About MoCAP 2002 Reports/Updates Assessment Data Program Standards
Comprehensive Overview of MoCAP
Local Partners of Lamar's MoCAP
The community of Lamar and the economy of Barton County are preparing to take the next step forward through several projects involving partnerships from key local organizations. The State of Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) has extended Lamar’s “All-Missouri Certified City” accreditation and hopes to lend available technical and/or grant support in helping the town achieve its goals for the future.
Through the Missouri Community Assessment Program (MoCAP), Lamar submitted a comprehensive one-hundred page report that evaluates the quality of life and economic vitality of the region, identifies areas needing improvement, and sets high goals that position Lamar and Barton County for future economic and community expansion. Jasen Jones, Director of Economic Development for the Chamber of Commerce, represented Lamar at a state listening-team session and public hearing on April 1st. Lamar met the standards of MoCAP with such a high level of distinction, according to state officials, that Lamar’s approach will be heralded by DED as an example for Missouri’s smaller rural towns considering community improvement.
LISTENING TEAM
During the April 1st public hearing, Jones gave a detailed presentation on the community’s top five goals in the MoCAP that the Lamar City Council had identified back in November. These goals included: downtown retail development, expansion of the Lamar Airport, development of a sawdust waste-reduction/power plant facility, expansion of the Truman Birthplace State Park, and business development in the agricultural/biotechnology sector. Since the state review team was unable to come to Lamar and conflicting schedules prohibited Lamar representatives from traveling to Jefferson City as a group, Jones took a very innovative approach in linking the two parties together.
Jones involved representatives from each of Lamar’s top five goals in a video-based presentation on local projects. Each volunteer was interviewed on camera with footage of their related projects incorporated into the video production. Betty Kuhn, President of the Lamar DownTown Association, spoke on downtown retail and tourism projects. Representing the Truman Birthplace expansion was Pam Myers, Site Coordinator for the state park. Lynn Calton, Lamar City Administrator, discussed the airport expansion and the power plant/waste reduction project. Representing the Ag/Biotech development goals was Ray Tubaugh, President of the Barton County Community Development Corporation, and Rick Mammen, Agronomy Specialist with University Outreach and Extension.
The team of eleven state officials presented several recommendations on Lamar’s goals, especially in the areas of downtown retail development and tourism. The team directed Jones toward state resources and technical aid that may provide assistance in local projects.
DOWNTOWN RETAIL & TOURISM DEVELOPMENT
Randy Gray of the Missouri Main Street program through DED advised Lamar to develop a retail strategy around Lamar’s downtown that correlates with existing tourism attractions and local agricultural heritage. This approach would enhance the experience Lamar’s tourism visitors would receive, increase the economic impact of local tourism, and at the same time, reduce the effects of retail business leakage. Retail leakage (the drain resulting from retail/service purchases made outside of the area) has been the county’s most lagging economic indicator over the past decade.
Gray provided insight into a marketing strategy that focuses on heritage tourism, a concept characterized by tourists that seek out and frequent destinations with historical, cultural, and preservation-based attractions. This destination profile appears to be a good fit with Lamar/Barton County. These targeted visitors, given the opportunity, would typically spend more at heritage-based destinations than those dominated by lakes, entertainment, or theme parks alone. This targeted approach to attracting a smaller number of tourists that spend a greater amount in retail and hospitality purchases would provide the strongest economic impact, according to Gray, with the least potential physical stress on the area’s infrastructure and historic treasures.
Gray also directed Lamar to earnestly consider the benefits of establishing Historical District designation for Lamar’s downtown and possibly a portion of its residential areas. Such a designation has obvious benefits for tourism, but also provides potential commercial and retail developers with a robust level of sellable tax-credit incentives for historically-themed restoration projects in the district. The Chamber of Commerce is currently evaluating the feasibility and costs of pursuing Historic District designation in a potential partnership with the Lamar DownTown Association and the Barton County Historical Society. The application would require the services of a specialized consultant to compile a detail historical inventory/survey of local commercial and residential buildings. The study would be utilized in an application requiring both state and federal approval for the designation. Gray estimated that the process for pursuing Historic District designation would take around a year.
While reviewing Lamar’s plans to improve the walk-able connection between the downtown square and Truman Birthplace through an expansion of the square’s streetscape theme east on 11th Street, Gray recommended a federal transportation enhancement grant that opened discussion on Lamar’s longer-term goal of recreating a historic railroad depot. The federal program, known as the Transportation Enhancement Act (TEA-21), could provide funding for the streetscape expansion as a pedestrian initiative. Gray advised that TEA-21 may also be used to construct a re-creation of the depot near the Missouri-Northern Arkansas Railway at 11th Street, just east of the Truman Birthplace.
This particular outcome for a depot project from TEA-21’s standpoint would be to provide a historical and educational perspective of the local railroad legacy. The Chamber’s Board of Directors is exploring the possibility of leading this project as a community enhancement that would also provide a future headquarters for the Chamber to serve visiting tourists. Having a physical location close to the Birthplace State Park would allow the Chamber to direct the Birthplace’s more than 25-thousand annual visitors (and their shopping dollars) to local retail, service businesses, other amenities, and attractions available. It’s possible that a local museum gallery on Barton County’s railroad history would be established within the depot as well. The TEA-21 program typically funds 80% of a project, so local officials would need to raise 20% of the funding from local public and private resources.
CITY PROJECTS
The DED Listening Team was favorable to Lamar’s prioritization of the airport expansion project and the project that would reduce sawdust and other wood waste through the generation of electric energy. Since financing and logistics for the power plant are in good shape, the state commented that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would likely lend somewhat quicker approval to the project. The DNR’s Environmental Improvement Energy Resources Authority leans favorably to projects that reduce waste in the environment provided the projects meet existing DNR standards. The DED team also echoed the importance of the airport expansion to help competitively position Lamar for future economic growth and community improvement. At present, the airport’s long-term expansion project is awaiting FAA approval and funding, which would be transferred to Lamar through the Missouri Department of Transportation.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Missouri’s emphasis on life sciences and biotechnology along the Interstate 70 research corridor could play a role in landing future economic investment for the community. Following up on video presentations by Rick Mammen and Ray Tubaugh, Jones reported on economic benefits Lamar could lend to producing these new innovations. Additionally, Lamar/Barton County will be eyeing opportunities for high-tech and value-added usages of local agricultural products. The review team suggested the USDA community facilities program as a funding resource and advised Jones of specific legislation being considered by the General Assembly that would provide development financing incentives for renewable fuel production facilities.
For the manufacturing sector, the listening team suggested resources through Missouri Enterprise, a manufacturing outreach/extension service offered through DED. One such strategy suggested for Lamar would provide new economic investment for the area while enhancing the benefits for existing industries as well. The concept of supply-chain targeting would involve identifying common supply chain needs of manufacturers throughout the region. The Chamber’s economic development program would then target companies to set up shop in the area to provide for the higher-demand of supply-chain inputs to the local companies. The Chamber Board is considering a focus of more resources into this idea as well.
WHAT'S NEXT...
For its superior success in MoCAP, Lamar will receive special award recognition at the upcoming Missouri Governor’s Conference on Business Development, planned for the end of May at the Lake of the Ozarks. Lamar Community Betterment will also submit an entry into the community development awards competition for this conference. The Chamber of Commerce Board is continuing their study into the feasibility of strategies recommended by the DED Listening Team. It is anticipated that some form of each strategy will be moved to priority status to receive more focus and resources by Chamber in its upcoming strategic plan, expected to be unveiled later this month. Lamar/Barton County has a great track record as a progressive community and is ready to take its economic and community development initiatives to the next level.