are dealer management systems out there now, but they’re very weak and leave a lot of room for error,” Drane says. “This program works for all types and all sizes of dealerships. You can track cars, insurance, payments, warranties, accounting … At any given time, it gives you a snapshot of the customer, the car, the entire business. Then you can drill down for more information.” Vizicar’s user-friendly computer interface is helpful, Drane adds. “I could give you a tablet with this program on it, and 20 minutes later you could run a car business,” he says. “It eliminates the need for a lot of thought.” “Yeah,” Burks quips. “Even guys like us can run it.” Vizicar launches nationwide this spring. Add another feather in the cap of these good ol’ boys. “We’ve been blessed,” Drane says. “And we know that.” SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

t Central Missouri Auto Body, they like to say, “Some repairs you see … ours you don’t!” What you do see at the industrious repair shop on Columbia’s north side is the face of the auto body business here. And it’s a decidedly feminine face. Carol Miller, owner and president of Central Missouri Auto Body, is the lone female in an all-male company. After more than three decades in the business, she’s grown accustomed to the demographic oddity, even if others haven’t. “Some people are still startled when they find out I own an auto body shop,” Miller says. “Most give me a high-five and say, ‘You go, girl!’ That’s very comforting.” Others … not so much. New acquaintances — and even a few bankers — sometimes find it difficult to wrap their minds around a woman in the auto body business. “Some people look at me and say it just doesn’t fit,” she says. “I guess it’s because I don’t have dirty fingernails.”

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

“

The first loan officer — a woman — had a preconceived notion,” Miller says. “She asked me, ‘How can a woman run this business?’ ” ... “Finally, I just went out of town to get financing. I found a small-town bank in western Missouri that was willing to take a chance on me. No hassles.

”

CAROL MILLER READILY ADMITS she didn’t build her successful business on her own. For 27 years, she ran the shop with her husband, Donnie. It was a partnership forged by college sweethearts. “We were so young,” she recalls. “But we knew what we wanted to do.” Miller grew up in St. Louis, one of 13 children. A product of Cor Jesu Academy, one of Missouri’s top all-girl schools, she says her physician father encouraged her to become an accountant, advice she took to heart as she made her way to Columbia and the University of Missouri for a business degree with an emphasis in accountancy. While at Mizzou, she lost her heart to a Columbia College student, Donnie Miller. They married in 1981 after graduating in 1980. “Donnie always said he wanted to open a body shop. I didn’t know anything about cars, but I did know accounting, so I guess it was a perfect fit,” she says with a laugh. The newlyweds put their dream on hold for a few years as they found jobs and settled into married life. Miller honed her accounting skills working for Dan Devine’s 48

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

Coors distributorship and then Columbia Orthopaedic Group. In 1982, the couple purchased a building in Boonville. “We’d always planned to open a shop in Columbia,” Miller says. “But Donnie’s from Boonville and this was an opportunity to start our own business.” The Millers moved to Boonville and opened Central Missouri Auto Body in 1982. It was a traditional labor split for the times — Donnie handled the auto work, and Carol took care of the office, tending the books, billing and paperwork while raising the couple’s three daughters and working part-time jobs. After 18 years, they moved to Columbia, but still commuted to their business in Boonville. Three years later, opportunity knocked again. “An insurance adjuster approached us one day, and asked us to consider opening a shop in Columbia,” she says. “He thought Columbia needed more independent body shops.” The idea made sense to the Millers, who were entertaining an offer from Rick Ball to buy the body shop adjacent to his

Boonville auto dealership. When they found the property at 5353 Highway 763, their business’s journey was complete. “Finally, we were doing business in Columbia,” Miller says of the move in late 2003. And business was good. A larger market offered opportunities for growth. The body shop bustled with activity, often with a helping hand from Mother Nature. “The hailstorm of 2006 really put us on the map,” Miller says. “It took us more than a year to get through all those jobs.”

THE MARRIAGE PARTNERSHIP did not outlast the business partnership, however. When the couple began divorce proceedings in 2009, it sparked a protracted tug-of-war over the family business. “We both wanted the shop,” Miller says. “I wanted to buy it from him, but he didn’t want to sell.” As she negotiated with her exhusband, she went to work at Columbia Independent School while running the financial aspects of the body shop in her off time. By the summer of 2013, Miller had had enough. She quit her CIS job, sold her home and left Columbia. “What to do?” she asked. “I was jobless and homeless.” Florida beckoned. And serendipity struck.

Miller joined her two daughters living in the Sunshine State. One is in the Navy, so Miller took care of things on the home front when she deployed. Another daughter became engaged and drafted her mother to help with wedding plans. Miller discovered in November that her ex-husband wanted to sell the auto body shop. “I had to stay in Florida to help with the wedding, but I had to have that shop,” she says. So began months of longdistance negotiations and a search for financing. She returned to Columbia in February 2014 to wrap up the deal. Miller went through three lenders in Columbia, to no avail. “The first loan officer — a woman — had a preconceived notion,” she says. “She asked me, ‘How can a woman run this business?’ ” Her second loan application failed as well. “The second loan officer was a man,” she says. “He stalled for weeks, and kept promising me he’d have an answer for me soon. Then, he called one day and had me drive across town to get my answer. It was ‘no.’ He could have told me that over the phone.” Her third try was with the bank that held the original note when the Millers purchased the property in 2003. “He said ‘no,’ too,” Miller says. “Finally, I just went out of town to get financing. I found a small-town bank in western Missouri that was willing to take a chance on me. No hassles.” Miller has been sole owner of Central Missouri Auto Body since May 30, 2014.

BUSINESS IS BOOMING. In the nearly two years since Miller bought the business outright, revenue has grown 22 percent. Customer numbers are up, nearing her goal of repairing 90 cars a month. She’s considering expansion. “This business is bursting at the seams,” she says proudly. “We need more space.” Miller estimates 97 percent of her business is insurance work. She advertises

a bit — and makes her own radio commercials — but credits most of the growth to word of mouth. “We have a reputation for integrity, and going above and beyond for customer service,” she says. “I have talented technicians who do excellent work. Word gets around.” Service reviews on Yelp and Facebook echo the praise for the shop’s work and the little extras customers have come to expect — from same-day service to free loaner cars. Miller often receives handwritten thank-you notes from satisfied customers. One recently declared she “truly demonstrates God’s love.” In collision repair work these days, customers obtain an estimate directly from the body shop, which then sends photos to the insurance adjuster who approves the work and issues payment. Miller confounded an insurer when she discovered a job had cost less than the estimate. She sent a check for the overpayment to the insurance company and got a letter in return. “The letter said the company had never received money back before,” she says. “I guess they just expected us to pocket the difference, but I’m not wired that way. I’m an accountant. Everything goes in its own place, and I didn’t have a place to put an overpayment.”

MILLER’S LEADERSHIP STYLE encourages autonomy in her 14 employees. “My responsibility is to offer the job,” she says. “The employee’s responsibility is to do the job. I hire professionals to do the work while I take care of the administration.” The progression she went through to buy the business helped her get a fresh start, she says. “It helped to be away for a while, at CIS and in Florida,” she says. “Working at Columbia Independent School gave me confidence. I observed how my supervisor dealt with employees.

She made it all so human. We all make mistakes, she said, so we just learn from them and go on.” She has found support from relationships with other women in business as well. She joined the Women’s Network in Columbia two years ago and last year attended the conference of the Women’s Industry Network, a national organization for women in the collision repair industry. “What’s cool about those meetings is everyone wants to share ideas, and they’re enthusiastic about sharing,” she says. Her network reaches wide. “Carol is a very determined individual,” says Danielle Harrison, a commercial lending officer at Landmark Bank. “Professionally, she is flourishing in a male-dominated industry. In her personal life, she challenges herself to grow, pushing herself both physically and mentally while preparing for triathlons.” The physical challenges of her newfound passion provide release and renewal. Nancy Yaeger, manager at Ultramax Sports Columbia, has found much to admire in Miller’s approach to life. “Carol is a strong businesswoman who is passionate about her business,” Yaeger says. “She’s not afraid to speak her mind and share her opinion, but she does so in a way that is not defensive or in a threatening manner, so you always want to hear what she has to say. Being a woman in a business that’s dominated by men, she knows the importance of encouraging other women.” “I have a legacy,” Miller says. “I want to take care of it.” She counts herself among the fans of inspirational author Mike Dooley, who reminds his readers “thoughts become things — choose wisely (the good ones!).” She’s happy with the wisdom of her choice to own her own business. “There is no doubt about it,” she says. “I love coming into work every day.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES: A DISPLAY AT CENTRAL MISSOURI AUTO BODY URGES PASSING DRIVERS TO BE CAUTIOUS AND AVOID DISTRACTIONS.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

DIVIDENDS

SWAG STASH

TOOLS OF THE TRADE by PORCSHE N. MORAN photos by L.G. PATTERSON

Industry trade shows are a chance to generate buzz about your business. Useful and creative giveaways imprinted with your company logo attract potential customers, and keep them engaged with your brand long after the event. Ditch the overdone stick pens, keychains and USB flash drives for these in-demand promotional items that will make your booth the hottest stop on the convention floor.

Adhesive phone wallet with radio frequency identification (RFID) blocker, available at Grossmann Promotional Products ($4.49– $4.99 EACH)

7 4

Vaccum-insulated tumbler by Hugo Copper (20-ounce), available at Grossmann Promotional Products ($12.98–$16.37 EACH) 5

Piccolo cooler tote bag, available at White Dog Promotions ($5.97–$8.31 EACH)

Chamois-style microfiber cleaning cloth, available at White Dog Promotions ($0.90–$1.25 EACH)

Vault charger with LED flashlight, available at White Dog Promotions ($22.06–$26.71 EACH)

Triple-function pen/flashlight/stylus by T. Macy, available at White Dog Promotions ($3.10–$4.05 EACH)

Full-color Opper Fiber cloth, available at White Dog Promotions ($0.82–$1.62 EACH)

Pet Collapsi-Bowl, available at White Dog Promotions ($2.46–$3.09 EACH)

Power bank external charger, available at Grossmann Promotional Products ($15.99– $17.50 EACH)

Two-tone cutting board (8-inch), available at White Dog Promotions ($4.80–$6.24 EACH)

Pawfect pet food scooper, available at White Dog Promotions ($0.87–$1.06 EACH)

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GROSSMANN PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

DIVIDENDS

CEO AT PLAY

Three Questions In spring, an insurance man’s fancy turns to baseball, beaches, golf … and The Weather Channel.

LOOK WHO’S TALKING

What happens when you get spring fever? MEANS: I want to go bass fishing, turkey hunting, or play golf.

RICK MEANS President & CEO Shelter Insurance Cos.

JIM OWEN President & CEO Missouri Employers Mutual

OWEN: I think of fun and sun with my wonderful wife and whoever of my grown kids will join me watching Cardinals spring training baseball (24 times so far). TAYLOR: Our family likes to be outside. We live on a small farm in Boone County. Spring fever brings the beginning of 4-H livestock projects for our kids and the excitement of getting our farm ready for another season.

How do you welcome Missouri’s volatile spring — dig in the dirt or batten down the hatches? MEANS: Let’s just have a nice calm spring. OWEN: Dig in the dirt. TAYLOR: Dig in the dirt! THOMPSON: Both — I dig in the dirt a lot with my 7-iron, but working in the insurance industry, my eyes are glued to The Weather Channel all through the spring.

THOMPSON: I hit the golf course! But then the fever subsides, usually by midMay, when I realize I didn’t get any better after the long winter layoff. If you could go on spring break, where would you go? MEANS: Somewhere in southwest Florida. OWEN: Jupiter, Fla., and surrounding area and ballparks.

JAKE TAYLOR Producer/Partner Winter-Dent & Co.

TAYLOR: We like the beaches of Alabama. Not exactly the tropics this time of year, but we still enjoy downtime with our family and friends. THOMPSON: The ski slopes in Breckenridge, Colo. I know, my wife thinks I’m crazy, too, going from cold weather to more cold weather, but as our kids were growing up, that was often our destination on spring break, so we have a lot of great memories!

GARY THOMPSON President & CEO Columbia Insurance Group

SPRING SPRING2016 2016I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S COLUMBIA’S CEO CEOI I5353 I INSIDE

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

DIVIDENDS

NETWORKING

Chamber Of Commerce Ambassador Mixer

4 1

The Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors took a break from their frantic pace of ribbon-cuttings recently to socialize, courtesy of the folks at Bob McCosh Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac. Contact the Ambassadors if your business or organization has a milestone to celebrate! 1. Kerrie Bloss and Gene DeVore 2. Cindy Mustard and Anne Churchill 3. Marty Siddall and Matt Garrett 4. Barbara Hodges and Charlene Jayamanne 5. William Markgraf, Cathy Cook and Chuck Everitt 6. Kevin Czaicki and Chuck Witt 7. Dan Scotten and Sean Spence 8. Greg Cecil and Heather Hargrove

PHOTOS BY WALLY PFEFFER, MIZZOUWALLY@COMPUSERVE.COM

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CEO

ADVERTISING INDEX Accounting Plus.................................................50 Central Bank Of Boone County.......................19 Central Trust Company..................................... 13 Cevet Tree Care..................................................29 City of Columbia Water & Light...................... 9 Columbia Landcare........................................... 59 Commerce Bank...................................................5 Downtown Appliance......................................... 4 Focus on Health.................................................50 Hawthorn Bank..................................................60 ICM Custom Publishing Solutions................ 35 Image Technologies...........................................15 Inside Columbia’s Best Of Columbia.................7 Inside Columbia’s CEO Updates .....................29 Inside Columbia’s E-Newsletters ....................56 Inside Columbia’s Instagram ............................15 Inside Columbia Subscriptions ..................17, 33 Insurance Adjusters Group LLC..................... 25 Landmark Bank.....................................................2 Leadercast...........................................................20 Moresource.........................................................54 Mutual Of Omaha............................................. 52 Piano Distributors............................................. 23 Postal Sign Express........................................... 33 Starr Properties.................................................. 25 Steve Twitchell Production...............................15 Tech Electronics.................................................56 The Broadway...................................................... 13 The Callaway Bank..............................................11 Trulaske execMBA.............................................. 9 UMB Bank........................................................... 23 Williams-Keepers...............................................17 Winter-Dent & Company...................................3

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Better Safe Than Sorry

recent survey of more than 1,000 If you ask prosecutors and local citizens by Inside Columbia cops about the reported increase in magazine indicates that 62 crime statistics, they’ll quickly point percent of Columbians feel less safe in their to two principle causes for the jump: homes and neighborhoods than they did overcrowded jails and gangs. just five years ago. The FBI’s newly released There are many who believe the local report on violent crime in Columbia reveals judges in the 13th Circuit think the Boone that those fears may be justified. According County Jail is too full. In a deliberate to the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report, attempt to ease the overcrowding, judges incidences of violent crime in Columbia tend to be more lenient with “minor” increased from 410 offenders, allowing incidents in 2014 to 600 in them to forgo jail time. 2015 — a 46 percent jump Consequently, many in just one year. frequent offenders are back A closer look at the on the streets committing numbers reveals that more crimes within hours much of the increase can of appearing before a be attributed to a jump judge. Of course, law in aggravated assaults. enforcement agencies are In 2014, there were frustrated by this constant 226 reported incidents churn of criminals in and compared to 376 in out of the legal system. 2015. Investigated rapes Another contributor “No solution will increased from 63 in 2014 to Columbia’s growing be possible without collaboration among to 82 last year. Robberies crime rate is tied to the local law enforcement increased from 116 to 141. increasing presence agencies.” Property crimes show of organized gangs in — Fred Parry a similar increase — Kansas City and St. Louis. Columbians reported 84 more burglaries Unfortunately, both cities consistently in 2015 than in 2014. Motor vehicle thefts rank in the top tier of American cities for increased by 58 in 2015. drug and criminal activity. The spillover As you might expect, there is of illegal activity from the east and the much more to the story than just the west is creeping into mid-Missouri. Local numbers. Police officials claim that our news outlets have reported an increase local police force is understaffed by as in out-of-towners facing charges in many as 50 officers. At least 68 percent Boone County for everything from drugs of Columbians surveyed share that to murder. Missouri Highway Patrol sentiment, agreeing that there are not officials cite an increased amount of drug enough police officers on the streets of trafficking along Interstate 70, which has Columbia. Despite this consensus, voters taken on the nickname, “The Heroine soundly rejected a ballot measure in Highway.” Cops will tell you it’s not 2014 that would have increased property unusual for a routine traffic stop to yield taxes to hire as many as 40 new cops. as much as 75 pounds of drugs.

There are no easy solutions to these problems. Don’t assume that just because voters rejected a property tax increase to pay for more police officers that they don’t support the idea of hiring more cops. Perhaps we should look at alternative sources of funding. Some will cite a lack of confidence in leadership at the Columbia Police Department as their reason for not supporting a tax increase to hire more cops; others will tell you the city has misplaced priorities for spending. Let’s just take another look at the capacity of the Boone County Jail. Is it really so overcrowded that local judges feel compelled to release offenders who truly deserve a night or two in jail? Are we inadvertently sending a message to drug dealers and thugs that their offenses aren’t worthy of appropriate consequences? What are the costs and benefits associated with housing these criminals in a neighboring county? There are many questions that must be addressed before a workable solution can be found. No solution will be possible without collaboration among local law enforcement agencies. Leadership from the Columbia Police Department, Boone County Sheriff ’s Department, University of Missouri Police and the Missouri Highway Patrol must be at the same table, sharing notes and devising strategies to combat crime in our community. While rank-and-file officers frequently interact in positive ways, there is room for improvement among their leaders. Reducing Columbia’s violent crime rate should be at the top of this community’s list of priorities.

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

CLOSING QUOTES

What Columbia’s Business People And Community Leaders Are Saying

“We want somebody in charge to say, ‘Look, this isn’t acceptable. You’ve gone too far here.’ ” — State Rep. Mike Lair of Chillicothe, lecturing University of Missouri officials on their handling of student protestors’ demands last fall

“The customer may not always be right, but they’re always the customer.” — Bob McCosh, owner of Bob McCosh Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

SPRING 2016

“I started my own business because I didn’t want to be contained into making someone else’s idea a reality.” — Chris Nyenhuis, co-founder of Eyes on Freight

“There’s not a better market than Columbia, Missouri.” —Gary Drewing, co-owner of Drewing Automotive

“People need emotional return and financial return. If those needs are satisfied, they can create what they need to create. And when they can do that, magic happens.” — Charles Oglesby, CEO of McLarty Automotive Group and Joe Machens Dealerships

SPRING 2016 I INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO

INSIDE COLUMBIA’S CEO OutFront Communications, LLC 47 E. Broadway Columbia, MO 65203

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage

PAID

Columbia, MO Permit 286