2017 Men of the Year: Bob Belote

Motivating Factors

Family: My wife, Deana, is a Parent As Teachers educator; our son, Alex, is in his second year of med school and our daughter, Abbey, is at Missouri State Univesity.
Words you live by: Never underestimate the power a kind act or word of encouragement can have on others. Sometimes, you never know what someone else might be going through, but often times a little encouragement can go a very long way.

Bob Belote is a leader, an encourager and a public servant. As the director of parks for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, Belote has had the opportunity to serve the people and parks of the Springfield area for the last five years.

Though his position as director is young, Belote has worked in parks and recreation for almost 30 years – most recently, locally, as the assistant director, as well as superintendent of recreation. He has served many Midwestern communities, including Blue Springs and Independence in the Show-Me State and Sioux City, Iowa.

Belote currently manages an award-winning park system comprised of 103 park sites that received national accreditation through the Commission for the Accreditation of Parks and Recreation Agencies, putting the department in the top 2 percent of all parks and recreation agencies nationwide.

As a proponent of revitalizing older, neighborhood parks, Belote has helped restore Sequiota, Fassnight, Doling and Silver Springs parks.

“While it’s always exciting to work on new multimillion dollar facilities, its even more important to show the appropriate care and stewardship toward a community’s older park cites,” he says. “While not often a glamorous process, the restoration of a neighborhood park is so very vital to each of those families close by.”

Statewide, Belote is involved in the Missouri Park and Recreation Association, and served as its president in 2003. His work at home and with the association led to a 2012 honor for his ongoing contributions with the association’s’ Fellow award. Belote has a history of awards, recognized earlier in his career as an outstanding young public servant by the city of Blue Springs.

Outside of the world of parks and recreation, Belote is involved with Leadership Springfield, graduating from the 25th class in 2010 and serving as current program adviser. It was mentors early in his career who shaped his trajectory and Belote hopes to pay that forward.

“I was so blessed to have mentors both educationally and professionally that encouraged me, and at times really pushed me, to go beyond the status quo and achieve my fullest potential,” he said, noting he does his best to encourage others. “I think it goes hand-in-hand with being in public service.”

With that in mind, Belote works everyday to encourage his employees to be as hardworking and dedicated as they can be. He often asks his team, “Is that really the very best we can do?”

“I’ve strived to remind each of our employees that we’re all working toward the same goals and to remember the collaborative power that can come with pulling everyone in the same direction,” he says.

Belote and the park system routinely come in contact with more than 250 groups and organizations interested in partnering for events.

“To me, the legacy of the Park Board is how involved the community itself has been in making its park system so awesome,” he says. “Ultimately, my role is to help facilitate those discussions and see what kinds of partnerships might be possible. It’s amazing what can be accomplished working together that way.”