Who said you can’t go home again? Matt Morrow has.
The Missouri native returned to his former stomping grounds in mid-November as the new president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.
Morrow wasn’t looking to return to the Ozarks after relocating to Birmingham, Ala., two years ago to run the Greater Birmingham Association of Home Builders, the fifth-largest organization of its kind. He wasn’t looking for that position, either. Throughout his career, opportunities have presented themselves, and Morrow – along with wife Rachael – has had to evaluate if the door is one through which he should step.
Morrow started out in radio, working weekend shifts while at Southwest Baptist University. After graduation, Morrow then managed the station. That lasted a year.
Morrow knew Roy Blunt from the senator’s time as SBU’s president and as a congressional candidate, and that connection propelled Morrow into politics at the state level and with former Sen. John Ashcroft.
Through politics, Morrow was introduced to the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, which was looking for someone to help with political advocacy. Morrow was drawn to HBA’s focus on creating opportunities for employers in the building industry to thrive, expand and hire.
“I just fell in love with that,” he says.
Morrow spent 11 years with HBA, representing the interests of hundreds of members in a 10-county region. He wasn’t looking to leave when the Birmingham job opened up, but he felt compelled to pursue it.
“It worked out really well – just shorter than anyone expected,” he says of Birmingham.
The new locale had just started to feel like home when longtime chamber leader Jim Anderson announced his retirement, and Morrow received several inquiring calls.
“I was immediately humbled by that. I know Jim. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s one of a kind.” Morrow says. “It was an honor to have people call me.”
The chamber is extending its annual plan into a three-year strategic focus that allows for immediate goals in 2015, but also longer-term initiatives. Two things Morrow knows need continued emphasis are workforce readiness and the shortage of ready-to-go industrial space.
He firmly believes continuing the chamber’s focus on economic development is critical to addressing the area’s social ills like poverty, and he thinks the area’s strong entrepreneurial bent must be protected.
“We want to never take that for granted ... and continue to foster that,” he says.[[In-content Ad]]
Moseley’s Discount Office Products was purchased; Side Chick opened in Branson; and the Springfield franchise store of NoBaked Cookie Dough changed ownership.
