PARTICIPANTS

Front row, left to right:
Becky Boerkircher,
St. Joseph Downtown Partnership Corp.
Barbara Wurtzler,
United Way of Greater St. Joseph
Mickael “Ranger” Duran,
American Family Insurance
Cyndra Lorey,
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce
Mayor David Jones,
City of St. Joseph, Missouri
Richard DeShon,
Artesian Ice & Cold Storage
Marci Bennett,
St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau
Emil Sechter,
Commerce Bank
Tama Wagner,
Heartland Health
Dave Bahner,
US Bank

Back Row, left to right:
Ron Olinger,
Missouri Western State College
Pat Conway,
Buchanan County, Missouri
Dr. James Scanlon,
Missouri Western State College
Joe Fangman,
Aquila Networks
Patt Lilly,
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce
Terry Steinbecker,
St. Joseph Industrial Foundation
Tom Lesnak,
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce
Dirck Clark,
Heartland Regional Medical Center
Steve Schmitz,
Ingram’s Magazine
Terry McClatchey,
Ag Processing, Inc.
Michael Meierhoffer,
Meierhoffer Family Funeral Service
Cort Hegarty,
UMB Bank
David Bradley,
News-Press & Gazzette Company
Mark Woodbury,
Shugart, Thomson, Kilroy, Watkins & Boulware
Stet Schanze,
Gray Automotive Products Co.
Galon Weiland,
Doniphan County, Kan., EDC
Brad Lau,
St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Dan Colgan,
St. Joseph, Missouri School District
Vince Capell,
City of St. Joseph, Missouri

On a brisk Friday morning in early January, some 30 civic leaders from the greater St. Joseph area met to assess the state of their community and to explore economic development opportunities. The meeting was organized by Ingram's Magazine as part of its ongoing economic development series and was hosted by the greater St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President, Patt Lilly, chaired the assembly. And a productive, good-spirited event it was. This was not unexpected.

Community Spirit

"One of the things I'm proudest of about St. Joseph," said Mayor David Jones, "is that no matter what the issue, this community gets together as one entity and does a good job of setting goals and reaching those goals." The Mayor may have been the first to strike this theme, but he was not alone. Stet Schanze of Gray Automotive Products affirmed that this community "can put people around table and solve problems." He attributed this ability to the fact that the city was not too large but was "big enough to get job done." Said Barbara Wurtzler of the United Way, "St. Joseph is the right size to form a sense of community." "The community works very well together," agreed Joe Fangman of Aquila Networks. Tom Lesnak of the Chamber added that not only was the community able to act in unison, but it was also able to act quickly. "One of the things St Joseph is good about," said Lesnak, "is being ready for development." Although the city has long had a reputation for being responsive, Lesnak argued that the development process has now been refined to a point where it takes 12 weeks or less.

© 2003 by Show-Me Publishing, Inc. with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use in any manner of editorial or
graphic content without permission is prohibited. | Destination Saint Joseph is a supplement to Ingram's Magazine