Springfield Business Journal_2020-09-14

$2.00 · SBJ.NET SEPT. 14-21, 2020 · VOL. 41, NO. 8 MCKENZIE ROBINSON Community Partnership of the Ozarks, represented by executives Michelle Garand and Janet Dankert, has opened the O’Reilly Center for Hope in northeast Springfield. O’Reilly Center for Hope opens doors The $3 million neighborhood hub unites community resources under one roof by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net A multiyear process to launch a veritable one-stop home for affordable housing and homeless prevention services came to fruition Sept. 8 with the opening of the O’Reilly Center for Hope. The roughly $3 million community hub, housed in the former Pepperdine Elementary School at 1518 E. Dale St., is a Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc. project. With the center, CPO brought together over a dozen agencies to provide resources and services to people in poverty or without housing, as well as those in need of mental health care. The nonprofit focuses on collaborative youth, family, neighborhood and com- munity services. “We wanted something that was going to be big enough for all our partners,” said CPO President and CEO Janet Dankert. “Our vision and dream was to have everybody in one place.” CPO bought the roughly 24,000-square-foot build- ing in northeast Springfield from Springfield Public Schools for $100,000 in 2018. The O’Reilly family – Charlie and Mary Beth, David, Larry and Rosalie O’Reilly Wooten — donated $1 million toward the center, according to past Springfield Business Jour- nal reporting. Other funding includes $1 million in city-committed U.S. Department of Housing and Ur- ban Development money, a $250,000 challenge grant from The J. E. and L. E. Mabee Foundation Inc. and a $20,000 grant from the BKD Foundation. CPO is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise around $1 million for the project, Dankert said, not- ing the organization is still $500,000 short of its goal. The money will go toward completing renovations, but the funding shortage didn’t prevent the center’s County ramps up distribution of CARES Act funds  by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net While the COVID-19 relief application process started slowly in July, Greene County officials in the weeks since have picked up the pace to distribute $34.4 million in federal funds.  As of early September, roughly two-thirds of the total received by the county has been awarded to dozens of recipients. Grant money for 53 applications for Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Eco- nomic Security Act funds was approved Sept. 3 by the Greene County Commis- sion, totaling over $2.6 million. Applica- tions are under review on a rolling basis, said Lyle Foster, the county’s grants ad- ministrator.  “It was around what I was expecting,” he said of the roughly 400 completed ap- plications received by the Aug. 10 dead- line. “We anticipated a pretty robust demand for the funds.” The COVID-19 relief funds are split among five categories: education, health care, nonprofits and community organiza- tions, small businesses and taxpayer-sup- ported entities. A 10% contingency is being held back to consider possible emergencies or other needs this fall, according to county officials.  Fund aid The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce was among recipi- ents announced Sept. 3, receiving around $536,000 in the small businesses category. The county has distributed only $773,000 of the $6.5 million in the category thus far. Minorities in Business received the next highest funding total at $15,000. Chamber President Matt Morrow said roughly $395,000 of the total would address pandemic-related economic impacts on the chamber. That includes canceled in-person events for the cham- ber membership and the impact of not being able to recruit new members during the pandemic.  See HOPE on page 24 See CARES on page 31 OPEN FOR BUSINESS A new food truck is prepping wood- fired pizzas in south Springfield. PAGE 5 Lyle Foster : The county is making coronavirus relief funding decisions on a weekly basis.