UP! Columbia College, Economy, and Magazine have reason to cheer

COLUMBIA, 3/26/11  (Beat Byte) --  Columbia, Columbia College, and Inside Columbia Magazine have reason to cheer this year, with recent reports that show things looking up for the eponymous trio.   

 

Columbia's Gross Domestic Product -- a measure of economic health -- bucked downward state and national trends in 2009, the last year for which U.S. Commerce Department figures are available.  Nationwide, GDP by metropolitan area declined 2.4 percent in 2009.  St. Louis and Kansas City declined by 5% and 2.3%, respectively.  But Columbia's GDP rose by 0.2%.

 

Likewise, Columbia College saw "the largest endowment increase in the state of Missouri," the St. Louis Business Journal reported.  "A hefty 30.8 percent jump." 

 

Finally, Inside Columbia CEO magazine and Inside Columbia’s Wine & Food Festival were named finalists in the national City and Regional Magazine Association (CRMA) Awards.   Magazines competed in 29 categories. Judges named five finalists and will choose one winner in each category to be announced at the CRMA 35th Annual Conference April 30-May 2 in Chicago.