Joplin continues on path to recovery

One year after an EF-5 tornado ripped through the south side of Joplin, businesses in Joplin – and Springfield – are still feeling the storm’s effects amid signs of recovery.

The May 22 twister damaged or destroyed 553 businesses, affecting nearly 5,000 jobs, but a year later, 446 of those businesses have reopened and about 3,000 people are back to work, according to officials with the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.

Immediate impact
Oakland, Calif.-based catastrophic risk modeling firm Eqecat Inc. said its estimate of Joplin tornado damages has been supported by an insurance industry study that calculated damages to be in excess of $2 billion.

Businesses that were within the tornado’s 3/4-mile wide and seven-mile long path include Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Papa John’s, Dillons Supermarket, Academy Sports, Walgreens, Kum N Go, Arby’s and St. John’s/Mercy Regional Medical Center.

Fred Osborn, chairman of the Springfield region for Commerce Bank, was the Joplin market president when the tornado destroyed two of the bank’s branches.

Within hours of the mammoth twister’s touchdown, Osborn said he was on the ground trying to assess damage at the two locations and retrieve any personal items or confidential information the storm had freed. The next day was filled with removing debris and transporting items such as safety deposit boxes to a secure location.

“We had to find the vaults; they were under debris,” Osborn said. “We also had to find hard drives on the computers, and we had files. We were very fortunate in that our main bank at Third and Main in Joplin wasn’t destroyed, so we had a base from which to work.”

Bankers from Springfield and beyond helped both in the field and behind the scenes to connect customers with their assets and get Commerce’s operations back to normal.

“We were very fortunate that none of our people were killed. We had some with relatives who had fatalities, and we had two or three that totally lost their homes, so at the same time they were trying to help our customers, they were dealing with their own issues, as well,” Osborn said, adding that lines of customers often led out the door of the Third and Main location in the early post-storm days.  Commerce continues to work out of two temporary facilities for the destroyed branches, and Osborn said officials haven’t yet decided where – or when – to rebuild permanent branches.

Fenton-based Fabick Cat, a construction equipment rental company with a retail location in Joplin at East 20th Street and Davis Boulevard, suffered more than $1 million in damages when the tornado ravaged its building.

“We worked around the clock for more than a week, and we were back selling parts to our customers within three days,” said Tracy Scott, regional product support manager for Fabick Cat. “There were all kinds of machines coming to town and we had to be there to support them.”  

The company has worked out of a 10,000-square-foot tent building for nearly a year. Site development is now under way on a property about a mile away as company officials prepare for construction of a 42,000-square-foot replacement facility.

Weeks to months
In the weeks after the storm, Springfield-based Morelock-Ross Builders Inc. set up a temporary office in Joplin to connect with commercial and residential clients looking to rebuild.

To date, the company has completed work on 10 homes in the Joplin area and has been involved with four commercial rebuilds. Kirk Elmquist, a company partner handling business development and community relations, ran operations out of an office the company erected in the parking lot of Mid-Missouri Bank on East 32nd Street.

Elmquist said Morelock-Ross is currently working on eight homes, one custom home and several single-family investor rental homes in the Joplin area.

“Morelock-Ross is very encouraged by the activity and excited to be there,” Elmquist said. He attributes the company’s workload to its name recognition from 30 years in business, adding that the efforts of banker and Joplin native Michal Moss Early to connect the company with clients was vital. The company no longer works out of its temporary office. It works on-site and is trying to determine if there is enough work there to open a permanent office.  

Sam Clifton of Nixa-based Millstone Custom Homes is a familiar face to many who have followed rebuilding efforts in Joplin. In October, Clifton headed the construction of seven new homes – for families whose properties were destroyed – for the series finale episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

“The humbling thing about was how many people helped me do it,” Clifton said, noting more than 13,000 participated in the rebuild, and more than 80,000 offers of volunteer assistance were turned away after volunteers were selected.

Clifton said one-fourth of his company’s revenues came from the Joplin area during the last year. He said while the job pace has slowed, he is still working in the area.

“I’m getting ready to break ground on a house next week. There is still work out there to be done,” Clifton said.  

Looking forward
Troy Hill, a partner with Springfield-based accounting firm BKD LLP’s Joplin office, said while the firm’s building, located about a half-mile south of the tornado’s path, wasn’t scarred by the storm, dozens of BKD’s clients were not so lucky.

The business owners, landlords and individuals left in the wake turned to BKD to help sort their affairs and prepare for insurance claims.

“They were just looking for support and encouragement and wanted to know that we were going to be there for them,” Hill said.

Fellow BKD partner Mike Gray said it has been encouraging to see some of those same clients rebuilding their businesses and their lives.

“A lot of people are moving forward. There are a lot of opportunities,” Gray said.

Gray and Hill acknowledged, however, that BKD has been hit with business casualties, as a handful of clients chose not to reopen after the storm.

Andy Kuntz, president of Andy’s Frozen Custard, is among the business owners breaking into the Joplin market since the tornado, with construction of a 2,000-square-foot custard shop under way on Range Line Road. He said moving into Joplin is something he has wanted to do for years but never pulled the trigger because he was seeking the right opportunity.

“Joplin is a great community, and we feel like it is going to come back stronger than it was before,” Kuntz said. “It’s a great property, and I think it makes a lot of sense. … I think there are some great opportunities for businesses that wanted to be in that market.”[[In-content Ad]]