• NorthStar Battery held a ribbon cutting August 25th for its second Springfield manufacturing facility.  At full capacity, the new NorthStar facility will employ 450, have four production lines and produce up to 1.2 million batteries per year.

• Ozarks Technical Community College fall enrollment is up 15.5% from 2008. 

• BKD, LLP, just moved into its brand new headquarters facility in downtown Springfield.  The construction was a $21 million project.

• The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved the contract for the widening of U.S. Highway 65 to six lanes in Springfield.  Construction on the $26.9 million project began earlier this month.

• More great new to report about the airport’s passenger numbers: they’re up, again. The Springfield-Branson National Airport finished the month of July with 84,079 total passengers. That’s up 13 percent from July of 2008.

• CNBC recently announced America's Top States for Business in 2009, ranking Missouri 4th in cost of business and 5th in cost of living. In addition, the state ranks 6th in transportation based on the value of goods shipped by air, land and water. Missouri's overall ranking climbed from 24th in 2008 to 14th in 2009. 

• Another study recently released by Pollina Corporate Real Estate ranked Missouri 12th for its pro-business climate, up from 16th in 2008.