Spring summit: 'Flat is the new up'

Regional business leaders are beginning to see hopeful signs in the economy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things are necessarily on an upward trend just yet.

“In these times, flat is the new up,” said Rob Dixon, executive director of the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce.

Dixon’s sentiment was echoed by several business leaders who attended the Ozarks Regional Economic Partnership Spring Summit, held April 23 in downtown Springfield.
OREP, a program of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce that serves business, civic and government leaders from a 10-county area surrounding Springfield, gathers its members twice a year for regional economic news and networking opportunities.

The spring summit drew about 100 business, civic and government leaders, with session topics ranging from redevelopment to funding sources to marketing and business recruitment.

“One thing that continues to surprise me about these summits is the geographic diversity,” said Jeff Seifried, manager of regional development for OREP. “We had people from all 10 counties at the summit from all walks of life with a goal of looking for ways to better the region.”

Common ground
And while many communities are facing the same challenges – flat revenues and job losses among them – attendees found different positives at the summit.

In some cases, the take-away came from hearing about how other entities have handled similar challenges faced by attendees’ communities. For Dixon, that knowledge came from a presentation by Urban Districts Alliance Executive Director Rusty Worley.

“Our downtown is Old English architecture, which is set by ordinance,” Dixon said. “I think the most interesting program was hearing how the Urban Districts Alliance in Springfield handled improving the façades of some of the buildings while maintaining the architectural integrity.”

Dixon said Hollister’s downtown revitalization is moving forward, highlighted by Ye Olde English Inn, now owned by author Janet Dailey. A restaurant is expected to open at the inn in a few weeks, with lodging to follow several months down the road.

Suzy McElmurry, executive director of the Monett Chamber of Commerce, found the networking aspects of the most helpful, particularly for talking with other people whose communities have been challenged by industrial employment cutbacks.

“It’s good to connect with people from other communities and see how they are working,” she said.

Expansion and education
Another challenge faced in the last two years by several communities represented at the summit is business expansion.

Republic is gearing up for McLane Co. Inc. to move forward with a new 500,000-square-foot, $60 million distribution facility, which is tentatively scheduled to open in the latter half of 2011. Even so, Gail Noggle, director of planning and development for the city of Republic, said other developers have pulled projects due to lack of funding, though she did not cite specifics.

She said lobbyist Scott Marrs’ summit session provided a helpful update on financial tools available to help businesses, and she also found a session on new market tax credits, presented by Andrew Grey of U.S. Bank, to be useful.

“It’s always good to hear a refresher on those,” she said.

School funding, which provides quality education and quality of living programs such as sports, recreation and the arts, also was a key concern for summit attendees.  

For Nixa City Administrator Brian Bingle, co-chairman of OREP’s public sector, information about alternative school funding through the Rural School Initiative provided pertinent information. That initiative, which helps schools find funding through partnerships and foundations, was covered during a session by Brian Fogle, executive vice president of Community Foundation of the Ozarks.

“All of the communities in the Ozarks have strong schools, and as government revenue streams continue to go down, the schools will be looking for further funding,” Bingle said.

Bingle said the summit was well-attended overall and provided a good snapshot of southwest Missouri business.

“OREP provides a great sounding board, coaching, mentoring and networking resource,” he added.[[In-content Ad]]