Michele Kiser showed us the way in so many ways. First and foremost, she doubled as a wife and mother, setting the bar high by attending almost every one of her son’s events. In her 20s, she created her own business and found the way to a successful blueprint. Thus, Michele’s company, Advertising Plus, is… Read more »
News
Category: John Q. Hammons Founders Award Winners
Empire Bank
Empire Bank has been serving the Ozarks since 1956 and offers a host of community based banking and financial services in Springfield, Nixa, Ozark, Highlandville, Marshfield, Strafford, Fair Grove, Pleasant Hope, Republic, and Battlefield. Empire Bank’s holding company, Central Bancompany, has been ranked four years in a row by Forbes Magazine as one of America’s… Read more »
Bryan Properties
Speak to anyone who runs a successful business, especially in Springfield, and they make one thing clear right away: If you don’t give back to your community, you’re not truly successful. A prime example is Bryan Properties. Not long after it launched in 1985, it began sponsoring a number of sporting events and organizations in… Read more »
Central Bank
Central Bank, its local Board of Directors, Officers and Employees have been a significant part of Lebanon and Laclede County since 1917. Local ownership began with I.T. Curry, who passed the bank on to his son, George Curry. George then passed it on to his son, Craig Curry. With over 100 employees to serve all… Read more »
Columbia Orthopaedic Group
The longtime former president of Columbia Orthopaedic Group sometimes sits back and just beams. And why not? Just look how far sports medicine has come since the 1950s. “It used to be a joke in the ’70s and ’80s that sports medicine was a ‘bucket and a sponge at the end of the bench!’” said… Read more »
Great Southern Bank
Great Southern Bank, under the leadership of the Turner family, has played a significant role in the continued growth and advancement of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame during its first ten years in Springfield, while supporting numerous sports and community endeavors across the region. As a long time corporate sponsor, Great Southern Bank has… Read more »
Hamra Enterprises
Tucked back from the southwest corner of Highway 65 and Sunshine Street in east Springfield sits a building equipped with a sign that reads Hamra Enterprises. Anyone who drives by may not realize its enormous reach, both in the restaurant business and in giving back. The company was founded by Sam & June Hamra in… Read more »
Hannibal Regional Foundation
The great thing about sports is that you can make a positive impact even if you’re not the star slugger or the veteran coach shaping young lives. In fact, in the northeast Missouri community of Hannibal, the story of one organization’s outreach might leave you teary-eyed and beaming with pride. The Hannibal Regional Foundation for… Read more »
Heart of America Beverage Company
On a float trip on the scenic Buffalo River in Arkansas in 1975 and with his life pushing 30, Jim Ferguson declared this idea to three buddies: One day he would become the Coors beer distributor in southwest Missouri. Lo and behold, what seemed like a longshot idea actually became a reality in 1978 and,… Read more »
Jack Henry & Associates
Given all of its outreach to numerous charitable causes, Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.® (JHA) is much like a big-leaguer who hits a monster home run and yet quietly jogs around the bases. Through the course of a year, the Fortune 400 company’s leadership and employees gladly spend hours aiding those in need in southwest… Read more »
Hiland Dairy
Hiland is the only locally operated dairy due to is single-minded commitment to quality. Hiland’s stringent production standards exceed the toughest state and federal requirements, which help ensure the highest quality dairy products available.
Hillyard, Inc.
In 1920, N.S. Hillyard, founder of the Hillyard Companies erected a new plant in St. Joseph, housing the largest wood gym floor west of the Mississippi. He used it as a test site for his gym floor maintenance products. N.S. organized a company basketball team that became the two-time national A.A.U. champions and earned Hillyard… Read more »
Independent Printing
When Wally Hemingway purchased Independent Printing in 1971, the vision wasn’t necessarily to build record profits or woo hundreds of businesses for their printing needs. Those were important, yes. However, for Hemingway, so too were positive contributions to the Springfield community. To help others along the way. To help lift up those who truly could… Read more »
Killian Construction
He could have declined and went on his way. That’s what gets lost in all of this. After all, he had no meaningful connection to sports – high school sports at that – since he spent his teen years in the family business, performing thankless roles such as sweeping concrete floors of construction sites. In… Read more »
KOLR 10/Fox 49, KOZL Z72/Ozarksfirst.com
Back in 2012, a phone call from the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame traveled right up the road in Springfield to a local TV station. That station is now KOLR 10/Fox 49/KOZL Z27/OzarksFirst.com, and its then-TV Vice President and General Manager was Leo Henning (MSHOF President’s Award 2020), who had barely arrived to town. And… Read more »
McQueary Brothers Drug Company
McQueary Brothers Drug company was started in Springfield, MO in 1924 by brothers Les and Fred McQueary. A wholesale drug company, McQueary Brothers expanded from serving retail pharmacies in Missouri and Arkansas early in the company’s existence to serving pharmacies in 7 states across the Midwest. Les and Fred were avid sports fans and actively… Read more »