Economic Development Survey Set To Aid Strategy Creation For County
September 12, 2019
Stock photo of economic graph. Via Unsplash.
Isaac Estes-Jones
The Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce announced last week they will work with Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG) to conduct an economic development research project in Stone County. This is the next step following the first ever Economic Development Summit held over the summer.
“I’m excited we get this opportunity to learn about the economic situation in Stone County,” said Sheila Thomas, President and CEO of the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce, along with Representative Brad Hudson, sponsored the economic development summit in June. During that meeting, several organizations and entities presented on the available resources for economic development in the county.
However, all of them stressed that a strategy for development required having an accurate idea of the situation in the county ahead of time, taking into account property information that could draw diverse businesses, labor force information and several other facets of the economic situation in Stone County.
“This is exactly what we wanted to be able to do after the economic development summit. I think we were pretty much all in agreement that this was the next step, to really start to see what our options are. I feel lucky to get this opportunity,” said Thomas.
“We know that tourism is our number one economic driver, but we need to determine what steps must be taken in terms of infrastructure, labor force and transportation to diversify our economy,” said Thomas. “This study and compilation of data should give us a great snapshot of the potential in Stone County. It is vital that we have good solid information, not speculation, about what type of economic development is feasible here. That will allow us to develop a workable plan going forward,” she said.
SMCOG secured a $12,000 grant to prepare a county-wide asset assessment. All $12,000 will be used toward the economic development research for Stone County. It will take about six months to complete the research and pull all of the data together.
“We actually found out about the grant the day of the summit,” said Thomas. “We were talking with representatives from SMCOG and Missouri Economic Development and they mentioned this grant, but said the deadline was the following Monday. That’s a very short turn around time for a grant, but SMCOG was able to pull the information together and get it submitted,” she said. The chamber announced the reward on Wednesday, September 4.
This study and compilation of data should give us a great snapshot of the potential in Stone County,” Thomas said. “It is vital that we have good solid information, not speculation, about what type of economic development is feasible here. That will allow us to develop a workable plan going forward.”
The grant funds come from the US Economic Development Administration and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “The funds were actually set out to help areas impacted by natural disasters. Because of the floods in 2017, we were able to secure the grant to look at ways mitigate disaster impact by diversifying our economic situation in the county,” Thomas said.
Thomas stressed that the results of this research will not lay out the steps the county needs to take next. “This will not be a bunch of recommendations or options to kick start development. This will give us an accurate photo of where economic development is in Stone County so we can start to work on a strategy,” she said.
The Chamber’s economic development partnership group, consisting of the Stone County Commission, cities of Branson West and Kimberling City, and Table Rock Community Bank, is also working with Missouri Department of Economic Development and economic development consultant Rob O’Brian with O’Brian and Associates to develop a plan for Stone County.
Once SMCOG’s team finishes gathering the information, they will hand over the report to the Chamber for the next steps. “Once the information is gathered and presented to us, we will start working toward developing a strategy. We want to hold a series of public meetings to show the information we gathered and get feedback from people to better serve as a jumping off point to develop a strategy,” said Thomas.
SMCOG is reportedly waiting on the final transfer of funds and has submitted a scope of work to the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce. Thomas hopes work can begin in earnest in the next three weeks or so.
“I’m excited for the focus to be on economic development data to give a focused photo on the opportunities for economic development here in Stone County,” said Thomas.
The Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce announced last week they will work with Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG) to conduct an economic development research project in Stone County. This is the next step following the first ever Economic Development Summit held over the summer.
“I’m excited we get this opportunity to learn about the economic situation in Stone County,” said Sheila Thomas, President and CEO of the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Commerce, along with Representative Brad Hudson, sponsored the economic development summit in June. During that meeting, several organizations and entities presented on the available resources for economic development in the county.
However, all of them stressed that a strategy for development required having an accurate idea of the situation in the county ahead of time, taking into account property information that could draw diverse businesses, labor force information and several other facets of the economic situation in Stone County.
“This is exactly what we wanted to be able to do after the economic development summit. I think we were pretty much all in agreement that this was the next step, to really start to see what our options are. I feel lucky to get this opportunity,” said Thomas.
“We know that tourism is our number one economic driver, but we need to determine what steps must be taken in terms of infrastructure, labor force and transportation to diversify our economy,” said Thomas. “This study and compilation of data should give us a great snapshot of the potential in Stone County. It is vital that we have good solid information, not speculation, about what type of economic development is feasible here. That will allow us to develop a workable plan going forward,” she said.
SMCOG secured a $12,000 grant to prepare a county-wide asset assessment. All $12,000 will be used toward the economic development research for Stone County. It will take about six months to complete the research and pull all of the data together.
“We actually found out about the grant the day of the summit,” said Thomas. “We were talking with representatives from SMCOG and Missouri Economic Development and they mentioned this grant, but said the deadline was the following Monday. That’s a very short turn around time for a grant, but SMCOG was able to pull the information together and get it submitted,” she said. The chamber announced the reward on Wednesday, September 4.
This study and compilation of data should give us a great snapshot of the potential in Stone County,” Thomas said. “It is vital that we have good solid information, not speculation, about what type of economic development is feasible here. That will allow us to develop a workable plan going forward.”
The grant funds come from the US Economic Development Administration and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “The funds were actually set out to help areas impacted by natural disasters. Because of the floods in 2017, we were able to secure the grant to look at ways mitigate disaster impact by diversifying our economic situation in the county,” Thomas said.
Thomas stressed that the results of this research will not lay out the steps the county needs to take next. “This will not be a bunch of recommendations or options to kick start development. This will give us an accurate photo of where economic development is in Stone County so we can start to work on a strategy,” she said.
The Chamber’s economic development partnership group, consisting of the Stone County Commission, cities of Branson West and Kimberling City, and Table Rock Community Bank, is also working with Missouri Department of Economic Development and economic development consultant Rob O’Brian with O’Brian and Associates to develop a plan for Stone County.
Once SMCOG’s team finishes gathering the information, they will hand over the report to the Chamber for the next steps. “Once the information is gathered and presented to us, we will start working toward developing a strategy. We want to hold a series of public meetings to show the information we gathered and get feedback from people to better serve as a jumping off point to develop a strategy,” said Thomas.
SMCOG is reportedly waiting on the final transfer of funds and has submitted a scope of work to the Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce. Thomas hopes work can begin in earnest in the next three weeks or so.
“I’m excited for the focus to be on economic development data to give a focused photo on the opportunities for economic development here in Stone County,” said Thomas.