And now it’s time for another installment of… “Business Power Network In The News”!
Of course, the BIG news is that we are moving! Our chapter meetings will now be held in the Big Room at Mille’s Turn of the Century Café, 313 S. Jefferson, Springfield MO 65806, starting Tuesday, January 25th. Same meeting time as always, 11:15am to 1:00pm. The great thing about our new location is that our membership can continue to expand without the possibility of outgrowing our meeting space — and we can also hold Open Houses and other large networking events in the same space. Remember, leave the regular Mille’s parking lot (to the south of the restaurant) for our visitors (and other Mille’s customers) to use. For BPN members, free parking will be available on the 3rd level of the Meyer Alumni Building parking garage directly across the street. We are looking forward to seeing what Matt Marquart and the rest of the Mille’s crew can do for us!
Going back to September of last year, our own Mary Warner of the Springfield Business Journal was a contestant in the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor Fitness Festival Media Challenge. Here we see Mary demonstrating her archery skills. Look out, deer, here she comes! 🙂 SBJ is an annual participant in the Outdoor Fitness Festival, a series of not-for-profit events sponsored by Bass Pro to celebrate health and wellness, outdoor adventures and wildlife conservation in the beauty of the Ozarks. Proceeds from these events are shared by Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Ozark Greenways, and Wonders of Wildlife.
In October, SBJ interviewed Andy Flint of HA Construction/Design for an article on the 2010 HBA Home Remodeling Expo, which is designed to help southwest Missouri homeowners looking for ideas or professional help to renovate their homes. 
Andy was the HBA Home Remodelers Council Chairman from 2007 through 2010, and said that although most remodelers have managed to stay busy amid the recession, there’s usually a good return on participation in the Remodeling Expo. “A lot of plans walk in the door – people with sketches on cocktail napkins – and they can sit and visit with the remodeler.” The annual event typically has more than 100 local vendors. Read the entire article here.
November saw GHN Architects/Engineers receive their third consecutive nomination (at least) as one of SBJ’s Choice Employers. This year, GHN came in at number five in the 5 to 24 employee category. GHN is ably represented in our chapter by our Secretary/Treasurer, Hope Faller; you can read the SBJ article and an interview with GHN President Charles Hill here.
November also saw Elite Promotions move to their new location at 545 S. Union, taking over the building that formerly housed TJ Sales. Brian Wilmsmeyer of Elite says, “The layout of our new location allows for a more organized and professional work environment, thus making the employees happier and more productive. The structure of the warehouse has also allowed us to streamline some processes to make orders and fulfillment flow much smoother and more quickly for our customers.” In other marketing news, Chris Jarratt of Jarratt Design morphed his graphic design company into a new, full-service marketing and advertising firm, now known as Revel Advertising. Revel opened a new office space in downtown Springfield on November 5th, at 214 W. Phelps, Suite 102. (Read the SBJ “Open For Business” article here.) Chris, of course, is an Addy-award winning designer, and with the annual Addys coming up next month, we expect to have more news to post about Revel Advertising soon!
Finally, in December, our personal trainer Lee Haguewood moved to his new location, Anytime Fitness, located at 2767 W. Republic Road. “The new facility I now train from is truly state-of-the-art, if not luxurious,” says Lee. “Anytime Fitness features the best equipment available anywhere in Springfield. What this provides for my clients is a plethora of options that never existed before, including gym access 24/7.” Learn more about Lee at his website, www.trainerlee.com, and if you’d like to learn more about any of our members, or BNI in general, visit our main site and plan on attending a meeting today!