Photos by L.G. Patterson

While Columbia is a thriving community, it is always important to discuss a vision and plan for future development. Inside Columbia Publisher Emeritus Fred Parry hosted a CEO Roundtable luncheon, catered by The Broadway Hotel Chef Jeff Guinn, with ten local leaders in different industries in Columbia. The group discussed the economic future of Columbia, including how to improve and support local startups and entrepreneurs, opportunities to create more partnerships between businesses and higher education institutions, how to entice the younger generation to build a life in our community and how to put plans into action to see necessary change.

Supporting the Local Economy

The future is unknown for everyone. As much as we would like to have an idea of what it will look like, we will always be surprised. This is especially true with the Columbia community. The future of the local economy depends on the success of local businesses. But the key is retaining those businesses in the area for the long haul. John Hall, the managing partner at Relevance, says he has run into this problem firsthand.“One of the reasons why some of my companies aren’t located here is that we did get certain support with investors, because there’s not the density,” he says. So, the question is, how can Columbia be more attractive and feasible for local start-ups? “I think it’s just looking at what actually makes sense to attract the right resources that accelerate these companies,” Hall says.

Senior Relationship Manager for the Bank of Missouri Bill Costello says the root of the problem is that Columbia is one step behind. “Think about how the population of Columbia has expanded over the years, the number of new people that have moved here, the type of people that have come here,” he says. “I sense that we’re always playing a bit of ‘catch up’ — from an infrastructure standpoint … from a safety standpoint … from an entrepreneur support standpoint, and it’s because we’ve created this attractive, wonderful place to come. We just weren’t prepared for all the guests that showed up.”

Nic Parks, the chief executive officer at Parks Amusements, says that as an entrepreneur himself, it’s easy to get enticed by other thriving communities, especially when you see all they have to offer. “We talk about the West Coast, specifically San Diego, and my wife is always saying, ‘We could live there; they have beautiful homes, the water, there is an airport close by.’ We travel a lot and that’s an issue in Columbia: you’ve got to drive two hours either way to get on an airplane,” Parks says. One thing that Parks thinks would elevate Columbia’s economy would be improving the youth sports facilities and entertainment options to keep families spending dollars locally. “Our friends and family in Kansas City and St. Louis will say, ‘Come here because we have the zoo, the children’s hospital, this state park and that,’ but we want to be able to say, ‘Come to Columbia because we have these things in the entertainment and sports fields,’” he says.

The President and Chief Executive Officer at the Central Bank of Boone County, Ed Scavone, says the University of Missouri and the students are truly the heart of the business community. “When you think about the university on new investments, enrollments, it has historically been the driver of all the good things and talent that have created a lot of the business activity around this community,” he says. “Just look around this table. Students came here for a reason and stayed.”

Higher Education

Generation Z is increasingly choosing to opt out of attending a traditional four-year college. But, being a college town, Columbia thrives on the students, specifically the ones who choose to stay and live in Columbia after graduation. So, it’s time for the community to find ways to retain this generation and the ones to follow. But the question is: how? The President and Chief Executive Officer of the Missouri Community College Association, Brian Millner, says he has seen the tide shift on higher education. “I have witnessed a very substantial change in higher education and the expectations of the value proposition, and I think that is a real piece of what this community is going to have to address,” he says. “I think there are a lot more people questioning whether a degree is necessary.” Millner thinks it’s about creating opportunities for students to live, study and work in the community so they have a life set up for them after graduation. “We could create an earn-while-you-learn-type model, so you’re getting whatever certificate or degree is necessary along the way,” he says. “We’ve got all these wonderful amenities … a safe place to live and the business community is sustaining jobs and opportunities for people while they get a degree.”

Brady Dubois, president and chief executive officer of Boone Health, says his team is already providing opportunities like that for students. But the problem is, they can’t seem to fill the slots. “We’ve got private partnerships with Stephens College, where we have a joint nursing program where we facilitated their learning lab,” he says. “The challenge is, even with those opportunities, the talent pool of folks applying to access those were about 60%. So today, we’ve got 40% of our student positions vacant.”

Dubois says it’s becoming much more difficult to find hard-working candidates. “I mean, if you show up on time, if you take a shower before you come to work and you show up, you have a good chance of succeeding.” Dubois wants to emphasize that the whole point of these programs is to help students flourish, but it’s a two-way street. “We’re trying to send the message that we will help you succeed,” he says. “You do your part; we’re going to do our part, and together, we’re going to have a great organization, you’re going to have a great environment to work in and you will learn a lot from one of the best hospitals in the nation.”

Columbia Police Department Chief Jill Schlude agrees that it’s all about putting in the hard work and knowing that even though it takes time to reach your goal, the journey is worth it. “You’re going to have to start at the bottom to get someplace, and even if you own the company, there is a price to pay for that, and that’s really hard,” she says. But just as Dubois is struggling with filling student spots, Schlude has also seen some setbacks. “We have to really sell our department because it’s very competitive with law enforcement pay,” she says. Programs are already in the works to entice people to not only stay in Columbia but to recruit out-of-state workers to be a part of our community. “We started a program where we were paying for officers’ academy,” she says. “They are obviously getting paid while they go to the academy, and then they transition and get a salary as soon as they finish the academy.” To keep the focus on retention, Schlude says they focus on asking candidates the burning questions about coming to or remaining in our community. “We ask them, ‘why here?’ If they are not from here, we ask, ‘why do you want to come to come to Columbia?’ If they’re from here, we ask, ‘why do you want to stay here?’”

While students may be opting for education options other than a typical four-year degree, the community is planning to create more ways to benefit students, at all education levels, to keep them thriving in the Columbia community. “I’ve been in a lot of conversations recently about whether a bachelor’s degree is still a worthwhile endeavor,” Millner says. “Or, can we shorten that time to degree and make it more efficient? So, there’s areas of improvement.”

Taking Action

In theory, many of the ideas and thoughts around boosting Columbia’s economic future are great. The hard part is turning an idea into a plan. This can start simply by bringing more people into the community with attractive events, Brian Whorley, founder and CEO of Paytient says. “We’re bringing close to 250 people into Columbia the first week of June. It’s some of our teammates, a few investors, partners and clients,” he says. “I’ve heard people ask themselves in years past, ‘Can I see myself being part of this community year-round?’ So, how they experience our city’s amenities, airport, trails and especially our downtown really matters.” Whorley recalls Peter Stiepleman’s often-used mantra of “the community with the best schools wins.” Whorley thinks refreshing that civic statement to project what Como hopes to be in the future is important. “I think we have something special here; I think that if we can articulate our community vision more broadly, it’ll help,” he says.

Some of the action plans are already in place to attract visitors and, hopefully, residents to Columbia. President of Regional Economic Development, Inc. Paul Eisenstein says the I-70 project is just one example. “I-70 going to three lanes in both directions … that’s a tremendous opportunity,” he says. “That’s great. But now we’ve got to ask, ‘How else do we want to grow?’” Hall states his main goal is to be the person of change in the community, to take charge and show others that change only occurs through action. “I want to be a person of real change,” he says. “It’s my first time meeting Chief (Schlude) here and I am really impressed, she is such a down-toearth person. The first thing I asked her was, ‘What can I actually do?’” It’s not about just the discussion, Hall says, it’s about the follow-through. “I would just challenge us to do something more actionable when we leave here.” Randy Cole, the chief executive officer of the Columbia Housing Authority, says a driving factor for people to not stay and raise a family in Columbia is the lack of affordable housing, but there are steps the city can and should take to change that. “Other communities are making progress on this issue in a variety of ways,” he says. “I think as a community, we could start by reducing some of the regulations for development.” Columbia is constantly seeing progression toward a bountiful economic future, but the community needs to remember it’s about coming together, creating ideas to benefit the future and taking action.

Rapid Fire – Final Thoughts

On Airport Success…

“I think we’ve mentioned the airport, but just thinking through … some successes we’ve built on and how Stacy Button and Mike Parks did a great job expanding the terminal at the Columbia Regional Airport.”

Randy Cole, chief executive officer of the Columbia Housing Authority

On Implementing Action…

“I always try to leave somewhere by saying, ‘How can I actually be helpful to people? So, I’m going to go to a meeting to support some of the things that I told (Schlude) that I agree with, which we were in alignment with, and then I’ll keep spending my money at local places.”

John Hall, managing partner at Relevance

“Let’s talk about ideas, let’s talk about action. I get approached by a lot of people about projects that they want to happen. I would say, if we can get together, there are very specific, actionable things that I think do make sense for the city to help on the youth sports and entertainment front, and I’d like to be able to share those opportunities in a large group to see who’s in on these potential types of projects.”

Nic Parks, chief executive officer at Parks Amusements, LLC

“I think it’s important for people who care about the future of our community and have innovative ideas to really speak up. I am interested to get to know more people and their perspectives.”

Paul Eisenstein, president of Regional Economic Development, Inc.

On a Growth Mantra…

“I think that the community with the best STEM talent builds the future that every other community lives in.”

Brian Whorley, founder and chief executive officer of Paytient

On the Downtown Economy…

“Downtown seems to have more vacancies, if you walk around, there’s a lot more small business spaces empty than I can remember.”

Ed Scavone, president and chief executive officer at Central Bank of Boone County

On Expansion…

“We’re continuing to hire. We have to hire as we’re expanding. We’re adding providers and we’re adding services. That is also how we interface with higher education partners.”

Brady Dubois, president and chief executive officer of Boone Health

On Collaboration…

“I just feel like if we’re going to be a city and not a town, we’ve got to talk about the mayor’s race and politics in general. We have to be able to solve the crime problem and also concern ourselves with things like climate change. Somebody’s got to bring those two voices together in a meaningful way.”

Brian Millner, president and chief executive officer of the Missouri Community College Association

On Voting…

“75%, at best, of registered voters in this community don’t vote in municipal elections. That just blows my mind. Why are we not motivated, more activated, to get out and affect change that makes a difference?”

Bill Costello, senior relationship manager of the Bank of Missouri

On Serving the Community…

“We have to create a climate here where people want to come and serve their community in a very real, meaningful way, but yet feel like they’re supported by people who they don’t hear from.”

Jill Schlude, chief of the Columbia Police Department