The show must go on

With the caliber of entertainment the Gillioz Theatre has been bringing to town recently, one might have forgotten that the theater was in dire straights just a year and a half ago.

Green synergy comes to town

It’s springtime in Springfield, so it seems only fitting to have “green” on the mind.

Never too early to think of baseball, fireworks

It seems some Springfield businesses know a good thing when they see it. With March winds still packing a chilly punch, Urban Districts Alliance and a group of local companies are thinking ahead to summer and throwing their support behind Fireworks at the Field, an Independence Day celebration that will return for the second year to Hammons Field and downtown Springfield.

Beer on the brain

Recent data released by the Brewers Association has me thirsty.

SBJ: An intern’s perspective

Editor’s Note: This piece was originally posted online at Ozarks News Journal, a student blog and podcast Web site under the direction of Missouri State University journalism professor Andrew Cline.

My experience as an editorial intern at Springfield Business Journal has improved my writing, and it has taught me how to better frame my thoughts.

Brave the cold for first art walk of the year

There’s no doubt that it’s cold out there, but freezing temperatures are no reason to skip the first First Friday Art Walk of 2011 tonight.

Resolving to eat chili in 2011

Some people want to lose weight. Others want to quit smoking. But for me, I’d be happy just to eat some chili in 2011.

Chamber Expo a refreshing behind-the-scenes affair

I was overwhelmed yesterday upon entering the 2010 Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Business and Technology Expo.

Address local energy demand issues from the bottom up

On Sunday, January 24, the News-Leader published an article about a regional utility shutting off power to several communities in the future due to the unknown costs associated with cap-and-trade legislation that is currently pending in congress.

Newsroom Extras: What happened to these Drury SIFE projects?

I recently sat down with Josh Jones, director of Drury University’s Students in Free Enterprise, for a Q&A that ran in our Sept. 28 education issue.

During our discussion, I also asked about three DSIFE-run projects that I’d followed before but hadn’t heard much about recently: Smal-Mart, a convenience store that was opened on campus in 2001; Avenue 33, a clothing consignment store on South Glenstone Avenue, and the DSIFE incubator, which opened in 2004 at 530 Boonville Ave. and offered services to help fledgling startups grow.

Jones said neither of the retail operations remain up and running, not because the group is opposed to working in the retail sector, but because the volunteer hours required to keep them afloat don’t fit well with students’ schedules, particularly if the site was far-removed from campus. He said, though, that the DSIFE team would be open to embarking on retail ventures in the future, if it can find the right fit.

The incubator’s storefront, adjacent to the Jordan Valley Innovation Center in the former Springfield Mortuary Service Inc. building, is closed. But Jones said DSIFE remains dedicated to offering assistance to local small businesses. Businesses can still tap SIFE for help with startup and growth issues, but without the storefront, which used to offer access to phones, fax, telephones and computers. Jones said the former storefront is now part of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center campus.