Day in the Life: Crystal Quade

Having spent eight years in the Missouri House of Representatives, Crystal Quade is both an experienced listener and advocate. She has brought these skills with her to her position as executive director of the Downtown Springfield Association, where she is two months into the role

Quade starts her day, after dropping her daughter off at school, in a breakfast conversation with Springfield City Manager David Cameron. The two have gathered at Gailey’s Breakfast Cafe to discuss shared priorities of DSA members and the city’s chief executive.

Amid the hum of conversation, punctuated by the clink of dish against dish, the two move from the general to the specific, and Quade brings up issues that are pertinent to the downtown community.

“David and I try to get together every once in a while for a check-in and to see how we can be helpful to each other,“ she says after the meal. “He’s been fantastic.”

In a shift from one high-level conversation to another, Quade ducks out of breakfast for a meeting of the Economic Development Partners Collaborative at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, making a breathless entry about 10 minutes late.

It’s a body that includes chamber, city, county and utility representatives, plus others like Quade who are in a position to contribute to the effort to attract business and industry to the region. The conversation is off-limits to observers, with discussion of specific prospects to either relocate or expand and the ways a business’ needs might be accommodated.

Quade exits the meeting before it’s done. She has another engagement at Cox North, where she’s due to participate in a panel called “Arts & Culture: What’s Cool in SGF” for the Leadership Springfield Access Class, a two-day crash course in all things Springfield for newcomers and budding professionals.

Panelists joining Quade at a table in front of the room are Sarah Abele, director of programming and development for the Springfield Regional Arts Council Inc., and Mark Hecquet, president and CEO of Visit Springfield, Missouri. The panelists outline the city’s cultural and artistic assets for class members.

Lunch would be a good guess for what comes next, but Quade needs this time. She’s the sole employee of the DSA, meaning she’s the only one who can pick up an order of posters from Springfield Blue Print & Photo Copy Co., a downtown print shop.

“We all support each other,” she says. “It’s our own little neighborhood.”

The posters are for Women’s Day Downtown, an event honoring 60 women-owned and women-led downtown businesses, set for April 25. It’s Quade who delivers posters, too, and dropping in gives her a chance to check in with some of the DSA’s members, like Mandi Fritz, owner of 417 Cocktails.

Quade also takes a moment to pop into her office to take off her jacket and check email and messages.

Her office is located on the second floor of 134 Park Central Square, the Historic Woolworth Building. Before Quade was hired, a small staff occupied the first floor, where older locals can recall visiting the candy shop and the lunch counter, but Quade is a solo act occupying cozier digs one floor up.

Quade notes that the DSA is not alone in tightening its operations. “Membership organizations are struggling across the board,” she says.

She adds that business owners who are looking to cut expenses often eye membership fees, so organizations have to make certain they are worth the investment. That’s a persistent challenge, she says.

“The DSA has really shifted, and that’s part of our discussions as well. Where do we staff up first, and what does that look like?” she says.

Quade says she is asking members a lot of questions about how best to meet their needs as the DSA works to redefine its work.

She notes that one of her charges from the DSA Board of Directors is to engage in strategic planning and evaluation of the organization to ultimately redefine roles and responsibilities for all of the players.

In the Republican-dominated Missouri House of Representatives, Quade was the youngest minority leader in the body’s history and held the post for six of her eight years. That experience, and experience as the state’s Democratic nominee for governor in 2024, taught her to listen, and she says she applies those lessons to her current role.

“Downtown business owners feel things happen to them,” she says. “Now they’re at the table more.”

Asked to describe downtown in a few words, Quade fixes on one right away: culture.

“Downtown is full of culture,” she says.

Another: fun.

“It’s a simple word, but it really is fun, with amazing local food and businesses,” she says.

She offers this reflection while sipping a berry smoothie at Asa Al-Furat Cafe at 207 Park Central East, where she has found time for a break after a sudden cancellation of an appointment with a member.

The Iraqi cafe is an example of the kinds of surprises downtown has to offer, according to Quade.

“People who don’t come downtown don’t understand what amazing things exist here,” she says. “We’ve got to tell our story better. We’ve all heard negative rhetoric around downtown, but it can be very beautiful.”

Quade heads over to the Discovery Center where she has set up an event in a fourth-floor meeting room with a remarkable view of the city. It’s a listening session by Cameron to give the downtown community a chance to connect with him. This meeting, too, is closed to observers – Quade wants her members to be able to speak candidly, whether that’s about the recently defeated tax issue to fund a downtown convention and events center or something more specific to them.

In a chat before the meeting begins, Cameron says Quade is known for making an impact and for leading with vision.

He adds that he and Quade talk frequently about ways the city can reduce its level of bureaucracy.

“Downtown is an important piece,” he says. “It’s vital to have strong partners and leadership in those areas – and she has definitely got vision and passion to do it.”

Quade has slated an hour for the session, but a fruitful discussion causes her to linger an extra 20 minutes before heading to her final appointment of the day, a visit to the downtown Ozarks Farm Stop, a market for farmers, makers and artisans.

Farm Stop Director Karissa Kary is offering a tour of the facility to a group when Quade walks in to catch a discussion about expansion for the consignment store – possibly to include a commercial kitchen for use by vendors.

Quade listens – that’s a big part of what she does, as a day following her reveals – and then takes a few moments to introduce herself and to discuss what the DSA can do for downtown businesses.

After that, Quade heads for a quiet night at home – very close to downtown, she says, though she notes it’s not in the footprint. Nevertheless, she says, downtown is where she most likes to work, move and shop.

“I joke that I don’t go south of Sunshine,” she says. “It’s so important for us to support each other.”