Bringing Business Home

When businesses choose to locate or expand in the Springfield area, it may be less about good fortune and more a result of a concerted, often behind-the-scenes effort to foster local economic development.

The Springfield Business Development Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, is charged with convincing business owners and senior executives that the Springfield region is the best place for them to grow.

Last year, SBDC helped 12 existing companies expand, resulting in 1,167 jobs and new capital investment of $73.6 million. Year-to-date in 2012, three projects – SRC Automotive, SRC Power Systems and United Poly Systems LLC – have been announced, creating 96 new jobs and additional payroll of $2.7 million for the area.

Before they are announced, projects for companies that have expressed interest in locating or expanding here – and are using SBDC services – are considered active projects. Ryan Mooney, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development and leader of the SBDC team, said the active project roster now stands at 24, and 11 of those were added this year.

“We work very closely with our partners at the city, county and City Utilities as well as our regional partners,” Mooney said. “We’re part of a puzzle, and we all have our role in making sure economic development is moving forward in the area.”

Mooney said his team continually prospects for leads and does whatever it can to help a company locate or expand here.

Assets and opportunities
Each company’s set of needs is different, Mooney said. Sometimes the cost of doing business is most important. For other companies, the quality and availability of the labor force is chief.

“Obviously for some, geography is important, being in the center of the country is relevant,” Mooney said. “We just make sure we leverage every asset Springfield has … to meet their desired needs.”

Businesses also might be attracted to the Ozarks by factors such as employment growth. In the past year, both the city and the state have been recognized for job growth, and in the first quarter, Missouri added 27,500 jobs, outpacing jobs added in all eight of its neighboring states, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

The SBDC’s 2012 Economic Development Action Plan incorporates findings from the 2010 Market Street Strategic Action Plan for Economic Development, pinpointing opportunities for economic development in target industries defined as legacy, leading and emerging, Mooney said. “Legacy is manufacturing. It’s a very solid base for our community, and it will continue to be in the future,” he said.

Leading industries include distribution and warehousing, medical services and research, and emerging industries are those such as technology innovation, which are expected to drive future growth.

Fruits of SBDC’s efforts can be seen throughout the Ozarks and include the local presence of Expedia Inc., which decided in 2010 to locate in the old terminal at Springfield-Branson Regional Airport and bring 500 jobs to the city.  

In late 2011, officials with stainless steel manufacturer Paul Mueller Co. announced plans to add up to 289 jobs in three years and invest $600,000 in new equipment in the next five years, taking advantage of tax credits for the expansion.

And more recently, in March 2011, John Deere Reman-Springfield finalized plans to build a 275,000-square-foot facility in Strafford, within an Enterprise Zone with tax credit and tax abatement incentives. The company plans to create 55 jobs and invest $14 million in capital during the next five years.

Business growth support
Mooney said businesses don’t pay for SBDC’s assistance. Its annual budget of roughly $675,000 is supported by its partners and by investors through the Partnership for Prosperity II, which will wind down at year’s end.

Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. is among the SBDC’s Silver Investors, contributing at least $5,000 a year to SBDC. “The reason we signed on is that the SBDC is an organization that is actively trying to promote the community and the development of the community,” said Geoffrey Butler, architect and president.

Butler said the reason his firm has invested in SBDC for the last six years is simple.

“The economic engine of this community takes a lot of growth in all sectors, and the SBDC has everybody looking at the big picture instead of little stuff,” he said.  “I don’t know that this is unique, that we invented this wheel, but this wheel is a nice round wheel that works well. … That’s why we’ve continued to fund it through the years, even during this downturn that has just killed everybody.” In fact, Butler said the recession provided all the more reason for supporting the SBDC.

“When things are bad, that’s when you’ve got to work harder and that’s when you need to fund,” he said.

Mooney said the SBDC is hoping to expand its investor base to allow it to work more aggressively to bring in new opportunities. “While we feel like we need to be the best stewards that we can with the money provided, we do feel there are some areas we could improve in a very strategic way with additional funding,” Mooney said.

Butler encourages other businesses to invest, even if it’s a small amount.

“A lot of little numbers will make a big number,” Butler said. “You’ve got to spread that investment out over a whole lot of people, a lot of businesspeople who understand their business gets better when other business comes in.”

The SBDC is now working on development of a new funding structure for 2013 and beyond, after chamber leadership decided last year to be more flexible and focus on funding initiatives annually.[[In-content Ad]]