Ingrams August 2023

Mike Scott NEMOnews Media Group Kahoka Mike Scott can tell you a lot of stories about his path to newspaper publishing— everything from hard-boiling 300,000 eggs a day at a processing facility to working for a dishonest copier salesman, in a path that veered from Iowa to Nebraska to

Mary Schrag Physical Therapy Specialists Clinic West Plains Even though she knew she wanted to enter health care since about age eight, it took an accidental encounter after high school while working at a Springfield hospital to really solidify Mary Schrag’s plans. “When I entered the physical

Missouri. For all the obstacles, though, his experience gave him the tools to eventually own a variety of publications of his own. In March 2003, he purchased the Kahoka Media, Edina Sentinel, and LaBelle Star, and today NEMOnews Media Group owns seven papers located in Kahoka, Memphis, Edina, Lancaster, Shelbyville, Palmyra, and Milan with a combined circulation of around 10,000—all in small communities in northeast Missouri that rely heavily on local coverage. It’s that relationship with residents that’s allowed for their survival, Scott said. “People have so many news choices, and most big-city papers have lost the battle to TV because it’s perceived as free.” Originally from Fort Dodge, Iowa, Scott graduated from Iowa State University, where he got his first “writing job” as a staff writer for the “Greek Line” newspaper covering the university’s 32 fraternities and sororities. Now, nearly 40 years after graduating college, much of his role comes down to adapting to a very different media environment. “There’s no doubt that print ads have dropped in recent years. We’re having a lot of success in selling multi-paper packages, and we’re just getting started with a company to help with programmatic and social media digital ad sales. We want to become the go-to in northeast Missouri.”

therapy department, I could see a ball flying through the air and I could hear weights clanking,” she said. “This was very appealing to me. … I feel like it was God leading me into this particular profession.” After leaving Mizzou, she started the PT department at Ozarks Medical Center and served as the only licensed physical therapist in a 10-county area at the time. Long hours and a new daughter prompted her to launch her own practice in West Plains. “In a very short time, it grew organically … and, as they say, the rest is history,” she says. That 32-year history has seen a lot of changes in her profession, especially with geriatric care, as well as a greater focus on workplace injuries. She’s also passionate about improving the PT field and the level of care for all Missourians, and is involved with many professional organizations, including the physical therapy commission to the Board of Healing Arts, the Missouri State University Board of Governors, the Workforce Investment Board, even the Missouri Board of Education. “You cannot improve the system if you are not part of the system,” she says. “I believe education is foundational for the future of Missouri—both through economic development but also for quality of life.”

Mike Sloan Hermann Wurst Haus Hermann

Angelo Trozzolo Trozzolo Communications Group Kansas City Talk about faith in your child: Angelo Trozzolo’s dad had only recently started a successful custom publishing business when the idea of shifting the entire focus to advertising first came about. “I’m grateful to my father for striking out on his own

It has a regional reputation as a center for wine-making excellence, but that doesn’t define residents of Hermann, or its tourists, as a wine-and-cheese crowd. Smoked sausage and bratwursts, often paired more with beer than wine in

this part of the world, are holding their own here, thanks to Mike Sloan. He grew up in a family of meat processors in Swiss, Mo., honed his craft and recipes, and with his bride, Lynette, opened the Hermann Wurst Haus in 2011, and later the Fulton Wurst Haus. To that task, they bring a formidable level of experience: More than 70 combined years of experience, turning out more than 60 varieties of fresh, hand-crafted and smoked sausages and bratwursts. And these aren’t your garden-variety eats. As wurstmeister, Mike Sloan has a jam-packed trophy case, with more than 500 international, national, state and regional awards. Among them: 14 best of show honors and 29 International awards from the German Butcher’s Association in Frankfurt. Just last month, he picked up a Reserve Champion award for his venison soppressata at the American Cured Meats Championships in North Carolina. Given the history of the town, a Wurst Haus made perfect sense; the Philadelphia-based German Settlement Society made its first land purchase there in 1837. So Sloan is playing to historical roots with his offerings, even if the surrounding land proved to be more accommodating to grape vines than growing barley.

in the first place and for trusting me—nine years into the company’s existence—to change the entire business model of a successful and profitable company.” Today, Angelo is president & CEO of one of the Midwest’s premier independent marketing communications agencies, employing more than 80 people. In addition to its strong Kansas City presence—including work that’s national or super-regional in scope— Trozzolo recently opened a new office in Milwaukee. Yet, he said he places tremendous value on his hometown and the collaboration and strength of Kansas City’s marketing industry. “We punch well above our weight in the industry, with KC being a top 10 market in the country for our services. There are great large agencies here, great independent agencies, great specialist agencies, great mid-size agencies, and great small agencies, and we are all each other’s big- gest fans. It’s a very Kansas City thing.” And that “thing” may be hard to define, he said, but its power is on display daily. “We support each other. We’re more siblings than adversaries. We talk through differ ences. We wear T-shirts that say Kansas City while we’re in Kansas City. … Good begets good, and business execs understand that. They do it because it’s good for the community. That’s good for business.”

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