APRIL 8-14, 2024 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 3 CONTENTS Read profiles of the 2024 class. page 9 Men of the Year Open for Business An art gallery relocates to downtown Nixa. page 4 Business Spotlight A salon owner will soon graduate from a Goldman Sachs small-business program. page 6 Election Coverage Voters choose three candidates for the Springfield school board. page 8 Opinion Page Digital Editor Geoff Pickle hopes the Kum & Go name will stick around in the S pringfield area. page 39 Physician tapped as CEO of Jordan Valley by Karen Craigo · kcraigo@sbj.net The Jordan Valley Community Health Center has had one leader since its inception in 2003, but on June 1, President and CEO Brooks Miller is stepping away. Succeeding him is Dr. Matthew Stinson, who has been with the federally qualified health clinic for 17 years. Stinson is currently vice president of primary and behavioral health services – but in the future, as now, he intends to continue seeing patients. Stinson joined JVCHC in 2007 as a family physician, and he was named medical director in 2010. In 2014, he joined the executive team, where he played a strategic role in the expansion of programs like the Express Care walk-in clinic, as well as integrated behavioral health care and optometry services, according to a news release from the health center. “When I started at Jordan Valley, which was 17 years ago, I would say that Brooks probably didn’t foresee that we were going to be the size that we are now,” Stinson said in an interview. “And I hope by the time that I’m stepping out of the role that I’ll be able to say the same thing.” He noted the center sometimes has to take note of present challenges and rise to meet them as it embraces its mission to improve the community’s health through access and relationships. “The beauty of Jordan Valley is that we can modulate and change to what the needs of our community are, and those needs are going to change over time,” he said. “We don’t want to miss that part of the mission of making sure we meet the needs of the community that we’re in.” As a federally qualified health center, JVCHC provides comprehensive services for underserved people, regardless of their ability to pay. Services are available with a sliding scale fee. “We’re founded on access – we wanted to provide access to care for medical, dental and behavioral health,” Stinson said. “Now we’ve grown to be more than that.” One example is a full range of oral health care for patients of all ages – services like full-anesthesia oral health surgery and mouth rehab for children, he said. Dental care is the area where Stinson believes Jordan Valley has made the biggest impact. “That’s not something we’re going to change,” he said. “That needs to continue to grow because we still have needs to meet there.” Miller recalled that when he came to Springfield in 2002 to help establish Jordan Valley, there was only one FQHC in southwest DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE Dr. Matthew Stinson, a practicing physician, will become CEO of Jordan Valley Community Health Center on June 1. See CEO on page 37 Dr. Matthew Stinson to be second leader since its founding in 2003 LORE aims to write story for 10-county region by Karen Craigo · kcraigo@sbj.net A name has been announced for the collaborative group of industry leaders charged with leading a regional rebranding effort. Leaders for Ozarks Region Evolvement, or LORE, is a new nonprofit organization with member commitment from multiple CEOs in the Springfield area, but organizers have not yet announced member names. The announcement was made at the April 3 Think Summit event, sponsored by Biz 417 magazine, in a session by development official Dean Thompson, executive director of regionalism and economic development for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and vice president and chief economic development officer for City Utilities of Springfield, and nonprofit leader Erin Danastasio, executive director of the Hatch Foundation. In a January interview with Springfield Business Journal, Thompson said he was on the phone with leaders to gauge interest in the new nonprofit organization, unnamed at the time, to focus on workforce development, quality of life and branding. Apparently, people picked up the phone in C-suites across the region, because the group now has a website, OzarksLORE.org. Danastasio said enthusiasm among Think Summit participants was high, both for the organization and its name. “The word lore by definition is really about storytelling,” she said. “That was the inspiration behind that piece – telling our region’s story.” Key to the name is the word evolvement, she said. “Just because we are focusing on one initiative right now doesn’t HEATHER MOSLEY See LORE on page 30
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