Aging generation an advantage for Springfield

The New Mexico State University professor was the keynote speaker at the second annual Economic Outlook Conference, held Sept. 29 at the University Plaza Convention Center. The Springfield Business and Development Corp., a subsidiary of the Chamber of Commerce, hosted the event.

“You have some unique advantages,” he said, referring to how Springfield’s economic base, the health care industry, is uniquely suited to reap the benefits of the maturing population.

CoxHealth and St. John’s Health System, which employ about 16,500 combined, are the city’s two largest employers. The area’s third-largest employer, Wal-Mart stores, boasts 4,300 workers.

Springfield Public Schools employs 3,000 and Missouri State University employs 2,665 to round out the list of the area’s top-five heavy hitters.

Springfield is the best kind of industry town, according to the conference’s panelists, Evangel University President Robert Spence, Kraft Foods plant manager Joseph Metzger, Battlefield Mall manager Rob Rector and retiring St. John’s President and CEO Jay Eckersley.

Having a local economy founded on health care and education, they said, means a bright future for Springfield, regardless of factors such as low consumer confidence rates.

For more information on Springfield’s economic outlook, see the Oct. 10 issue of SBJ.