Springfield Business Journal_2021-03-01

SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 17 MARCH 1-7, 2021 NEWS Businessperson and philanthropist Bobby Allison has pledged between $3 million and $3.5 million for fields and signage with naming rights, according to past Springfield Business reporting. The property also is making its way through the city’s annexation process. At its Jan. 15 meeting, council approved an annexation and rezoning of the land to highway commercial. West Sunshine development Council unanimously approved a pre- liminary funding agreement for develop- ment of about 26 acres at West Sunshine Street and James River Freeway. The mostly vacant land is located at 5505 W. Sunshine St. at the northwest corner of the intersection, adjacent to Cox Roofing Co. and across Sunshine Street from a youth baseball complex and The Barn House Event Center. The funding agreement begins the pro- cess of a potential development by West Sunshine Development LLC, registered to Mike Seitz of Triple S Properties Inc. When the agreement was introduced at the Feb. 8 council meeting, Kerner said the intent is for the developer to deposit funds to be used for the city’s legal fees while pursuing economic development incentives. According to city documents, West Sunshine Development would start the account with $15,000 and replenish it as needed. According to the ordinance, the devel- oper requested the city consider prepar- ing a tax increment financing plan and review other incen- tive tools to assist the funding of pub- lic infrastructure. Seitz did not return calls for comment by press time. Bill documents stipulate that any prepared TIF plan or other incentive would go through city processes, including public hearings and consideration from council and the city’s TIF Commission. Second reading bills • Council members unanimously ap- proved an ordinance accepting the dedi- cation of public streets and easements within the preliminary plat of three lots dubbed Mercy Fremont Acres on South Fremont Avenue. The preliminary plat, filed by property owner, St. John’s Re- gional Health Center, dba Mercy, on Dec. 7, 2020, spans 17 acres at 4431 S. Fremont Ave. The proposal turns the existing lot into a three-lot subdi- vision in order to fa- cilitate development on the property, ac- cording to city docu- ments. Two lots are home to a Mercy clin- ic and its College of Nursing and Health Sciences, while an 8-acre lot is undevel- oped. The intent is to develop it, according to the preliminary plat engineering re- port. Following coun- cil’s approval, the preliminary plat is active for two years during which time a final plat must be submitted. • Council also unanimously approved an ordinance for a one-lot subdivision at 1720 W. Grand St. dubbed Kansas at Grand Phase 2. The city accepts public streets and easements in the preliminary plat, which was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 14. The appli- cation was made by landowner College of the Ozarks. The preliminary plat creates a one-lot commercial/multifamily subdi- vision on 13 acres on West Grand Street surrounding a former Price Cutter store, according to bill documents. The grocery building was purchased by Jordan Valley Community Health Center in December to open a clinic. The corner acreage was donated to College of the Ozarks in 2012 while Price Cutter continued to own the building, according to past reporting. • A rezoning of 1.3 acres at 2832 E. Sun- shine St. to an office zone with a condi- tional overlay district from single-family residential was approved in an 8-1 vote with Councilmember Mike Schilling voting in opposition after trees were re- moved from the property. The rezoning was requested by 2832 E. Sunshine St. LLC, according to bill documents. De- veloper Curtis Jared, president of Jared Enterprises Inc., said there are no cur- rent development plans, but he wanted to rezone it to start the process. Council: Funding agreement for 26-acre development gets green light Continued from page 7 C I T Y B E AT from the Feb. 22 City Council Meeting • Council accepts a preliminary funding agreement for a potential redevelopment on West Sunshine. • Next step in platting process for Mercy Fremont Acres is approved. • An office district on East Sunshine Street is rezoned to single-family residential. Full City Council coverage is at SBJ.net/citybeat nurses, a profession highly in demand, ac- cording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis- tics. Registered nursing jobs are expected to reach 3.3 million in 2029, a projected 7% increase from the 3 million RNs in 2019. Williams said nurses nearing retire- ment age and those leaving the profession for higher pay or less stress are contribut- ing concerns of the nursing shortage. Cox College has been making invest- ments in recent years to draw more people to nursing careers. The college wrapped up $6.6 million in renovations at Cox North Hospital last year and was approved in December for a $1.9 mil- lion grant from the U.S. De- partment of Commerce’s Economic Development Ad- ministration to expand its simulation lab. The Missouri State Board of Nursing ap- proved the college’s request in 2019 to increase capacity to 400 students from 250. DeMelo said the college’s night and weekend program for undergraduate nursing has 95 students enrolled. It began with five students in 2018. “It is our fastest-growing program at Cox College. It is because it works around the families who say, ‘Yes, I want to be a nurse, but I can’t quit my day job, or I can’t not take care of my children.’” Talent recruitment for hospitals was a challenge before the pandemic, Williams said. “COVID-19 has only exacerbated those shortages and made them even greater,” she said. “We’re looking for new roles. Hospitals are hiring door greeters and temperature checkers, vaccinators, telehealth workers.” Williams said introducing youth to health care careers and offering paid training and apprenticeship opportunities are important tools for job recruiters. Health care organi- zations can no longer wait for job candidates to walk through the door, she said. Celeste Cramer, CoxHealth’s system director of recruitment and retention, agreed, adding the health care system participates in educational programs such as Medical Explorers, which offers job shadowing, and Greater Ozarks Cen- ters for Advanced Professional Studies. “The majority of our re- cruitment efforts start at the high school level,” she said. “We’re heavily involved in GO CAPS, which is a chance for ju- niors and seniors at area high schools to get real-life experi- ence in health care facilities.” CoxHealth hires around 250 nursing college graduates each year and has over 200 posi- tions open for bedside nurses, Cramer said, noting she sees no end in sight for the nursing shortage. However, she said Cox College’s nursing program expansion should have a big impact. “The more nurses we can get in south- west Missouri, the more we can grow tal- ent locally, the better it is for the entire community,” she said. Building health care Aside from the panel discussion, cham- ber officials presented several videos covering topics such as mental health and workforce training. David Atkisson, Springfield office leader with J.E. Dunn Construction Group Inc., noted in one of the videos 20% of the Kansas City- based company’s annual revenue is tied to health care projects. He said eight of those jobs were in Springfield last year, including construction of the COVID-19 unit at Cox South Hospital. After viewing the cham- ber event, DeWitt & As- sociates Inc. President GR Stovall noted health care’s embrace of change is similar to what the construction in- dustry has been doing amid the pandemic. “I expect us to also main- tain a steeper trajectory of innovation – not just in building methods, but in the ways we serve our clients with a focus on their expe- rience with the design and construction process,” he said via email. Stovall said health care projects represent a “significant niche” for De- Witt, but he declined to disclose the num- ber of projects or percentage of its overall business. He said the company currently is working on Phase II of a renovation for Sunshine Eye Clinic. Year-over-year revenue for the com- pany was flat in 2020, he said, declining to disclose figures. DeWitt’s local billings for 2019 were $48 million, according to SBJ list research. Chamber spokesperson Ra- chael Mhire said the Health Care Outlook is generally held in June, but the 2020 event was canceled due to pandemic- related concerns. It changed spots on the calendar this year to accommodate a planned June meeting for the Springfield Business Development Corp., the chamber’s economic devel- opment subsidiary. Next up in the chamber’s an- nual Outlook series is the 2021 Economic Outlook, scheduled Aug. 18 at DoubleTree by Hilton. Outlook: Nursing demand continues Continued from page 3 GR Stovall : Construction and health care industries are embracing change. Celeste Cramer : CoxHealth annually hires 250 nursing college graduates. MIKE CULLINAN Mercy Hospital Springfield President Brent Hubbard says COVID-19 will likely become an endemic virus like the seasonal flu.