Opinion: Risk takers make Economic Impact Awards

During Springfield Business Journal’s July 27 Economic Impact Awards banquet, for which former city manager Finnie was keynote speaker, he reminisced about the economic moves that he helped engineer from City Hall.

An economically progressive city government, the kind we’ve seen under his watch, is much like a fledgling business. As an entrepreneur and city leader, you’ve got to stick your neck out at times. Just ask the finalists and honorees of the evening, recognized at Bass Pro Shops’ White River Room.

Finnie led city staff in the same way a CEO leads a company.

“You’ve got to take risks,” Finnie told the EIA crowd of approximately 275, as he recalled the city’s response to Zenith closing its Springfield plant in the early 1990s.

That was a major hit to the city’s economic and employment bases, and had public officials not taken a risk in the normally private industrial park development sector, who knows where Springfield’s manufacturing industry would be right now. Perhaps southwest Missouri wouldn’t be considered the state’s economic engine.

Additionally, without the very company whose facility was the venue of EIA this year – Bass Pro Shops – putting its headquarters and catalog operations into the vast vacant East Kearney building, Springfield may have sat on a 1.6 million-square-foot industrial space for a long time.

But city officials didn’t sit on their hands. Instead, they quickly turned their thoughts to the corporate model. A partnership of the city, City Utilities, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Springfield Business Development Corp. conceptualized Partnership Industrial Center to hold a variety of manufacturers among 360 acres with convenient access to Interstate 44 and Highway 65.

One risk leads to another, it would seem. The risky concept was minor compared to the next, Finnie recalled. It was a promise to a major St. Louis company.

PIC only opened in 1994 because officials, Finnie among them, in 1993 guaranteed Contico International (now Buckhorn) a building site within a year.

They made good on the promise, and Contico became PIC’s first tenant. The initial investment told other like-minded companies that it was a good idea to open shop in Springfield.

For instance, NorthStar Battery began construction of a $35 million, 139,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in 2000 and added 60,000 square feet last year.

“The industrial center is one of the better industrial parks nationwide in my opinion,” operations vice president Joel Gibson told SBJ in January 2005. “The primary issue that you run into with some centers is there’s not a good handshake between the city and whoever is developing the park, and in this case, CU is involved, the city of Springfield, Springfield Business Development Corp. and the (Springfield Area) Chamber of Commerce were all part of this park, and that makes for a very business-aggressive atmosphere. They really are business friendly in Springfield.”

The city’s multipronged, aggressive approach to economic development has certainly paid off. PIC is officially full, and the sister park, PIC West, is gaining strong attention. Gold Mechanical is the latest company choosing to build out there.

Back to the evening at Bass Pro. The reception in the Sportsman’s Gallery museum upstairs was a hit. Scheduled to last 6–7 p.m., it was a challenge ushering guests downstairs to the White River Room where the formal banquet took place.

Joe Jenkins performed eloquently as emcee – tuxedo and all. His sense of humor balanced perfectly with his description of each finalist.

“What can I say about Tom Finnie that hasn’t been said by the Police Department, the Fire Department … ,” Jenkins said, drawing the night’s biggest laugh.

Then, Jenkins noted that there were at least five Springfield City Council members in attendance, officially making it a public meeting, according to city statutes. If that was the case, Jenkins surmised, there should be a public notice of this meeting posted in the appropriate places.

“I think we’re OK, I posted a sign in the men’s room,” Jenkins joked.

EIA went on without a hitch. Can’t wait until next year.

Eric Olson is SBJ editor.