Economic Development Summit Starts Conversation
Rob O’Brian, of O’Brian and Associates, was hired to facilitate the Economic Development Summit, held Thurday, June 13, in Reeds Spring.
June 20, 2019
Isaac Estes-Jones
Stone County’s first Economic Development Summit, held Thursday, June 13, in Reeds Spring, was sponsored by Representative Brad Hudson and the Table Rock Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Ozarks Region Workforce Development Board. Using this and other money, the Chamber of Commerce, with Rep. Hudson and the Table Rock Regional Partnership, were able to hire a consultant, Rob O’Brian, to help start determining where Stone County is and what the county can do to help spur economic development.
O’Brian, who formerly worked with the Joplin Chamber of Commerce and many others, shared some statistics about the state of the county. For example, Stone County’s population is growing and is expected to increase another 1% in the next five years.
However, more of that population is aging out of the workforce with fewer young people to replace them. This is a pattern across the state, but is something, according to O’Brian, to be aware of.
“No two communities are alike in their desire to support economic initiatives. Often it is about timing and what else is going on. From the turnout and enthusiasm, I think Stone County is ready to take [the] next steps,” said O’Brian.
“After discussing with Brad [Hudson], we said, ‘Let’s do a summit and start the conversation,’” said Sheila Thomas, CEO of the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce. “One of the things I’ve learned as I have been looking at this is that one size doesn’t fit all,” Thomas said. “Every community does economic development differently. We have to figure out what will work to help the county and our businesses. Nobody’s going to do it for us.”
The goals of the economic development summit were threefold: demonstrate what economic development looks like, determine what is realistic, and learn how to get started.
“We are a growing area and it is time to look at diversifying our economic situation,” said Rep. Hudson. “Everyone in this county has benefited from tourism and tourism will continue to be good for this county,” he said.
Hudson emphasized that economic development in our county won’t happen over night. “We have to focus on where we want to see the county in 25 years; in 100 years,” he said.
Many of the speakers at the event spoke about the unique position of Stone County and shared information about programs that may help with development in the future.
Facilitator O’Brian said, “This is a really unique county, with agriculture in the north to tourism in the south. It’s a very diverse area.”
O’Brian’s preliminary information showed how spread out the economy in Stone County is. Most of the 8,000+ jobs in the county come from small businesses with less than 20 employees. The top five economic sectors identified by O’Brian are arts, entertainment and recreation, with over 1,200 jobs, followed by government (including schools), construction, retail trade and finally accommodation and food services.
However, average earnings in the county are on the low side for the state, coming in at $34,977 across all jobs.
Education was another factor that O’Brian looked at. Stone County has slightly more people, on average, than the state and nation with up to some college. However, the county is behind in attainment of bachelor’s degrees or higher.
Looking more at the education sector, Nick Thieman, Director at Gibson Technical Center, spoke about some of the programs his center is implementing to help prepare students for entering the job market. “The goal at Gibson Tech is to prepare students for a career, not just college,” he said.
Gibson Tech graduates around 150 seniors each year in seven programs. “The focus is teaching kids a skill because of the skills gap we see,” Thieman said. “Part of how we measure success is credentials, industry recognized credentials,” he said. Gibson Tech helps students earn certifications ranging from ServSafe to OSHA to EMT and CNA, among others.
Individuals from the Missouri Department of Economic Development presented to the assembled crowd. They covered state-wide reorganization changes coming under Governor Parson and shared information about programs and help available through their local office.
Sean Johnson, Vice President of Business Recruitment with Missouri Partnership, spoke about the efforts the Missouri Partnership undertakes to attempt to bring businesses into Missouri.
Throughout the event, each presenter touched on the definition of economic development, although each of them gave slightly different pictures of what that looks like.
One key similarity across all definitions was an emphasis on identifying what assets and gaps exist in the county already.
“I believe the next step will be researching how we can obtain a comprehensive assessment of our assets in Stone County,” said Thomas. The Chamber of Commerce will be taking the lead in the next steps, according to Thomas, and then the board will determine the role they play going forward.
“Stone County has a strong job base and economic impact from tourism and hospitality. What I heard yesterday is people want to keep and expand on that while looking forward to expand the base to create more opportunities for jobs and growth. I believe that is a very reasonable approach. It takes time and commitment but Stone County seems ready to go,” said O’Brian.
To learn more about the summit and view the presentations given by each of the panelists, go to https://www.visittablerocklake.com/economic-development-summit.
We will share more information about the process of developing Stone County’s economy as the next steps are taken.
Isaac Estes-Jones
Stone County’s first Economic Development Summit, held Thursday, June 13, in Reeds Spring, was sponsored by Representative Brad Hudson and the Table Rock Area Chamber of Commerce.
The event was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Ozarks Region Workforce Development Board. Using this and other money, the Chamber of Commerce, with Rep. Hudson and the Table Rock Regional Partnership, were able to hire a consultant, Rob O’Brian, to help start determining where Stone County is and what the county can do to help spur economic development.
O’Brian, who formerly worked with the Joplin Chamber of Commerce and many others, shared some statistics about the state of the county. For example, Stone County’s population is growing and is expected to increase another 1% in the next five years.
However, more of that population is aging out of the workforce with fewer young people to replace them. This is a pattern across the state, but is something, according to O’Brian, to be aware of.
“No two communities are alike in their desire to support economic initiatives. Often it is about timing and what else is going on. From the turnout and enthusiasm, I think Stone County is ready to take [the] next steps,” said O’Brian.
“After discussing with Brad [Hudson], we said, ‘Let’s do a summit and start the conversation,’” said Sheila Thomas, CEO of the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce. “One of the things I’ve learned as I have been looking at this is that one size doesn’t fit all,” Thomas said. “Every community does economic development differently. We have to figure out what will work to help the county and our businesses. Nobody’s going to do it for us.”
The goals of the economic development summit were threefold: demonstrate what economic development looks like, determine what is realistic, and learn how to get started.
“We are a growing area and it is time to look at diversifying our economic situation,” said Rep. Hudson. “Everyone in this county has benefited from tourism and tourism will continue to be good for this county,” he said.
Hudson emphasized that economic development in our county won’t happen over night. “We have to focus on where we want to see the county in 25 years; in 100 years,” he said.
Many of the speakers at the event spoke about the unique position of Stone County and shared information about programs that may help with development in the future.
Facilitator O’Brian said, “This is a really unique county, with agriculture in the north to tourism in the south. It’s a very diverse area.”
O’Brian’s preliminary information showed how spread out the economy in Stone County is. Most of the 8,000+ jobs in the county come from small businesses with less than 20 employees. The top five economic sectors identified by O’Brian are arts, entertainment and recreation, with over 1,200 jobs, followed by government (including schools), construction, retail trade and finally accommodation and food services.
However, average earnings in the county are on the low side for the state, coming in at $34,977 across all jobs.
Education was another factor that O’Brian looked at. Stone County has slightly more people, on average, than the state and nation with up to some college. However, the county is behind in attainment of bachelor’s degrees or higher.
Looking more at the education sector, Nick Thieman, Director at Gibson Technical Center, spoke about some of the programs his center is implementing to help prepare students for entering the job market. “The goal at Gibson Tech is to prepare students for a career, not just college,” he said.
Gibson Tech graduates around 150 seniors each year in seven programs. “The focus is teaching kids a skill because of the skills gap we see,” Thieman said. “Part of how we measure success is credentials, industry recognized credentials,” he said. Gibson Tech helps students earn certifications ranging from ServSafe to OSHA to EMT and CNA, among others.
Individuals from the Missouri Department of Economic Development presented to the assembled crowd. They covered state-wide reorganization changes coming under Governor Parson and shared information about programs and help available through their local office.
Sean Johnson, Vice President of Business Recruitment with Missouri Partnership, spoke about the efforts the Missouri Partnership undertakes to attempt to bring businesses into Missouri.
Throughout the event, each presenter touched on the definition of economic development, although each of them gave slightly different pictures of what that looks like.
One key similarity across all definitions was an emphasis on identifying what assets and gaps exist in the county already.
“I believe the next step will be researching how we can obtain a comprehensive assessment of our assets in Stone County,” said Thomas. The Chamber of Commerce will be taking the lead in the next steps, according to Thomas, and then the board will determine the role they play going forward.
“Stone County has a strong job base and economic impact from tourism and hospitality. What I heard yesterday is people want to keep and expand on that while looking forward to expand the base to create more opportunities for jobs and growth. I believe that is a very reasonable approach. It takes time and commitment but Stone County seems ready to go,” said O’Brian.
To learn more about the summit and view the presentations given by each of the panelists, go to https://www.visittablerocklake.com/economic-development-summit.
We will share more information about the process of developing Stone County’s economy as the next steps are taken.