SBJ adds new member to executive staff

Jan. 2 is the first day on the job for Jennifer Jackson, the 26-year-old publication’s first chief operations officer.

SBJ Publisher Dianne Elizabeth Osis created the position to manage the company’s continued growth.

The move comes less than a year after SBJ added a sister publication, Joplin Tri-State Business, and parallels the addition of SBJ Publishing Inc., an umbrella company for the two publications.

Jackson is no stranger to SBJ. She is the daughter of publisher and founder Osis. After spending 10 years at Ozarks Technical Community College – most recently as director of accreditation services – Jackson left her education post to move into the family business.

While the move signifies a family succession plan, Osis said Jackson was not hired simply because she’s family.

“I don’t believe that someone should come into a family business just because they’re a family member. I’ve seen too many businesses not succeed at that,” Osis said. “I wanted, if Jennifer were to come here, for her to bring to us skills and experience from the outside.”

Jackson has a long list of credentials, including her OTC positions in both education – in communications and construction – and administration, and a forthcoming doctorate in higher education administration from University of Missouri-St. Louis.

“I built a career without necessarily having the Business Journal in mind,” Jackson said, though she recalls visiting her mother in the newspaper offices in its early days, when it was called Top’s Executive Journal – and Jackson was still in middle school. “I thought long and hard about what she did and what it meant to be an entrepreneur, and I think my career took a different path.”

At OTC, Jackson’s former employer, officials will soon name her successor.

“We hate to lose (Jackson),” said Joel Doepker, OTC director of public relations. “She’s been with OTC almost since the beginning, and she’s had an opportunity to interface with a lot of the business community that employs many of our graduates. She’s been a great facilitator between us and the business world.”

Doepker added that someone has been chosen to succeed Jackson and will start at the end of January, pending approval from OTC’s Board of Trustees. The board votes in closed session Jan. 16.

The new job

Jackson’s initial responsibilities at SBJ include internal communication management and human resources, which Osis said is the company’s biggest asset.

“We have great people,” Osis said. “What we need to develop is great application of those people.”

Another duty is to manage SBJ Publishing’s growth, allowing employees to focus on their daily jobs while still helping them see the company’s big picture. SBJ added Joplin Tri-State Business in April, and officials are monitoring other markets for opportunities.

A new special product – Best Places to Work in Southwest Missouri – was added in November, and the second edition will feature a corresponding recognition event Nov. 16.

SBJ currently employs 23, and Joplin’s staff of four is set to expand to six by midyear.

Dorothy Gardner, SBJ’s vice president and associate publisher, said staff growth made the new position crucial.

“Due to the expansion and growth of both Springfield Business Journal and Joplin Tri-State Business and the complexity of these businesses, we need a COO to … see that our employees get the additional support they deserve,” Gardner said.

Jackson said she also recognized the need for an additional executive to manage the company’s current and future expansion.

“The Business Journal has always operated as a small business,” Jackson said. “But it’s reached a point where it’s too big to be small.”

The future

Osis added that she’s lucky to be able to have an idea of what will happen to the business once she decides, sometime in the future, to step away.

“This business will not go through the disaster that so often besets a small business when the owner is no longer able to keep going,” Osis said. “I don’t want the Business Journal to have to be sold if something happens to me. My job is ensuring the long-term growth and security of this organization, so being able to bring Jennifer in is fulfillment of that responsibility.”

While Osis is planning for the future, don’t expect her to step away from the business any time soon.

“I’m not done,” she said. “SBJ is going to get a lot bigger while I’m here.”[[In-content Ad]]