CU, chamber exec to serve as LORE's interim leader

SBJ file

Dean Thompson expects to start as interim executive director of LORE in the fourth quarter.

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Dean Thompson, a City Utilities of Springfield executive who also has headed economic development efforts at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce since last year, is adding a new leadership role as his time at the chamber winds down.

Thompson said he expects to start serving as interim executive director of Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement, or LORE, in the fourth quarter. Thompson is among those who have been building LORE, a name announced in April after the Hatch Foundation and Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. in January recommended the creation of a new nonprofit dedicated to regional branding, workforce development and quality of life.

"The chamber has posted the senior vice president of economic development position, which will allow me to transition away from the chamber by the end of the year," Thompson said via email. "I will transition my primary focus from the chamber to LORE after the new SVP-economic development starts with the chamber.

"We anticipate this will occur early in the fourth quarter of this year."

Thompson said he would continue to work as CU vice president and chief economic development officer while serving as interim director of LORE.

"I anticipate transitioning out of that role and back to CU full time sometime next year," he said.

Thompson started as the chamber's director of regionalism and economic development in June 2023 as part of an executive-in-residence agreement between the chamber and CU, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.