YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Jonas Arjes knows a thing or two about economic development and marketing the region to interested businesses.
Arjes, who grew up in the area, joined the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce in October 2024 as senior vice president of economic development. He brought his longtime eco devo experience to the role, previously serving as executive vice president and chief economic development officer for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and as executive director of the Taney County Partnership.
When he’s working to attract businesses to the region or retain investments in the local economy, Arjes says his background leads the way.
“To me, it’s the authenticity,” he says, noting he’s always called the Ozarks home and this is where he’s made his career. “I understand the business community and what it takes to be successful here.”
Experience in both Springfield and Branson is coming in handy for the Missouri State University graduate, as Arjes says, “Those two markets are entwined.” That’s not to say his position at the Springfield chamber is entirely similar to his previous roles in the Branson area. There, he says tourism is the largest industry and drives a lot of business.
“The transition up here, which was part of the appeal of the position ... was the diversity of the industry. What I really looked forward to and have enjoyed immensely is the different projects and the different businesses that we get to work with,” Arjes says. “I worked on and was involved in more manufacturing projects in the first two months of the job up here than I did in 13 years down there.”
While his one-year anniversary is coming up at the Springfield chamber, Arjes says most of the publicly announced business attraction and retention wins in his tenure so far started before he joined the organization. He pointed to Press Room Equipment Co. LLC’s expansion to Partnership Industrial Center West and Keep Supply’s relocation downtown as wins he’s had a hand in to date.
“There’s a handful right now that we’ve started that we’re not ready to announce yet. I know the majority of our project pipeline is existing companies that are expanding,” he says. “You don’t want to jinx them because dynamics are changing all the time.”
Arjes says the economic development team at the Springfield chamber has a niche that largely focuses on industrial, light industrial and back-office employers. He also credits the city of Springfield, City Utilities of Springfield, Greene County and the Missouri Department of Economic Development as supportive partners in the economic development work the chamber does.
“We work very well together,” he says. “We’d like to do it even better.”
Arjes often meets with his counterparts at the partnering organizations as they work together to grow the economy.
“We’ve been very purposeful,” he says.
Arjes says he’s competitive when it comes to winning business, but not every project works out. And economic development professionals don’t always know why their area wasn’t selected for a development, he says.
“You can’t take it personal. These are businesses making business decisions. At the end of the day, you didn’t have exactly what they needed in their minds for them to be successful,” Arjes says. “When you do have the ability to find out why, then that gives you almost a to-do list.”
Shortly after getting married, Amos and Shelby Hale became first-time business owners with the July 10 launch of 9 Lives Tavern in downtown Ozark.
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