Forbes names Springfield in top 100 places to work

Forbes magazine has chosen Springfield as one of the top 100 cities in the nation for business and careers. The survey, the magazine's second annual list of best places for careers and business, ranked Missouri's third-largest city No. 81 out of more than 200 metropolitan areas considered, up from No. 112 last year.

"We can hire a public relations firm to promote us," said Greg Williams, vice president of economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. "But when we get this kind of unsolicited recognition from such a powerful player in the national media, it reinforces what we already know about the local business community."

Topping the list is Austin, Texas, followed by Atlanta, Ga., Santa Rosa, Calif., Boulder, Colo., and Boise City, Idaho. Regional cities are Kansas City, Mo./Kan., ranked No. 40, Tulsa, Okla., ranked No. 80, and St. Louis, Mo., at No. 157.

Compiled by regional economic experts at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, Calif., the survey uses data provided by the federal government in its yearly look at the nation's regional economies.

Each city was evaluated in eight categories to produce the score that determined its placement on the list. Included in the survey were wage and salary growth, job growth over the most recent five-year period and four categories that evaluated the region's dependence on high-tech industries.

Wages

The survey indicates sustained growth in wages and salaries over the past five years. Figures for the most recent annual period reflected continuing momentum in the growth of wages and salaries.

"We're starting to see that," Williams said. "It's a slow process. I don't know that we'd want to see double-digit increases in wages and benefits in a short period of time because that has a dramatic effect on the costs associated with business. But the increases we've seen have been positive and sustainable."

Jobs

Again, the survey reflects sustained growth. Williams agreed that job growth in the area is up and pointed to unemployment figures provided by the state that indicate between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs are being created each year in Greene, Christian and Webster counties.

"Forbes recognizes this as not only one of the fastest-growing metro areas in Missouri, but one of the fastest growing in the Midwest," Williams said. "That makes this a destination point for business, industry who elect to move here."

One element of change taking place locally that enhances job growth may be a change in the way companies think, said Bob Simpson, director of the Job Council of the Ozarks.

"When I came here seven years ago and began talking the language of community development, some employers looked at me like I was from outer space," Simpson said. "That's no longer true to the same extent."

High-tech

Numbers for the high-tech categories were not as high as those that dealt with wages and jobs, but figures that reflect the degree to which the region's economy has become concentrated in high-tech clusters showed a substantial increase.

To reinforce those numbers, Williams referred to a technology industry forecaster prepared by CorpTech in late 1999 that identified Springfield as one of the top 12 Midwestern cities in terms of high-tech jobs.

"The term high-tech can be a little vague," Williams said. "But when we see a $60 million expansion at Litton in the middle of last year, and the number of jobs that accompanied it, we know there are some good opportunities here."

According to Forbes Magazine, high-tech clusters are a critical mass of skilled workers, established employers and entrepreneurs that are increasingly the basis for economic dynamism in America. A key component of that dynamism is a region's access to the brainpower found at schools and universities.

Williams said local academic institutions play a significant role in both the attraction of new business to the area

"Particularly in the area of training, schools such as Ozarks Technical Community College have the ability to join us at the table when we're in the recruitment mode," Williams said.

While Simpson concurred that local schools and universities are very much a part of the area's economic growth, he said high-tech training wasn't the main focus of companies looking at the area.

"You can't ignore the training," Simpson said. "But their primary emphasis seems to be the essential reliability and dependability of the workforce they find here."

Addressing the overall impact of the ranking Springfield received in the latest Forbes survey, Williams said it brings a greater degree of credibility to the city's economic development message.

"This is Forbes and various other national organizations saying Look what's happening in Springfield,'" Williams said.