Boonville leaders work to revitalize economy, encourage tourism

Over the past 10 years, the city of Boonville has suffered setbacks in the form of several national companies closing their doors, leaving hundreds out of work.

The most recent company to take its business out of the city was the heating and cooling manufacturer Nordyne.

But economic developer Jim Gann, a University of Missouri employee who works part time for Boonville, said that while the city took those losses personally, much of it had to do with corporate decisions.

“What we failed to realize as a community as broadly as we should have was that there were many larger factors at play,” he said. “It was not the inability of our workforce to perform.”

That’s why Gann and other city leaders have focused on luring local companies into Boonville that have ties to the city. For instance, the Nordyne distribution center is now owned by Spirit of ’76 Fireworks, run by the same family that operates the Midway truck stop.

“We’ve kept with this local ties and it’s been really helpful,” said Gann.

Gann has helped bring the number of vacant industrial buildings down from seven to two. Right now, the Nordyne plant and the former Hostess bakery are still empty but both buildings haven’t been sitting idle.

“We have four prospects actively working on Nordyne and one on the bakery,” he said.

Caterpillar Inc. also continues to have a plant in Boonville as well.

Gann said when he brings people to site visits, they’re always amazed at the quality of life and that has helped to be a selling point for the city.

“We have an uncommon quality of life for a community our size,” he said. “With the changing dynamics of the workforce, you’re going to have to go to where the workforce is and we’re seeing that now and the attractiveness of that is the quality of life.”

Along the same lines, tourism director Katie Gibson, who took over as director three years ago, said she thinks outside the box to market Boonville as more than just an industry city.

“People are very traditional in that factory industry is essential and we have to have that to survive,” she said. “But I think one thing people have seem to have adapted to is that tourism is an industry of its own and it won’t hurt us to grow that part of our town to become more of a tourist attraction.”

Gibson works out of a renovated grocery store that was built years ago. Now, it’s the city’s tourism hub, compete with an historic Boonville museum. Many of the items in the museum were donated by locals, including an antique wagon donated by the Mitchell Antique Motocar Museum.

“Boonville is a large enough size but we have that small town charm,” she said.

The new tourism district, just four blocks from downtown, links attractions like the Katy Trail and Bridge, the Isle of Capri casino and the historic Hotel Frederick.

Gibson and Gann said that the past few years have been just the beginning of a revitalization of Boonville.

“I think some people thought of it pretty negatively but at the same time i think it’s a rebirth of something new and something better,” said Gibson.

Boonville was named in Smithsonian Magazine as one of the top 20 small towns in the United States in 2015.