High-tech dealership
Blue Ridge Mazda is going high-tech at its new location in Lee’s Summit.
Blue Ridge Mazda is offering customers a chance to be interactive at the dealership, with wireless technology as well as computer kiosks they can use.
“That means they can do cost comparisons on the Kelley Blue Book Web site or Edmunds.com right there at the dealership,” said Jamie Tinsley, a Mazda spokeswoman in Houston. “It would be like sitting at home and doing the research.”
The dealership, which moved from Raytown to Lee’s Summit in January, held its grand opening this week. Blue Ridge Mazda continues to operate its Raytown location as a used-car dealership.
Wheat crop tour
An industry group that toured hard red winter wheat fields in Kansas this week estimated this year’s Kansas crop at 379.1 million bushels.
Crop scouts on the Wheat Quality Council’s tour spent several days this week surveying fields in Kansas, the top U.S. wheat producing state, to assess the production potential of the crop.
Kansas farmers last fall planted 9.9 million acres of hard red winter wheat, down from 10.4 million a year earlier. The crop is harvested in the summer.
Following the tour, participants estimated farmers would harvest an average of 43.4 bushels an acre.
Participants made fewer field stops this year because of wet weather.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture today will release its first estimate for the Kansas wheat crop in its monthly supply and demand report.
Last year’s Kansas hard red winter wheat harvest came in at 283.8 million bushels.
Banks to merge
Two Goppert-family-owned banks plan to merge under the name Goppert Financial Bank.
The Lathrop Bank in Clinton County and Citizens Bank of Norborne, Mo., in Carroll County had combined assets of $63.8 million at the end of December.
Goppert Financial Corp. owns 98 percent of Lathrop Bank and 80.4 percent of Citizens, according to a merger application submitted to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The family had owned Goppert Bank & Trust Co. in Kansas City until its sale in 1986.
South Africa contract
Black & Veatch has been chosen by Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned electric utility, to provide project management and engineering services for a 4,800-megawatt power generation center being built 120 miles east of Johannesburg.
Dubbed Project Bravo, the project will have six 800-megawatt units to be completed in stages, with the first coming online in 2012. The plants will burn coal and use a flue-gas desulfurization process designed to boost efficiency and reduce pollution.
Oxygen deal
B/E Aerospace in Lenexa will produce the oxygen systems for a new commercial aircraft being developed by Airbus.
The awarding of the contract, initially valued in excess of $125 million, will be recognized by B/E Aerospace and Airbus executives during a ceremony at the Lenexa plant scheduled for Monday.
B/E Aerospace will supply the passenger and crew oxygen systems for the Airbus A350, a wide-body plane scheduled to go into service in 2013.
Join the discussion
Share your observations and experiences about news. Lively, open debate is the goal, but please refrain from personal attacks or comments that are racist, vulgar or otherwise inappropriate. If you see an inappropriate comment, please click the "Report as violation" link to notify a KansasCity.com editor. Thanks for your feedback.