Business in brief: Report calls for new regional nonprofit for workforce development

News-Leader staff

Report suggests regional nonprofit for workforce development

A report commissioned by Hatch Foundation and Community Foundation of the Ozarks recommends the creation of a nonprofit focused on collaborative workforce development, quality-of-life improvements and branding for a 10-county region in southwest Missouri.

The report from North Carolina-based Economic Leadership is available online at cfozarks.org/regionalism-report. Findings and recommendations include:

  • Formation of a new nonprofit to facilitate collaboration of private-sector leaders to focus on workforce attraction and expansion, regional branding, and quality-of-life improvements;

  • Focusing on the 10-county region served by Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Greene, Lawrence, Polk, Stone, Taney and Webster counties) with Springfield as the regional hub;

  • Looking to existing efforts in other regions for inspiration, such as the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, the Northwest Arkansas Council and the Piedmont Triad Partnership of Greensboro, North Carolina.

Last year, Hatch and the CFO convened an ad hoc “regionalism” collaborative following Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Community Leadership Visit to northwest Arkansas. The group comprises representatives from the Chamber, City of Springfield, City Utilities, and Greene, Christian, Dallas and Taney counties, along with nonprofit and business leaders representing the higher education, health care, banking, retail and tourism industries.

O’Quinn, Fletcher join Guaranty Bank

Guaranty Bank announced that Melinda O’Quinn recently joined the bank as Deposit Operations Manager and Ryan Fletcher as VP Commercial Banking Officer.

Melinda O'Quinn
Melinda O'Quinn

O’Quinn comes to Guaranty Bank with more than 32 years of banking experience including operations, and retail management. She was most recently a branch operations officer for The Bank of Missouri. She will manage Guaranty's bank operations department and help support the retail branches.

Ryan Fletcher
Ryan Fletcher

Fletcher brings more than 10 years of banking experience in commercial banking including lending and credit administration. He was most recently a commercial loan officer for Hawthorn Bank.

Branson Bank and Ameriprise Financial welcome Baker

Branson Bank announced that Matthew Baker has joined its team as financial advisor of Branson Wealth Advisors, a financial advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Baker will oversee and advise wealth management clients and expand the product and service offerings available to the Taney and Stone County communities. Formerly known as Branson Investment Professionals located at Branson Bank, the newly named Branson Wealth Advisors will continue to be serviced by Ameriprise.

Matthew Baker
Matthew Baker

A Branson native, Baker graduated from Branson High School and furthered his education at Oklahoma Baptist University where he earned his degree in accounting and is a Certified Public Accountant. While in college, Baker had the opportunity to intern one summer with Don Gass, former Financial Advisor for Branson Investment Professionals and this experience planted a seed that ultimately steered Baker’s career into investments.

Baker will office at the Branson Bank Gretna location but appointments can be scheduled at all Branson Bank locations. He can be reached at matthew.baker@ampf.com or by phone at 417-334-9696, extension 2225.

Missouri Association of Manufacturers to honor inaugural class for Hall of Fame

The Missouri Association of Manufacturers will be inducting the inaugural class of 2024 into the Missouri Manufacturers Hall of Fame at an induction ceremony during the Midwest Manufacturers Trade Show & Conference in Branson on Feb. 20.

The Missouri Manufacturers Hall of Fame’s mission is to honor and celebrate the deep and rich history of Manufacturing in Missouri, recognizing individuals and companies for innovations, inspirations, and contributions to industry while embodying the pride, passion and spirit of manufacturing.

The 2024 inductees include:

  • Jack Stack, president and CEO of SRC Holdings Corporation and author of "The Great Game of Business"

  • Cookie Rice, CEO emeritus of Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company

  • Robert J. Trulaske, Sr., founder of True Manufacturing Company

  • William F. Ungashick, founder of, Shick Tube-Veyor

  • Boeing Company, the largest manufacturing employer in Missouri

For more information, go online to www.mamstrong.org/mo-manufacturers-hall-of-fame.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Business in brief: Report calls for workforce development nonprofit

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