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SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 3 FEB. 27, 2017
It takes a village.
Sage advice applicable to more than
just child rearing, the practice can be seen
across all platforms, walks of life, business-
es – and list research.
The fingerprints of each member of the
Springfield Business Journal editorial de-
partment are throughout this book. For the
second year, we’ve divided weekly list re-
search among the staff. Those fingerprints
can been seen in the software decoding
fromweb guru Geoff Pickle, in the layout of
designer Wes Hamilton, the constant ques-
tioning and fact checking of editor Eric Ol-
son and the friendly voice on the other end
of the phone from reporter Stevie Rozean.
It takes a village to produce these lists
each week and it takes an even bigger vil-
lage to compile this annual book – more ac-
curately, it takes a community.
The Ozarks’ community is our village.
It’s worth noting, every list we publish is voluntary. Without your responses, we would
have no lists to print. You are the community we depend on. Each hospital, accounting
firm, architect, hotel, interior designer and banker that takes time to fill out our survey
or picks up the phone when we call, you are the ones who keep this wheel in motion.
This book is documentation of a year’s work for us, but it’s a reflection of your lives work.
Contained within these 88 pages is the story of a community. Some are stories we’ve
devoted news space to, such as the story of change at Ozark’s Community Hospital.
Starting in July, OCH announced it would lay off 200 employees amid closures of
three of its facilities. CEO Paul Taylor cited the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser-
vices for terminating its Medicare agreement, leading to the closures and layoffs.
“I am angry. What CMS has done is not right. It is not ethical. There has been no al-
legation that we are providing substandard care,” Taylor wrote in a memo to staff.
Some lists tell the story of millions of dollars spent and a community re-energized like
Bussell Building Inc. that claimed the top spot on this year’s list of Single-Family Home
Builders. Last year’s No. 3, owner Kenny Bussell bought 98 long-vacant lots in Patriot
Place, the residential portion of the largely empty Jamestown development in Rogers-
ville, for $1.18 million. By July, he already was making progress.
“We sold 18 homes so far, and we have about 40 houses under construction right now,”
he said at the time. “That excites me, but we still have a long way to go. We still have 80
more houses to sell.”
Thanks once again goes to the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce for partnering
with SBJ to include the 2017 Membership Directory – the only printed version of the
annual directory.
If your industry is included, but your business isn’t in this book, it should be. Email
SBJ reporter and editorial researcher Stevie Rozean at dded to
the 2017 surveys.
You are our village; let us be your voice. Welcome to the 23rd annual Book of Lists.
—Emily Letterman, Features Editor and­
Audience Development Director
Springfield Business Journal
Editor’s Note
The voice of a
community in print
ON THE COVER
Springfield Business Journal
publisher Jennifer Jackson
and founder Dianne Elizabeth
Osis selected this work from
craftsmen at Springfield Hot
Glass. The mother-and-daughter
art enthusiasts considered
works in downtown galleries
from the cover image. Its
companion piece ran on SBJ’s
2017 Book of Facts cover
published in December.
2017 BOOK OF LISTS