By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Members of the Hawthorn Foundation are in St. Joseph, visiting the city prior to holding their meeting at Missouri Western State University today.
The Hawthorn Foundation is a non-profit business group which helps the state recruit businesses to Missouri.
Executive Director Becky Willard says the group helped organize Gov. Mike Parson’s overseas trade mission last year.
“Last summer, we went to Germany and the governor was able to meet with Schuetz and with Boehringer Ingelheim, with their corporate leadership overseas, to talk about how grateful he is that they are in Missouri and specifically in St. Joseph,” Willards tells reporters prior to a reception the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce threw for the Hawthorn Foundation at the Country Club.
Willard says Missouri struggles with economic problems facing all states: workforce development, a lack of child care, and not enough housing.
“So those are things that we need to look at, but overall, we still see opportunities and we still see areas where we’re growing and where we’re thriving.”
Willard, a native of St. Joseph, says the foundation is St. Joseph, because its board members need to see all parts of the state to adequately represent Missouri’s business interests. Meetings in other parts of the state are planned. The Hawthorn board often meets in Columbia and St. Louis.
Willard says the state economy is strong, though it faces challenges.
“Our economic climate in Missouri I think is positive. Across the country, we’ve seen a lot of struggles and coming out of COVID, that’s been difficult. I think we’ve weathered that well in Missouri, but we still have some things we need to address,” Willard says. “We’ve talked a lot about child care as a workforce obstacle. We’ve talked a lot about housing as an obstacle to getting people back to work.”
Hawthorn board members are not just getting a look at St. Joseph and hearing from its leaders, they are talking business. Specifically, they are discussing what businesses might be a good fit for the city.
Willard says designating St. Joseph’s Eastowne Business Park as a Missouri premier site will be a significant step in the city’s economic growth.
“Hawthorn works very closely with an organization called Missouri Partnership that worked on some of that site development and they are at the forefront of bringing new businesses to the state,” according to Willard. “And so, working on marketing this site, making sure that it’s ready and that people know about it is something that we will be doing going forward and our friends at Missouri Partnership will be helping with as well.”
Members of the Hawthorn Foundation board will be taking in Chiefs Training Camp this morning before getting down to business at Missouri Western State University.
You can follow Brent on Twitter @GBrent, @680KFEQ, and @StJosephPost.