In nearly eight years as the city of Republic’s director of planning and development, Gail Noggle has helped usher in nearly 1,000 jobs for the Springfield neighbor. Now, she says the city seeks to attract retailers and entertainment options to appeal to its increased population.
Speaking live this morning as Springfield Business Journal’s monthly 12 People You Need to Know guest, Noggle said city officials are negotiating on new projects, particularly in retail, and could make an announcement within 60 days. Other projects coming down the pike including industrial and distribution opportunities in the Brookline area, which is fully annexed into Republic.
“That’s property that’s just sitting there ready to be developed,” she said.
She has some go-to tools at her disposal to attract business opportunities. The over $30 million McLane Co. Inc. distribution center she worked to bring to the city stands as a landmark for other businesses looking to open new facilities or relocate.
“What it has allowed us to do is to send the message that our team can work a project and make the deal happen,” Noggle said. “I use that when I’m trying to recruit other businesses, whether it be retail, whether it be other manufacturing, distribution, whatever it may be, for the simple fact that, ‘Hey, look, if we were able to accomplish what we did with that large of a project, we can certainly navigate and work a package for your project as well.’”
Since the 2011 opening of McLane’s roughly 500,000-square-foot distribution center, Noggle has helped market Republic, resulting in Red Monkey Foods moving its headquarters from Mount Vernon, a new Ashley Furniture HomeStore warehouse and Watson Metal Masters Inc. relocating from Nixa.
“Development breeds development,” Noggle said.
It also means more jobs and residents. She says single-family residential permits are up, and the city’s population was 16,000 last year - up from 14,800 in 2010 and 9,000 in 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
For those residents, she says entertainment options and retail are a must.
“I think if we got a bowling alley or a movie theater, they’d name the town after all of us,” Noggle joked. “I think there’s some retail components, clothing retailers and so forth, that could make a difference.
“Those are things that we just have to continue to bang the drum on and stay in front of.”[[In-content Ad]]
