Opinion: 2005 turns out ‘lollipop’ of a year

Springfield has basked in the national spotlight a few times in 2005 and not just for the work of those folks at “Pro Bass.”

Bass Pro Shops, the company with the name often misspoken outside of Missouri, can be considered the company that put Springfield, Missouri, on the map.

After moving to Springfield from Chicago nearly six years ago, old friends would ask about my new home: “Isn’t that the headquarters for Pro Bass?” At least they had it somewhat right. That was all they knew of Springfield.

The corporate connection exploded in 2005 as Bass Pro’s map of stores expanded like never before. Add the names Hammons and O’Reilly, and Springfield consistently appeared on national and regional news wires.

Those are just a few of the top business names to grab headlines in SBJ. Here are my picks for the Top 10.

Top 10 Business Stories of 2005

10. Corporate privatization. Hammons Hotels and Paul Mueller Co. privatize, citing increased compliance costs.

9. SLS International’s marketing campaigns. The names say it all: Quincy Jones, Wal-Mart, “Rock Star: INXS,” America Online and the American Stock Exchange in this busy year alone. “The Apprentice” is coming in the spring. Though sales are picking up, SLS’ stock (AMEX: SLS) has yet to bounce from all the hype.

8. John L. Morris saves WOW. Johnny does it again. Morris, owner of Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Marine, announces in October his donation of $7 million over the next five years to Wonders of Wildlife. The contribution brings Morris’ total to more than $30 million since the museum’s inception, including $10 million in land and artifacts and $10.3 million for restructuring huge debt.

7. Hurricane relief efforts. No top story list is complete without mention of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Area companies and organizations jump up to help. Local nonprofits Convoy of Hope and Compassion Alliance deliver truckload after truckload of relief, cleaning supplies and other comfort items to victims in the Gulf. More than 30 Prime Inc. and Killian Construction Co. employees bring provisions to Biloxi, Miss., with Prime footing the entire bill. And Ride the Ducks owner Bob McDowell and volunteers take two of the Branson company’s amphibious vehicles, owned by Herschend Family Entertainment Corp., to New Orleans, helping transport people to hospitals and from flooded houses. There are many more stories.

6. JVIC groundbreaking. The Jordan Valley Innovation Center in downtown Springfield opens the door to nanotechnology, a projected $1 trillion industry, and welcomes new companies to town: Brewer Science, Crosslink and Nantero.

5. Business anniversaries. Four organizations turn 100 years old: Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co., which celebrated by donating $100K; Missouri State University, which celebrated with a name change; O’Bannon Bank; and Greene County Medical Society. Several print shops and insurance companies turn 80 or older. And, of course, there is Springfield Business Journal’s silver anniversary.

4. Branson’s record construction. Branson Landing, a $420 million project, launches a building boom in Branson reminiscent of the early 1990s. Construction projects surpass $100 million in Branson for only the second time in history. The $122 million recorded in 2005 breaks the 1993 max of $119.5 million.

3. Springfield Cardinals at Hammons Field. The ultra-quiet deal with St. Louis Cardinals’ President Mark Lamping and General Manager Walt Jocketty makes Hammons Field viable for John Q. Hammons and creates a buzz – and a cha-ching – throughout southwest Missouri and the nation. The team records the second-highest attendance in Double-A baseball and outsells 19 Triple-A clubs. Baseballparks.com names Hammons Field the Ballpark of the Year, and it appears on the cover of Baseball America’s 2006 Great Parks calendar.

2. O’Reilly Auto Parts store growth, record revenues. The publicly traded (Nasdaq: ORLY) Springfield retailer opens 150 stores in 2005, including 72 from a $61 million buyout – giving it around 1,500 stores covering half of the country. Store sales in 2005 are projected to exceed the $2 billion mark, a four-year goal set in 2002. O’Reilly posts record earnings and revenues in each of the first three quarters.

Story of the Year

Bass Pro explosion. The Springfield-based private company opens seven stores in 2005 and now has 32 retail locations splashed across the country. Bass Pro stores are a feat to get open, generally costing around $20 million to $25 million and featuring native designs, waterfalls and animals. Much credit goes to the Bass Pro brass for, in most cases, getting developers to foot the construction bills. In November, Forbes ranks Bass Pro No. 144 in the magazine’s list of America’s Largest Private Companies. Forbes estimates 2004 revenues of $2.05 billion and employment at 11,300. There is no sign of slowing and the company will again make headlines in 2006.

Search the archives at sbj.net for in-depth looks at these stories and more.

Just because we’re talking business, doesn’t mean our vocabulary is without panache. People in the Ozarks have a way with words, and each week last year SBJ singled out a Quote of the Week. Here are my Top 10.

Top 10 Quotes of 2005

10. “What we’re doing is slave labor all over again.” – Stephen Bell, CEO of Employers Health & Safety, on employers not reporting Hispanics’ workplace injuries (Nov. 14)

9. “One of the best things that happened to business education was Martha Stewart.” – Robert Wyatt, director of the Breech School of Business at Drury University, on using current events in the classroom (April 15)

8. “Are you going to drive across town to save a quarter? You’d spend that starting your car.” – City of Springfield official Mary Lilly Smith, on why shoppers won’t mind extra sales taxes charged in community improvement districts (Aug. 8)

7. “I wasn’t going to be working for 30 cents on the dollar and taking on the responsibility for a $180 million new terminal building.” – Rob Hancik, former director of aviation in Springfield, on his salary versus retirement pension (Jan. 10)

6. “If we can’t manage New Orleans, is the world ready to believe we can rebuild Iraq?” – columnist Alf Nucifora, considering the global ramifications of the emergency response to the Gulf Coast crisis (Sept. 19)

5. “You’re nobody in the broadcasting booth until you’re fired at least once.” – Former KOLR news anchor Joe Daues, on being fired from Tulsa’s Fox affiliate (Feb. 21)

4. “We’re not talking about Barney Fife with one bullet in his gun.” –BioMetAccess co-owner Nat Sprague, on the bodyguards the company may offer (Oct. 31)

3. “There’s more gold in the mine.” – SBJ’s Economic Impact Awards Lifetime Achievement in Business honoree Edwin “Cookie” Rice of Ozarks Coca-Cola Dr Pepper Bottling Co. on his approach for each work day (Aug. 1)

2. “My blog comes in an 8-by-10 folder, and it’s called an employee job satisfaction review.” – SRC CEO and business turnaround specialist/author Jack Stack, on the emergence of Web logs in evaluating business and employee performance (June 13)

Quote of the Year

“You can call it a lollipop for all I care.” – Matt Morrow of the HBA of Greater Springfield, on Ozark’s $1,500 builder impact fee that city officials renamed a sewer connection fee (May 9)

Eric Olson is SBJ news editor.

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