Executive Insider: Matthew Adkins

As he nears one year working as an economic development leader in Branson and Taney County, Matthew Adkins wants to raise the community’s profile well beyond its local borders.

In January, Adkins was hired as executive director of the Taney County Partnership and vice president and chief economic development officer at the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“Shortly after taking over, one of the goals that I established was I wanted the Taney County region to be known not only within the state, but on national and even an international level for our economic driver, which is tourism,” he says.

Tourists to Branson exceeded 10 million in 2024 for the third straight year, while the tourism tax brought in nearly $18 million, according to a report from Springfield-based firm H2R Market Research. This year’s tourism tax is roughly $15.8 million through October, according to city of Branson data.

“When we think of tourism as an economic engine in the community, I wanted the Taney County and the southwest Missouri region to be that pinnacle that people thought of,” Adkins says.

‘A holistic approach’
At Taney County Partnership, Adkins leads a three-person staff, which he describes as the economic development arm of the Branson chamber. TCP works alongside chamber and CVB staff in an 18,000-square-foot headquarters at 4100 Gretna Road.

“It really is a benefit to have all of us under this roof and being able to work together and collaborate,” he says, noting TCP takes a “very holistic approach to economic development.”

“It’s kind of what drives me in the profession. The core belief system is always people,” he says. “Taney County Partnership’s acronym is TCP. We’ve also branded it this year unofficially as TCP also standing for ‘taking care of people.’ Because that’s what we’re all about.”

Adkins said the organization doesn’t just focus on business attraction but also the county’s existing employer base, as well as issues that impact companies.

“For example, we think that every time we create a job, we need to provide a home for that person. We need to provide child care; we need to find a spot in the education system,” he says, adding TCP is working on a partnership with Stone County and Kids Win Missouri on child care initiatives. “So, all of those factors influence our ability to be successful.”

When it comes to defining economic development, Adkins says you can ask 10 people and get 10 different answers.

“They’ll tell you it’s about attracting new businesses, creating jobs and bringing in more capital investment,” he says. “And all of that’s true, but at its core, it’s taking care of people.”

Since coming on board, Adkins has helped roll out a new website for the organization and has increased its membership size in the TCP by roughly 15% to its current total of 44. Representatives include Branson Bank, city of Hollister, Emery Sapp & Sons Inc., Ozarks Technical Community College and White River Valley Electric. The organization also has a 13-member board of directors, led by Stan Field, executive director of Branson Airport.

Born and raised in Kentucky, Adkins had only previously been to Branson on vacations with his family when growing up.

“What really prompted the move, I was in Kentucky doing economic development at the time and looking for that next chapter in my life,” he says, noting he previously worked as executive director of the Kentucky I-71 Economic Development Alliance and the Carroll County Community Development Corp. “I was getting ready to have a son. Actually, when we moved here, he was only 2 months old.”

With his wife, Carly, and Beckett, the couple’s first child, in tow, Adkins says he saw moving to Branson as a great career opportunity and attractive place to raise a family. While his work at the Kentucky I-71 Economic Development Alliance involved a six-county region and was primarily manufacturing-focused, he says the role at TCP had an appeal as Taney County’s primary economic development engine is tourism.

“I always like to joke and tell people that I can give a tour of a manufacturing plant only so many times,” he says. “I can give a tour of a waterpark or something like a Big Cedar Lodge every day of the week.”

Adkins graduated in 2017 from Morehead State University with a bachelor’s degree in geology and earth science and went on to get his master’s in business administration and management from Northern Kentucky University. He’s currently studying online for his doctorate in public administration through West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

While Adkins started his undergraduate career wanting to be a doctor and was in a premed program for around two years, he decided a hospital setting wasn’t for him. But he says transitioning to economic development still checked the box of being able to help people – albeit in a different way from health care. His first economic development role was with Fivco Area Development District, which serves a five-county region in northeastern Kentucky.

“Economic development, this profession, is all about taking care of people,” he says. “So, if you’re not in it to better the community and the people that live in that community, you’re probably not going to be in the profession long.”

Pamela Yancey, president and CEO of the Branson chamber and CVB, helped in the hiring process – along with some chamber and TCP board members – for the executive director role.

“What really impressed our group about Matt was just his vision,” Yancey says. “I think it’s been wonderful for our community to have someone with his experience, his knowledge of economic development and industry, to come in and just look at what we have with a fresh set of eyes and just to see the possibilities.”

Yancey says she also has been impressed with Adkins tackling a new TCP website as a first-year goal, noting he has exceeded the chamber’s expectations thus far.

“He’s also just done an excellent job of getting out and learning our community, meeting our community stakeholders,” she says.

Jody Lassiter, manager of industrial development with Columbia, South Carolina-based CSX Transportation Inc., says he crossed paths years ago with Adkins as a peer executive in economic development in eastern Kentucky.

“Matt is not only an avid student of economic development; he is gifted with nurturing the diverse relationships necessary for his efforts to succeed in this work,” Lassiter says via email, noting he later at CSX worked directly with Adkins to recruit rail-served industrial prospects to locate on the railway in the I-71 area.

Adkins says he counts Lassiter as a mentor, adding he can always lean on him to help navigate situations such as communicating with potential clients.

“Anytime I needed advice or wanted to run a project by someone, Jody was one of the first people that I would call to get his take on it,” he says.

Eye on investments
Adkins’s arrival comes as Branson is amid nearly $1 billion in combined investments between Silver Dollar City and a multiphase development project comprising over 130 acres across 17 parcels of land in the Branson Meadows area around Gretna Road and Town and Country Drive. The $400 million Branson Meadows project is slated to include multifamily residential units, a Bible Encounter tourist attraction, tourist cabins, restaurants, a convenience store and a 200-room hotel. A third phase would include an indoor sports facility, estimated at $100 million, according to city documents.

The Silver Dollar City Resort, which officials say is set to open in late 2026, is part of $500 million in investments at SDC over the next decade, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“It’s going to be awesome to see that resort when it’s finally completed,” he said, adding both the SDC and Branson Meadows projects are indicative of the big economic development swings being taken in the Taney County area.

Additionally, the planned sports facility will be an economic driver for Branson and the region, he says. The city has a signed option agreement to purchase a 17-acre parcel owned by Coryell Development Group LLC in the middle of the development near the chamber and CVB building, according to past reporting.

“We’re really excited about that project. I can’t wait to see it, especially actually where it’s proposed right now, in the grand scheme of things,” Adkins says. “It’s going to be right outside my office window.”