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Two companies cut ribbons in the Springfield metro this July. They work in different industries, but they tell a similar story about the 10-county Ozarks region: this is a place where companies choose to grow, and where the pieces are in place to help them do it.
Keep Supply, a fast-growing distributor of commercial refrigeration parts, opened a new headquarters at 117 Park Central Square in downtown Springfield. The company serves food manufacturers, cold storage operators, and processors across the country, and it expects to add around 100 jobs in the coming years, with room to keep growing in its new space. It is the kind of distribution and logistics operation that has long been a strength of the region.
Genie Recon marked an expansion that will bring $11.5 million in investment and 243 new jobs. A joint venture between Springfield-based SRC Holdings and aerial lift maker Genie, the company restores telescopic boom lifts to original factory specifications at its facility on East Pythian Street. Advanced remanufacturing like this builds on a deep regional base in advanced manufacturing, and it reflects something site selectors watch closely: a homegrown company reinvesting at this scale is a strong signal about the market around it.
How the region shows up
Neither expansion happened on its own. Behind each is the less visible work of economic development: connecting a growing company with the right space and helping a manufacturer and its advisors navigate the Missouri Works incentive process with the Missouri Department of Economic Development. It is collaborative work, and it depends on partners across the region pulling in the same direction.
For a company looking at the broader Ozarks, that same network is available across all 10 counties. Coordinating it, at no cost to the communities and businesses it serves, is what the Ozarks Regional Economic Partnership exists to do.
Why it matters
The takeaway for anyone weighing where to expand is a short one. The Ozarks region has depth in the industries that drive it, companies confident enough to reinvest here, and a network of partners ready to help a project move from first interest to open doors.
