JUNE 24-30, 2024 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 47 NEWS City administrator named in Ozark by Geoff Pickle · gpickle@sbj.net The Ozark municipality has named a new city administrator following the exit of longtime leader Steve Childers earlier this year. Eric Johnson’s appointment was approved by the Ozark Board of Aldermen during its meeting June 17, according to a news release. He’s scheduled to start July 15. “I am very excited to serve the great community of Ozark as the next city administrator and look forward to working with the mayor, board of alderman and community to realize their strategic initiatives for Ozark,” Johnson said in the release. Johnson has more than 35 years of local government experience, most recently as city administrator of Blue Springs in the Kansas City area. He’s been city administrator there for 16 years, and he previously was assistant city administrator for six years. As city administrator of Ozark, Johnson succeeds Childers, who was hired by the city of Springfield to head its Department of Planning and Development after holding the Ozark job since 2007. Ben DeClue has served as interim city administrator for Ozark. Johnson was selected from 48 applicants and three finalists who were found through a search process that involved the services of GovHR/MGT, said Maria Neider, communications director for the city of Ozark. Johnson’s annual base salary as Ozark’s city administrator will be $170,000, said Neider. • Former SBA leader in Springfield dies at 81 by SBJ Staff · sbj@sbj.net Walter Cowart, a longtime U.S. Small Business Administration employee who helped open its Springfield branch, has died. He was 81. Cowart died June 3, according to his obituary posted to GormanScharpf.com. His cause of death was not disclosed. Cowart led the Springfield branch of the SBA from 2008 until his retirement in 2011, and he held the role in an interim capacity on multiple occasions, according to past reporting. He transferred to Springfield to help open the local branch in 1981 and was named Region VII’s Employee of the Year in 1997. “In southwest Missouri, the attitude of the small-business population is, ‘If you’ll just give me a little help, I’ll get it done,’ and that has been true for the 30 years I’ve been down here,” Cowart told Springfield Business Journal in 2011, just ahead of his retirement. Cowart’s obituary indicates he had a love of the arts, and he was involved with organizations such as the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Contemporary Theatre. • Walter Cowart had a career with the SBA spanning more than three decades. L43, Timber Ridge Estates, No. II. Great Southern Bank to Brittany Dutton; 215,916; L4, Deer Run, Phase II. Guaranty Bank to Jaimie and Jimmie Doiel, Leah Peavler; 201,286; L9, Kelly-Lin Manor. Guaranty Bank to 2M Properties LLC; 385,000; L404-405; 27; 9, McKoin Place; Gelven-Withers addition; Englewood. Guaranty Bank to Jennifer and Darryl Barr; 580,000; L17, Timberbrook. Guaranty Bank to Lori M. and Aaron M. Elliott; 135,500; L50, Pearson Meadows. Guaranty Bank to Trevor Whittington and Amelia Howe; 228,532; L34, Theran Place, Phase II. Guaranty Bank to JB&M Properties LLC; 230,000; L17-18, Plaza Park addition. Guild Mortgage Co. LLC to Renae Lynn and Devin Blake Diaz; 218,250; L5, Seneca Heights, Phase II. Hawthorn Bank to Kathleen A. and Matthew J. Fender; 310,000; sec. 32, twp. 31, range 20, SW and SE. Homebridge Financial Services Inc. to Michael Coan; 287,105; L15-23, Haseltine’s Louis Orchard Park. ON THE RECORD DEEDS OF TRUST, from page 44 Continued on page 48
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