Local News – Tuesday, April 2nd, 2019

The Dent County Commissioners met for their regular meeting Monday morning at the Dent County Courthouse. The City of Salem Economic Director Sally Burbridge presented her report for the month of March. She said she had two new business prospects during the month with one of them making a visit to Salem. She continues to work with existing businesses to help them grow and is still working on some ongoing prospects who are interested in Salem. She gave a report on the City of Salem Facebook page and also told the commission the next Economic Development Strategic Plan workshop will be held April 25th at 5:30 at a place to still be determined. She said that workshop will concentrate on signage and housing. She said the Enhanced Enterprise Zone information has been updated on the Missouri Department of Economic Development Website. She talked to the commissioners about STEP-UP program training for any business in Salem that exports their products internationally. She also said she and Chamber Director Tabitha Utley attended a Tourism Division Regional meeting to learn about funding and partnership activities available to Salem and Dent County through the Missouri Division of Tourism. She also reported the City of Salem, the Salem R-80 Schools and Healthy Dent County submitted the grant application for the Workforce Training Initiative Grant. Burbridge also said she is researching an AARP grant for downtown sidewalks and lighting upgrades. In the road report, District 1 Commissioner Dennis Purcell said Dent County received about 1.8 inches of rain over the weekend. He said crews will be out adding material to and grading Dent County Roads 5210, 2460, 5015 and 5080 while only grading will be done on county road 5085. District 2 Commissioner Larson said grading would be done on Dent County Roads 2070, 3190, 3260, 4270 and 4260. Larson also said materials would be added to county road 2240. Dent County Clerk Angie Curley wanted to remind voters the polls will open at 6:00 this morning and stay open until 7:00 this evening. She also wanted to remind the voters in Bunker that they will need to vote at the Bunker City Hall and not at the school. This is a permanent location change and voters will vote from now on at the Bunker City Hall. The next meeting of the Dent County Commissioners will be Thursday morning at 9:00 at the courthouse and the meeting is open to the public.

If you are curious about how the Missouri Department of Conservation’s George O. White State Forest Nursery operates? They are inviting the general public to an open house at the State Forest Nursery on Saturday, April 6th, with tours by appointment from 9:00 in the morning until 2:00. The nursery is located at 14027 Shafer Road, just north of Licking. If you want to see how nursery staff grow, store, and ship millions of tree seedlings each year, this will be your chance. The tours will take guests behind the scenes through the seedling beds, sorting room, cold storage room, and more. Guests can also learn about Missouri’s native trees and plants, enjoy fishing demonstrations at the nursery’s three-acre lake, meet Smokey Bear, watch a full-scale sawmill demonstration, and chat with Missouri’s conservation experts. Free hot dogs, chips, and cookies will be served throughout the day. To reserve a tour time, call the nursery at (573) 674-3229.

Businesses with seasonal or temporary employees are invited to send their employees to boost their skills in customer service and hospitality at two upcoming Customer Service Training workshops this April hosted by University of Missouri Extension. Tourism plays a significant role in our region’s economy. Improving employees’ customer service skills and knowledge of local attractions can help improve the visitor experience, and draw tourists back for future visits. Workshop participants will update their customer service skills, learn about regional tourism resources, and practice answering common visitor questions. There are two locations available for this training. the first will be on Wednesday, April 10th at the Meramec Regional Planning Commission located at #4 Industrial Drive in St. James. There are two time options available. The first training is from 9:00 – 11:00 in the morning and the second training is from 1:00 -3:00 in the afternoon. If you are part of the Naturally Meramec Consortium, your employees can attend for no charge, otherwise the cost is $6.00 per employee. Call Samantha at 573-265-2993, extension 111 to register or to find out more information about being a part of Naturally Meramec Consortium. The second training will be in Salem at the Salem Community Center @ the Armory located at 1200 West Rolla Rd in Salem on Friday, April 12th. Again, there be two time options available for the training: from 9:00 – 11:00 in the morning or from 1:00 – 3:00 in the afternoon. This training is free to employees of Dent County businesses or Naturally Meramec Consortium members, otherwise there is a $6.00 charge per employee. Call Dent County Extension at 573-729-3196 to register. These workshops will be led by University of Missouri Extension, with funding support from Naturally Meramec Consortium and Dent County Tourism Tax Commission. The University of Missouri Extension is an equal opportunity and ADA institution.