Ozarks' amenities enhance daily lives

But Springfield also boasts a welcoming economic environment. It has been chosen as a top 25 city for doing business by Inc. magazine, a top 10 place to live and work by Employment Review, in the top 30 best cities for women in Ladies’ Home Journal and No. 6 among more than 300 metropolitan statistical areas nationwide for business expansion in Expansion Management magazine.

The pervasive theme in all the accolades is quality of life.

The Springfield Business and Development Corp.’s slogan is “Everywhere should be like this.”

What does ‘like this’ mean? SBDC statistics for Springfield’s MSA show:

• per capita income growth above 5 percent annually

• average household income above $45,000

• median household income growth of more than 40 percent from 1990 to 2000

• unemployment rate below 4.5 percent over last 10 years

• work force growth above 16 percent over last 10 years

• retail sales of nearly $6 billion annually

• utility rates 25 percent lower than the national average

These are the numbers business owners consider. This data goes hand-in-hand with a community’s outdoor amenities.

“Employers want to provide their associates with a quality community in which to live and raise a family,” said Ron Caplinger, an employer himself as owner of Springfield-based SourceLink Ltd. “Part of that quality factor is clearly greenspaces, trails and parks and other such outdoor activities that Springfield excels in.”

As president of Ozark Greenways Inc.’s board of directors, Caplinger considers those outdoor amenities “outdoor necessities.”

“There’s a lot of difference between an amenity and a necessity, and it starts with attitude and culture,” he said. “We have that in Springfield. We have a social feeling that greenspace, trails and parks are important to us. The citizenry tends to support taxes and make the sacrifice to have those kinds of things as public necessities.”

Ozark Greenways maintains five main trails, with extensions and new trails constantly in development. An active city-county parks department runs eight community/family centers, seven outdoor pools, four golf courses and a dog park in development.

The state also is involved with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s management of the Springfield Conservation Nature Center and its six walking trails.

“A business looking at Springfield will notice the depth of cooperation between government and nonprofits and their ability to work together and create good for the community,” Caplinger said.

Business leaders also should notice comfortable costs of living and doing business.

Compared against the national averages, the costs of utilities and housing create the greatest savings for area residents and businesses.

Both are more than 20 percent below the national average.

Overall, the cost of living in Springfield is consistently about 10 percent below the national average, according to a third-quarter 2004 ACCRA survey.