Morning Edition; Joplin on the Rise

It's morning edition on KRPS. I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro. Nearly a decade ago, in EF-5, Tornado, destroyed one-third of the city of Joplin, Missouri. Last year, like many cities across the U.S., Joplin City officials and business leaders were worried about how the pandemic would affect the local economy, having already recovered and rebuilt from the storm. Scar is still persistent in the city that is experiencing a renewal they likely know unexpected. We tightened our belt in May to prepare for the financial haircut that we might receive in fighting COVID. Joplin Mayor Ryan Stanley, speaking on how the city was preparing last year to lose tax revenue, as the implications of the coronavirus pandemic were still unwinding. But to their surprise, the city actually saw an increase in the amount of sales tax collected in 2020, as residents either chose to stay home or were forced to. Stanley continues. We cut a million dollars worth of expenses out of our budget proactively to prepare, and so we were bracing ourselves for the worst, and I'm beyond happy and somewhat surprised that

our sales tax numbers have continued to grow through COVID. Almost every month, we've been up a percent over what we were the year before. Just blocks away from City Hall, there are two major construction projects underway that will transform downtown Joplin for decades to come, a new Jasper County courthouse, and the Cornell Complex. Connect to culture has raised nearly $20 million to build the new indoor and outdoor performing arts center that is slated to be finished in the fall of next year. But downtown Joplin is in the only area of the city that is seeing growth. A new development named the 30-Second Street Place, including a new Menards Home Improvement Warehouse, is being constructed in the southeast part of the city, President of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Toby Teeter. This 30-Second Street Place development encompasses much more than just the Menards, but speaking about the Menards, Menards itself actually has data, very interesting data talking

about how much business from the Joplin region actually goes to other Menards, specifically the Menards in Springfield. Last year, the Joplin City Council voted in favor of $188 million dollar Menards project that includes the 30-Second Street TIFF. That's already in effect in the area around the location. It's an additional 1% sales tax that will help pay for city improvements. Teeter says that Joplin is finally able to compete with larger areas. Markets in Northwest Arkansas or Springfield, even those markets, they don't have $200 million dollar retail developments in 2021, in 2020. This is a very big deal for any market that has something of this scale. This promising time, though, isn't without its challenges. Joplin's North Park Mall has recently lost two anchor stores, Macy's and Sears. And the city's four-year state university, Missouri Southern, experienced an enrollment drop of 10% last fall, over twice the national average for the same

period. With Menards slated open in the fall of 2022, it isn't the only project that the Joplin area chamber of commerce has been successful in bringing to the area. Last month, Iowa-based KC's General Stores opened their third distribution center in Joplin, a $200 million warehouse employing 125 workers that can serve up to 600 stores. The JACC has been active in trying to lower larger corporations to the area, tweeting to General Motors in March, a plan worth over $200 million dollars worth of incentives to build the company's new battery plant in Joplin. Plan highlighted in over 1,000 acre sites, the availability of the nearby workforce and median hourly wage for existing local employees. GM eventually chose to build the new plant near their existing manufacturing facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Joplin city manager Nick Edwards sees a bright future, woo-eeed by the 30-second street development.

Anytime a community can attract investment, especially when we start talking around, you know, the $100 million dollars worth of investment, that's significant. It's significant, Nick says, because it makes other companies that are considering opening a business or relocating in Southwest Missouri, a more competitive choice. The development community talks, you know, this development will spur additional development and, you know, maybe we can start to get some momentum. Momentum, the city has been building for the last 10 years. For KRPS, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro in Web City.