You might not know it, but America’s next big food franchise has been taking shape right under our beaks. Based in Holts Summit, PFSbrands sells more than 10 million pounds of chicken annually. But don’t look for restaurants or storefronts. Rather, PFSbrands sells chicken via kiosks inside grocery and convenience stores under the brand names Champs Chicken and Cooper’s Express.

The first chapter in The Great Game of Business started in the early ‘80s. Global manufacturer International Harvester was in deep financial trouble. While the company was laying off an average of 2,000 employees every week for two years, Jack Stack, manager of the company’s engine remanufacturing facility in Springfield, was struggling to save the 119 jobs there. Stack and

Casey Lund got into the collision repair business by accident. And that’s no pun. Lund’s father spent his career repairing cars. He even established his own shop, Warrensburg Collision. But Lund said his dad always steered him away from the high-burnout, high-turnover collision repair industry. So instead Lund went to business school and later worked in an office setting. But

Health clinicians can give medicine. They can administer treatments and do procedures. But the caregivers at Phoenix Home Care strive to offer their patients something more: a new beginning. “Home care has often been viewed as maintenance care,” said Phil Melugin, president and CEO of Phoenix Home Care. “We want a new beginning of independence to those we serve. For

Shane Mayes likes to buck trends. At a time when many companies have outsourced IT services overseas, Onshore Outsourcing’s founder and CEO has built his business by bringing those jobs back to the United States. Most IT executives would overlook communities like Macon as a viable location for a high-tech business or unskilled rural residents as a sustainable workforce, but

Missouri loves its dogs. Our state ranks fourth in the nation in dog ownership, and nearly one of every two Missourians owns a dog. So it’s not surprising that Missouri would also be home to an impressive list of companies that support the pet industry or that these companies, like Protein Solutions, would be among the fastest-growing businesses in the

Alaina Macia has a clear goal in mind for the company she leads: reaching $1 billion in annual revenue. That may seem ambitious for a business that posted just under $400 million in revenue in 2015. But with her company’s current growth trajectory – and some creative new service lines – Macia’s goal is far from unrealistic. “I always think,