Springfield Business Journal_2021-04-19

RETAIL & RESTAURANT As occupancy restrictions lift, area restaurants say it’s still a long path to recovery. PAGE 9 $2.00 · SBJ.NET APRIL 19-25, 2021 · VOL. 41, NO. 39 40 YEARS • YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net The entrepreneurial spirit is alive at The Arc of the Ozarks, as the nearly 60-year-old nonprofit is now the owner of a food truck. Mike Powers, president and CEO of Arc of the Ozarks, said the recent purchase of A.M. Donuts & Coffee LLC food truck would pro- vide work and training opportunities for its clients with disabilities while continuing to serve doughnuts and bev- erages at various sites in the area. “We do a wide range of job services and assisting indi- viduals in finding jobs,” Powers said, noting the A.M. Do- nuts & Coffee purchase represents an “entrepreneurial opportunity” for the nonprofit’s clients. He declined to disclose the financial details of the asset purchase agreement with food truck founders Angela and Andrew Morton. The Mortons, who started the business in 2017, announced the sale in an April 1 Facebook post. “It was always a side thing for us,” Andrew Morton said. “We kind of live our life blindly. We needed something at the time that we had control of and could work as I had the summers off.” At the time the couple launched A.M. Donuts, Andrew Morton was a full-time special education teacher at Nixa Public Schools. He most re- cently taught at Willard Public Schools before being hired last July by Arc of the Ozarks as a behavior consultant, he said. “I started working with The Arc and it all fell together in an amaz- ing way,” he said. Tim Dygon, executive vice presi- dent of Arc of the Ozarks, said the idea to explore an entrepreneur- ship opportunity had been dis- cussed occasionally for years. The connection with the Mortons was Mike Powers : The Mortons remain involved in the food truck transition. CYNTHIA REEVES Andrew Morton makes an Italian cream soda at A.M. Donuts & Coffee as he trains staff from The Arc of the Ozarks. Nonprofit buys food truck as entrepreneurial venture The Arc of the Ozarks giving jobs to those with disabilities via A.M. Donuts See NONPROFIT on page 17 Developer plans hotel at vacant Branson West project site by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net Developers have long had big ideas for some 800 acres overlooking Table Rock Lake in Branson West. And the latest group is now looking to build a hotel at the site seven years after it acquired the land. Mark Troen, senior vice president for Brookwood Group, a national real estate development, planning and management consulting firm, said Colorado-based MD&D Investments LLC wants to build a 102-room hotel on a 4-acre parcel at the planned mixed-use development, The Ridge at Table Rock Lake. The dual-branded hotel could open as soon as next year, he said. Brookwood Group has worked the past three years on behalf of MD&D Investments to secure investors and developers for the 810-acre development it has owned since 2014, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The development sits on land that was the site of the failed Indian Ridge Resort project in 2008. Indian Ridge’s plan, which was in excess of $1.6 billion and plagued by financial and legal problems, never developed beyond roughly a dozen residential properties that were abandoned when members of the development team were sentenced with federal environmental viola- tions and real estate fraud. “Our hope is at some point this year, we’ll be able to break ground for this hotel,” Troen said, noting the proj- ect’s cost estimate is yet to be determined. “We think it would be a great addition.” Troen said he was unable to provide the possible ho- tel brands while negotiations continue for the project, which also calls for two retail or restaurant establish- ments on the 4-acre parcel. If groundbreaking occurs this year, he said the hotel’s targeted opening is late next Progress is slow at 3-year-old The Ridge at Table Rock Lake See RIDGE on page 21 Mark Troen: Officials aim to break ground for a hotel this year.