SBDC counts job growth, fund-raising as year's successes

Incoming SBDC President Mary Kay Meek of Meek’s Building Centers enumerated those goals and others at the corporation’s annual meeting Feb. 22 at Highland Springs Country Club. Meek replaced immediate past president Mike Phillips, a managing shareholder with Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller CPAs PC.

Meek said the corporation – a 501(c)3 subsidiary of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce – is an example of a successful public-private partnership designed to grow the regional economy by assisting existing businesses and attracting new ones that bring jobs to the area.

“We strive not just to create jobs, but quality jobs,” Meek said.

SBDC CEO Greg Williams, who is also the chamber’s economic development director, said metropolitan and regional work force statistics are indicative of the corporation’s economic impact. Since 2002, almost 24,000 jobs have been created in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area of Greene, Christian, Webster, Polk and Dallas counties. When analyzing 10 counties in southwest Missouri, the net job increase since 2002 is more than 28,000.

Williams noted that SBDC and its partner members have directly aided $156 million in capital investment since 2003. Through the five-year Partnership for Prosperity campaign, SBDC member-investors, which include Springfield Business Journal, have raised $1.9 million. The SBDC board has expressed support for continuation of the campaign, which is set to expire Dec. 31.

Williams also cited the Springfield area’s per capita income rate, which has been at 13.6 percent since 2003. The rate is 11.2 percent in Springfield’s peer communities and 11.9 percent statewide, according to SBDC figures.

“We are doing what we told you in 2002 we would accomplish,” Williams told those attending the annual meeting.

SBDC is also a member of Springfield’s Partnership for Economic Development, which celebrated build-out of the Partnership Industrial Center in August. The center, which was completed two years ahead of schedule, is home to 21 companies and more than $200 million in private investment.

In his time as SBDC president, Phillips said the corporation’s leadership excelled at team building and worked to keep Springfield “competitive in core areas.” He said the SBDC would continue to set realistic goals in the coming years.

In addition to Phillips, Chuck Banta of Banta Foods Inc.; David Agee of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin; and Fred Mathews of Mathews & Associates Inc. concluded terms on the SBDC board.[[In-content Ad]]