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2007 SBJ Economic Impact Awards Lifetime Achievement in Business Honoree: Jim Anderson

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Jim Anderson was the 2007 Lifetime Achievement in Business honoree at SBJ's annual Economic Impact Awards event last July. Click here for the full list of 2007 Economic Impact Awards honorees and information on the 2008 event, scheduled for July 17, that will introduce a whole new group. The special publication profiling each of the 2007 honorees is available here.

It’s hard to imagine Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson having a hard time finding a job. Yet that’s the position he was in after graduating in 1971 from Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in education.

“I wanted to stay in Springfield, but I couldn’t find a job,” Anderson said, adding that his first taste of the real world still drives him today.

“That keeps me motivated in terms of making sure that if people graduate from a college or university here, and they want to stay here, we have quality job opportunities for them,” he said.

Now in his 19th year with the chamber, Anderson, an Ozark native, is a familiar face in economic development circles. As it turns out, though, he had to be talked into embarking on the chamber career path.

Anderson left Springfield for Jefferson City, where he spent eight years in education, four in the classroom, teaching speech and debate – State Treasurer Sarah Steelman is a former student – and four in administration.

“Part of my job in school administration … was in community relations,” Anderson said. “I became active in (the Jefferson City chamber), served as the chairman of the education committee and was on the board of directors.”

When the manager of the Jefferson City chamber retired, several of Anderson’s friends on the board encouraged him to apply for the job.

That was in 1978, shortly after Anderson married his wife, Janet. “I didn’t have any interest,” he said.

Even though he loved his current role in education, Anderson decided go through with the application process.

“Lo and behold, they gave me the job offer, (but) it took me three weeks to give them an answer that that was what I wanted to do,” he said. “Usually, when you apply for a job, you know it’s what you want, and it doesn’t take three weeks to make a decision.”

It was on Feb. 1, 1979, that Anderson officially left education to start his chamber work in Jefferson City. He stayed at the Jefferson City chamber for nine years.

“I went from one side of the board table to the other side,” he said. “Even today, I think that having served first as a volunteer … gives me a perspective and gives me insight for the volunteer leaders’ perspective.”

Anderson cites continuity of leadership as a strength for both the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, where he started work on Feb. 1, 1988, and for the community as a whole.

“We have a culture of collaborative partnership, people working together,” Anderson said. “That’s not always been the case, but it has allowed us to do (things) we couldn’t have done otherwise.”

Among those initiatives that have required teamwork is the chamber’s public-private partnership, launched in 1991. Under it falls the Partnership Industrial Center, founded in 1993 and now built out and home to manufacturers that have brought thousands of jobs to Springfield.

A second industrial park, PIC West, was started in 2001.

“All of us who were involved are proud to see the quality jobs that wouldn’t have been here otherwise,” Anderson said of the industrial parks, a joint effort of the chamber, Springfield Business and Development Corp., the city of Springfield, Greene County and City Utilities.

Anderson said he doesn’t like to think that there might be people here who can’t reach their full economic potential, and of all of the chamber’s business, it’s jobs – and job creation – that’s most likely to keep him awake at night.

And while he’s not shy about the fact that the chamber has brought thousands of jobs to the city during his tenure, it’s not the number of those jobs that motivates him.

“To heck with that – it’s all about … job opportunities, many of which we had a small part in making happen,” he said.

Anderson also is proud of Building the Future campaign, a joint chamber and United Way of the Ozarks endeavor that raised $3.1 million for the construction of the chamber’s current home and provided its former home at 320 N. Jefferson Ave. to United Way – a move that allowed both organizations to double their spaces.

Both United Way CEO John Rush and Anderson say they’ve never heard of another partnership like that one.

“The tremendous advantage to that was that everybody who gave to that project was recognized at both the Chamber of Commerce and at the United Way,” Rush said. “What was different is that it was never in writing … the deal was, (the chamber) got the money, and we got the building, and that’s the way we did it.”

Anderson’s also extremely excited about ongoing revitalization in center-city Springfield, the need for which he saw on his very first day on the job. There had been a snowstorm, he said, but he took a walk through downtown and around the square, anyway.

“No one had cleaned the sidewalks, but there were no businesses … everything was all boarded up,” he said. “I told the mayor, ‘We have to turn this around,’ and it’s been exciting to see.”

Though he’s had many job opportunities presented to him during the last 19 years, Anderson, who turns 59 on July 19, isn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

“What drives me is not a bigger title, a bigger community or a bigger paycheck,” he said. “It’s feeling I (can) make a difference. I don’t see myself doing anything else – I love what I do.”

Jim Anderson On …

Faith: “I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve, so to speak, but I hope people can see it just in talking with me,” said Anderson, an active member of First & Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Family: Though his father, Gratz, is now deceased, Anderson’s mother, Grace, resides in Springfield. He and his wife, Janet, have two daughters, Rachel, a senior at University of Missouri-Columbia, and Rebecca, who this fall starts her freshman year at the University of Arkansas. “Sometimes, with the press of the job, I feel like family gets shortchanged, but family is absolutely the most important thing,” Anderson said. “The job is pretty demanding in terms of schedule, and I’ve missed some of the kids’ activities or family events I sure hated to miss, but really have tried to have that balance between my work and commitment to family.”

His entrepreneurial roots: “Ozark ... will always be home” for Anderson, although he now makes his home in southeast Springfield. “We lived in town and had a hardware store right on the (Ozark) square. I worked in the family business, and mowed yards and shined shoes and all that when I was a kid,” he said. “And we had family farms down from Riverside Inn on the Finley River.”

His proudest accomplishments: Anderson is chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. In 2005, he received the chamber’s Springfieldian Award, and in 2006, he received the Missourian Award. But he said he’s most proud of his ability to serve his chamber co-workers and make a difference in the community.

“I think I have been called to service, and a lot of people serve in different ways, but I believe in servant leadership. I try to lead by serving others,” Anderson said.

What Others Say About Jim Anderson:

"I think one of the things that I’ve always been impressed with is the overall grasp that Jim has of any particular situation. He’s also a person I consider to be highly ethical and makes decisions soundly based on principle. I think that a lot of the success that the community has enjoyed over the years can be attributed to a good working relationship with the business community, and Jim, of course, is the chief exponent for the business community.”

Tom Carlson, mayor of Springfield

"Jim is somebody who really works behind the scenes … . He’s very savvy and well-connected throughout the community, but he often likes to promote other members of the chamber or his staff and provides them with good opportunities to shine.”

Rusty Worley, executive director, Urban Districts Alliance

"I think he has a true gift for bringing people together around an issue – people who have varying opinions on that issue … to build a consensus and find a solution. He … very seldom will take any personal credit. Another gift … is the ability to look toward the future (and) try to anticipate opportunities or challenges and proactively bring people together to address them.”

Ann Marie Baker, chairwoman of the chamber board of directors and UMB Bank president[[In-content Ad]]

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