YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
An organization designed to promote regional collaboration released the names of its investors at a March 26 event that included a ceremonial signing of the group’s articles of incorporation.
Leaders for Ozarks Regional Evolvement, or LORE, is made up of 18 local companies that have collectively pledged more than $1.3 million to the nonprofit over a three-year period. C-suite leaders from 15 of the organizations, including Mercy Springfield Communities with the largest pledge at $50,000 per year, have secured board seats through their investments.
The effort has been in the works since a 2022 Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce-led visit to northwest Arkansas, where local leaders heard from a similar organization has existed for decades.
In comments at the event, LORE Chair Erin Danastasio, executive director of the Hatch Foundation, said that following the visit, a group of 25 public- and private-sector people convened to talk about applying the regionalism concept to southwest Missouri.
LORE is the result of their efforts, she said, praising its board members for their intelligence, their excitement for moving forward and their passion.
“It is truly, truly humbling to sit around the table with the leaders of these organizations,” she said.
Jack Stack, founder, president and CEO of investor organization SRC Holdings Corp., said he initially had misgivings about joining the organization, which he feared would duplicate existing efforts without moving the ball forward.
Stack said Dean Thompson, who would become executive director of LORE, and others involved in the effort went to work on changing his mind.
“I thought, that’s all we need is another 501(c)(3) that’s going to start something, and then all of a sudden, they’re going to turn it over to the next group,” he said in an interview.
Eventually, Stack was convinced that LORE was offering something new in a chance for meaningful, productive regional collaboration. He represents one of 15 investor companies that have pledged $25,000 to the efforts for this year and each of the two years following.
“I study businesses all over the world – I study best practices – and here these guys are telling me, ‘Why don’t you get off your ass and recognize the best practices we have here?’” he said. “And I thought, “Holy criminy – they’re right!’
“What would happen if we did look at our own region in terms of the right things to do and the right directions to have? And then it was like a hit in the head.”
In his remarks at the event, Stack said the region has many successful people and institutions to draw best practices from.
“As partners, we can craft our message that says who we are and what we are doing together to build an even stronger region by showing people how we live together.”
Stack said it was important to SRC to have quantifiable results. Initially, that wasn’t part of the discussion, but he said the organizers listened.
In an interview, Thompson, who in addition to his LORE leadership is vice president and chief economic development officer at City Utilities of Springfield, said quantifying results starts with a benchmarking survey of stakeholders – something that is happening now with questions that probe issues of regional identity and the willingness of companies to be involved with it.
The metrics to gauge success will be both quantitative and qualitative, Thompson said, but a successful outcome with be a sense of identity.
“Success will be if people get off the plane at the Springfield airport and that message is there – whether it is LORE or it is companies that are sponsoring it – there’s a thread that binds the region together,” he said.
Moving initiatives forward
Asked how LORE can avoid duplicating efforts of area chambers of commerce or convention and visitors’ bureaus, Thompson said the organization would be poised to move initiatives forward on a regional level.
“Branson has some of the same information, Springfield has some of the same information, Republic has some of the same information – why aren’t we all at the same table talking about that information?” Thompson said.
An example is the issue of attainable housing, he said.
“There are probably five to seven different attainable housing efforts in our region, but there’s nobody pulling all of them together,” he said. “There are silos of excellence where we have a lot going on, but for us to be competitive with a lot of other places that have great quality of life, we’ve got to get our act together. Companies looking at locating here, people looking at moving here – they don’t have the emotional attachment that we do.”
Asked after the meeting about the risk of duplicating efforts, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Morrow said his organization markets to very specific external audiences for business investment and talent attraction.
“There’d be enormous benefit if that same messaging was also somehow being aimed back at those of us who live here, so when people come and visit, they’re hearing a lot of the same kind of stuff,” he said.
The chamber can’t take investment dollars raised for external messaging and use them on local audiences, he said, but LORE is well positioned to contribute to that kind of message alignment.
“Being able to amplify some of our shared message to those of us who live and work here already, I think it has the potential to really be a force multiplier for some of the work that’s happening with our chamber, with others,” he said.
He added that the area has issues that LORE can help to address. The organization can take on one big project at a time – such as housing issues – and help to knock it out.
“That really can put the wind at the back of chambers of commerce and economic development organizations and communities throughout the region,” he said.
At the event, Brad Thomas, president and CEO of Silver Dollar City, spoke about the value of emphasizing the natural beauty of the region.
“Look at this natural beauty that we’re surrounded with. Many of us, we drive past scenic beauty every day on our way to work or our way to school or our way to do family things, and we may not appreciate that natural beauty. There are individuals in this country and on this planet that would work their entire lives to have a moment of life in the Ozarks.”
While quality of life is present here, there are also challenges, like crime, workforce development and affordable housing.
“We’ve got a lot of challenges today. They’ll never get solved if we don’t work together,” he said.
History of LORE
LORE’s name was announced in April 2024, and from there, the group took nearly a year to build and announce its membership.
According to Thompson, LORE members have been active since July 2024 with formal board meetings, executive leadership meetings and other planning sessions. Thompson said the group’s focus during that time was on pinning down the organizational structure and bylaws, as well as determining which initiatives LORE would tackle first.
In April 2024, Danastasio told SBJ the organization was targeting a 10-county region and looking to bring on eight-10 board members, the level recommended by development specialist Ted Abernathy of Economic Leadership LLC, consulted about the group’s formation.
The Northwest Arkansas Council, which LORE is patterned after, has shaped its region’s development for more than three decades from its home base in Springdale, Arkansas. That organization has a 13-member executive committee and 18 staffers.
Thompson said LORE’s focus has changed from organizers’ initial idea of a 10-county coverage area.
“As those discussions were forming, the CEOs were very clear that geographic boundaries weren’t as important to them as their people – where their people live and play that help support their businesses,” he said. “They backed away from defining the 10 counties and switched it more to southwest Missouri.”
The group is focused on the laborshed for southwest Missouri, according to Thompson. That may be seven counties along U.S. Highway 65, or it may go broader.
“There are going to be initiatives that have absolutely no geographic boundaries associated with them,” he said.
All of the investor organizations but one, Branson’s Silver Dollar City, have their local operations based in Springfield.
Thompson said LORE has enlisted the services of Habitat Communication & Culture LLC to further define its image, and a 23-question survey is being conducted through early April to gain feedback. That survey and a future one will also help to inform other initiatives LORE will focus on, he said.
As an example, one of the first survey questions asks, “Imagine you’ve met someone who is completely unfamiliar with southwest Missouri. In your own words, how would you describe the identity of our region to them?”
The survey also asks about how important a regional brand is for workforce development and for improving quality of life in the region, and what unique strengths and opportunities exist.
“If our region were to adopt a unified approach to messaging/storytelling, which of the following elements should that message or story emphasize?” the survey asks.
Board leadership
Asked to define the “it factor” sought in the CEOs and executives who make up the LORE board, Thompson told SBJ the main factors are committed leadership and commitment to the region.
“We’re not just looking for somebody to write a check and fund an organization,” he said. “We’re asking them to be personally involved – that’s No. 1.”
Additionally, he said, members are asked to bring their talents to the table for the good of the organization.
“We’re garnering those types of resources,” he said. “These companies can very quickly, very nimbly do things that some organizations can’t.”
Thompson said he has enjoyed being director – a position he has held on an interim basis as the organization gets off the ground.
“It’s been an honor to sit in the room and listen to the dialogue,” he said. “These are people who really care about the region. They’re very, very passionate, and they want to move the ball forward in the right way.”
The group is currently putting together a job description for a permanent executive director to take over for Thompson. He said the new leader is expected to be in place by the end of the year.
Executive Editor Christine Temple contributed to this story.
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