Fisk Transportation plans move near 65

A 50-year-old business that provides transportation to others is on the move itself in several months as it builds a new multimillion-dollar headquarters roughly 2 miles from its current longtime home.

Construction is underway near the East Chestnut Expressway and U.S. Highway 65 interchange for Fisk Transportation LLC. The company, which is owned by J. Howard Fisk and his wife, Jan, purchased roughly 22 acres last year for an undisclosed price from the Lohmeyer family, said Barrett Fisk, son of the owners and a manager with the transportation business. He said the acreage is owned by Fisk Properties LLC.

The project at 3601 E. Chestnut Expressway is behind Menards, Fisk said, noting his family’s 1976-founded company has operated at 2001 E. Trafficway St. since 2000. Fisk, who also is serving as construction manager for the project via Barrett Fisk Design Build LLC, said the company’s new home will comprise a 5,500-square-foot office and 12,000-square-foot shop to house its fleet of vehicles.

“We’re hoping to get towards the completion sometime by the end of the year to the first part of next year,” Fisk said. “We just put half of our windows in. We’re framed up where we put the roof on. We’ve got our steel up, but we’ve got electrical and siding and all the site work to finish out.”

Fisk said the project cost will likely land between $2 million and $3 million.

Fisk Transportation has around 7 acres it occupies on Trafficway but is planning to sell it upon moving, he said. Fisk declined to disclose the buyer as the deal is still months away from closing.

The company shopped around for a new home but was attracted to the Chestnut and 65 corridor, Fisk said. 

“My mom really likes this area on the east side and all the development that’s been done around here,” he said of the area that also includes several restaurants and retailers including the city’s lone Costco Wholesale store. “We looked at several different things, but this was the one thing that everyone was really on board with if we could make it work.”

Fisk said his mother remains involved in day-to-day decisions for the company, while his father “leaves a lot of the decisions and day-to-day operations to us, but he still knows everything that’s going on.”

Fisk Transportation was started in 1976 as J. Howard Fisk Limousines Inc. Fisk, the company namesake, expressed interest in a business venture that would allow him to stay close to Springfield and work in the automotive field. The company launched following his purchase of two classic British cars, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

There also was a desire with the new location to remain somewhat near city center, specifically Missouri State University, which Barrett Fisk said remains a major client for the company.

“We’re going to be a lot more accessible to 65, which is very helpful in our business,” he said.

On Trafficway, the company occupies a former building once used as an MFA farm store, Fisk said. Fisk Transportation converted it the best it could, but he said it had some unnecessary space – a situation that won’t be duplicated in its new home.

“We have a larger site overall but maybe a more efficient footprint,” he said, noting the office space is smaller but the garage is larger and the property has more on-site parking. “We have a lot of room to grow out there.”

Fisk declined to disclose annual revenue for the company, which employs around 50 people. Its 75-vehicle fleet includes sedans, SUVs, vans and 14- and 25-passenger coaches. However, one type of vehicle absent from its lineup is the limousine.

“We actually don’t have any stretch limos anymore,” he said, noting the last one was sold around a year ago. “We had one around almost symbolically, but we just didn’t have use for it. It seems like even for our wedding business, the wedding parties were so large that they wouldn’t really even accommodate a limo anymore.”