Springfield Business Journal_2021-06-07

Mitch Jenkins seeks to rezone 4 acres in Galloway Village. OTC, SCA tackle construction hiring shortages Galloway Village neighborhood appeals court ruling College adds no-cost, first-time construction course to summer curriculum Action reveals conflict between city, state law by Mike Cullinan · mcullinan@sbj.net Ongoing workforce hiring needs in construction have Ozarks Tech- nical Community College and the Springfield Contractors Association taking action. Both agencies have organized job fairs this year and OTC is launching an accelerated, four-week con- struction course this summer that’s free to stu- dents. Additionally, the SCA is set in August to roll out a pilot program for a four-day trade school to attract high schoolers to construction jobs. OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon said the college’s first-time program was a direct response to feedback from construction companies about the need for workers. “We stay in close touch with our partners in the busi- ness community, and we were hearing from everyone in construction that they were having severe shortages of people, whether it would be framing, masonry, whatever,” he said. “I asked our people to put their heads together to come up with something. We had the funding avail- able so we literally within two weeks put the whole thing together.” Chris Landwehr, assistant vice president with Columbia-based construction company Emery Sapp & Sons Inc., said the higher education efforts are important as the industry strug- gles to fill open positions. Hiring difficulties for the company have been ongoing for several years, he said. The staff shortage at Emery Sapp & Sons is im- pacting the number of projects the company takes on, Landwehr said. “We’ve even started turning work away because we don’t have the people to do it,” he said, adding he’s by Emily Cole · ecole@sbj.net The developer of a contested project in Galloway Village won a victory after a Greene County judge ruled in its favor, but opposition led by the Galloway Village Neighborhood Association has filed an appeal on the ruling. On May 24, Greene County Circuit Court Judge David Jones ruled in favor of Eleva- tion Enterprises LLC to block an election ballot that was slated for Aug. 3. Elevation Enterprises sued the city and Springfield City Council after coun- cil voted in Decem- ber 2020 to send a rezoning request to public vote. Mitch Jenkins, owner of developer Elevation Develop- ment Co., is seeking to rezone roughly 4 acres at 3535 S. Lone Pine Ave. to bring to the Galloway Vil- lage neighborhood up to 12,000 square feet of retail, office and restaurant space and two multifamily build- ings with a maximum of 25 housing units per acre, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Jenkins did not respond to requests for comment on the ruling. The development has been contested for See HIRING on page 20 HELP WANTED Chris Landwehr of Emery Sapp & Sons says finding workers for such projects as the Hy-Vee on East Sunshine Street has been an ongoing challenge. MCKENZIE ROBINSON $2.00 · SBJ.NET JUNE 7-13, 2021 · VOL. 41, NO. 46 40 YEARS • YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY See GALLOWAY on page 21 GOVERNMENT The Springfield Fire Depart ment is in the midst of adding a nd up grading its station footp rint o ver the next several yea rs. PAGE 9