Greene County (Springfield), Missouri, named in top five nationwide for economic strength

By: Rachael Mhire | 13 years ago

The core of the Springfield, Missouri region, Greene County, has been named fifth in the Top 10 Mid-Sized Counties in the nation in a newly created “Fourth Economy Community (FEC) Index”. Fourth Economy Consulting launched the new index highlighting communities ideally positioned to attract modern investment and managed economic growth.

The “fourth economy” characterizes the nation’s current economic condition, and highlights those communities best positioned to attract investment and continue to attain economic success through five measurable areas: investment, talent, sustainability, place, and diversity.

Over the last year, the Springfield region has experienced considerable economic growth, with major expansion from international companies such as Expedia, Inc., adding more than 500 people to its Springfield operations center along with banking solutions company, Jack Henry & Associates completing a new 160,000 sq.ft. Springfield campus which will soon house more than 650 people. The Springfield region also benefits from a strong innovation and entrepreneurial environment with Jordan Valley Innovation Center (JVIC), part of Missouri State University’s IDEA Commons, where research focuses on nanotechnology, carbon-based electronics, bio-materials and biomedical instrument development. The FEC Index recognition is additional confirmation that the Springfield region has the proper foundation for continued economic growth.

For more information on Greene County and Springfield, Missouri, visit http://springfieldreg.wpengine.com.

About the Index

The FEC Index (www.fourtheconomyindex.com) considers several county-level measures within five areas: 1) Investment, 2) Talent, 3) Sustainability, 4) Place, and 5) Diversity. These five areas serve as a foundation for future economic success to include wage and employment growth, education levels, drive times, home values, minority business ownership, agricultural capacity and population density. The measures are weighted based on the level of influence they have on both internal and external investment decisions.

The FEC Index scores for this listing ranged from 0 to 4.5. They included only mid-sized counties (population of 150,000 to 300,000) with education attainment above 25% and average travel times less than 20 minutes. Beyond the initial FEC Index measures, the analysis also considers the capacity for a community to support innovation. The FEC Index expresses an innovation capacity score as a letter grade, determined by the online source Stats-America (www.statsamerica.org/). This grade considers factors such as human capital, state policy context and productivity. Fourth Economy Consulting will periodically produce additional FEC Index listings for micro, small and large counties.