Consultant praises Springfield competitive manufacturing gains

Lacey Coleman: Springfield area’s success in food manufacturing area is no accident. 

A few months after the Springfield region received a national ranking as a top 25 food manufacturing hub, the founder of the South Carolina-based site selection and negotiation firm behind the report praised Springfield’s competitive readiness for additional manufacturing development during a talk on Dec. 3.  

Didi Caldwell, president and CEO of Global Location Strategies, was the keynote speaker at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Manufacturing Outlook event. The annual gathering is organized by the Springfield Business Development Corp., the chamber’s economic development arm.  

“The ecosystem here is really, really strong,” Caldwell said. “So that helps you with the scores.” 

While some communities are investment ready when it comes to sites, talent, incentive structures, financing, community and utility partners, Caldwell said opportunities for some may have been missing. 

“Now we’re in a situation where there’s more opportunity than there are communities that are ready,” she said. “I think that puts you in a unique position to take advantage of these opportunities as long as you are able to check these boxes.” 

Caldwell pointed out that around 18% of all the food manufacturing projects announced in 2023 and 2024 were in the West North Central region, which includes Springfield, second nationally only to the Midwest region. 

“That right there without doing any analysis tells me that this region has a competitive advantage,” she said, noting Springfield has the highest workforce score in the region, ranking 40th out of 387 MSAs. “That is very impressive.”  

In its 2025 Best Places for Food Manufacturing Report, the Springfield metro tied for No. 5 in the West North Central region consisting of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Additionally, Springfield tied for 25th on the overall ranking of the 387 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. Caldwell said the report factored location quality score and location-dependent operating costs, and individual criteria comprised demographics, education, workforce, industry ecosystem, logistics infrastructure, regulatory environment and attraction and quality of life.  

With an overall score of 82.97, the Springfield metro tied with Wichita, Kansas. The Springfield metro’s No. 25 national ranking is up from No. 56 in 2024, which Caldwell said was the first year for the report.  

Caldwell said the future workforce pipeline is stronger, educational attainment has improved and the regulatory environment as a state has gotten better. 

“All these little things contributed to that rise in your score,” she said.

Prior to Caldwell taking the stage at the event, Jonas Arjes, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development, said the Springfield metro has 523 manufacturers, which employ over 19,000 people and have a combined payroll of $310 million.  

Chamber officials said around 370 people attended the event at the White River Conference Center, down from 410 the prior year.   

Competitive advantage 
According to the chamber, manufacturing is the fourth-largest industry in the Springfield MSA, and food manufacturing employs more than 3,000 people, or 16.2% of all manufacturing employment in the area. Local food manufacturers include Kraft Heinz Foods Co. LLC, McCormick & Co. Inc./The French’s Food Co. LLC, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. and Vital Farms Inc. 

While her firm helps companies make site selection decisions based on cost and quality of risk, when it comes to manufacturing-related projects, Caldwell said the big three cost drivers for almost every one of them is labor, logistics and energy.  

“Now for some projects, the more labor-intensive something is, the more it’s going to be driven by labor. The more energy capital, the more it’s to be driven by energy costs,” she said, noting Springfield’s regulatory environment and logistic infrastructure are areas where it is blessed.  

Getting ahead in manufacturing includes building a long-term labor pipeline and increasing workforce participation among segments such as disconnected youth and veterans, Caldwell said. However, that also includes preparation for demographic realities, as birth rates are down across the country. Springfield is not unique, she said, adding it has aged a generation since 2010 when the average age was 29.5. Today, it’s 39.2.  

When it comes to real estate availability, Caldwell said communities should accelerate site readiness, when possible, and protect and expand its large-site portfolio. While policy volatility is becoming a strategic risk nationally, she said Springfield should proactively communicate stability and streamline local processes to reduce risks and advocate its workforce at the state and national level.  

As for how Springfield might see another increase in its rankings for the next GLS food manufacturing report, Caldwell said after the event that most factors happen organically. If Springfield continues to develop or grow its food manufacturing facilities, the area’s location quotient will increase. 

“Your demographics, if they continue to improve the way they have been relative to the rest of the U.S., then that score is going to go up,” she said, adding maintaining competitive wages and electric rates are other important factors. “If you just focus on the fundamentals of how do you maintain and improve your competitive position, that will cause you to rise in the rankings for food manufacturing or potentially for other sectors as well.”  

GLS recently completed a report in pharmaceutical manufacturing and earlier in the year published one on primary metal manufacturing. Caldwell said a 2026 food manufacturing report is unlikely.  

“We’ll probably take a break next year from food and maybe do one in 2027, just because there’s some other industries that we’d like to establish,” she said. 

Workforce issue 
While not a food manufacturer, some of Holloway America’s pressure vessels serve the food and beverage industry for creating lab-grown meats and condiments. Lacey Coleman, people operations manager for the Springfield company which custom designs, engineers and fabricates its vessels, was among those in attendance at the chamber event.  

“The success of manufacturing in this area is not an accident,” she said of Springfield’s strong showing in the GLS report. “It’s obviously a collaborative effort between the region, the transportation access, the workforce.” 

As for industry challenges, Coleman continues to see headwinds toward the labor force.  

“Talent and workforce will always be an issue to find good quality, skilled-labor positions,” she said.