Legacy of Leadership
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce would not be able to function without support from all of its 1,500+ member organizations. It is because of your commitment to us that we can continue our work to increase opportunities for businesses of every size to succeed – and to grow jobs, our workforce and investment in the region.
A handful of organizations have gone above and beyond in their support of our mission and our initiatives, and we recognize them here as part of our Legacy of Leadership. A special thank you to these organizations for their dedication to the Chamber!
Chairman's Circle
President's Circle
Learn more about our Chairman's Circle companies!
For more than 130 years – longer than any other health care provider – Mercy has partnered with Springfield. We’ve grown with our community and its people. We’ve been there as our city grew into a place where businesses thrive, where families flourish and where leaders are born, grow up and learn to dream big dreams. We’ve worked together to help our neighbors, friends and family feel their best and live their lives to the fullest.
Today, we’re still working to give everyone in Springfield access to a health care system that’s the leader in quality care.
We’re using technology to give you easy access to care through tools like:
- Online scheduling that lets you make your appointment with a minimum of clicks.
- First Available, a tool that gives you the soonest appointment with the nearest provider.
- MyMercy, a free online application that lets you manage your health from your computer, smartphone or tablet device whenever you need to from wherever you are. Complete an online appointment, request a medication refill, send a non-urgent question to your doctor, or even request your health history if an emergency arises while you’re traveling.
And, we’re expanding our presence throughout the Ozarks, bringing care to your neighborhood. Find out more at mercy.net
Mercy Springfield Communities is comprised of Mercy Hospital Springfield, an 866-bed referral center; an orthopedic hospital; a rehab hospital; a children’s hospital; four regional hospitals in Lebanon, Aurora, Cassville, and Mountain View, Missouri; and Mercy Clinic, a physician clinic with nearly 700 doctors and locations throughout the region. It is part of Mercy, one of the 25 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health. Mercy serves millions annually with nationally recognized quality care and one of the nation’s largest Accountable Care Organizations. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 40 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities, 4,000 Mercy Clinic physicians and advanced practitioners, and more than 40,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Associated Electric Cooperative has grown into a powerhouse for its member-owner systems since its formation in 1961. Today, Associated Electric is one of the lowest-cost generation and transmission cooperatives in the country with a diverse portfolio of generating resources, integrated transmission system and one of the highest bond ratings among G&Ts in the country.
The wholesale power supply cooperative is owned by the six regional generation and transmission cooperatives that formed it, and those six G&Ts send power from Associated to 51 local electric cooperatives in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve about two million member-consumers behind about 935,000 meters.
Associated continues to meet industry challenges, members’ changing needs, its environmental responsibilities and more as it continues to grow under the leadership of its member-directed board and management. That leadership has never wavered in its focus on the reason Associated was formed: to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to members.
That mission dates to the grassroots formation of rural electric cooperatives in this country.
Once upon a time, electric service was a luxury enjoyed only in cities, where the concentration of people was high enough to make it economical. Meanwhile, in sparsely populated rural areas where electrification wasn't profitable, people were left in the dark -- and left behind.
Finally, the federal government realized that if rural America were ever to be electrified, the country would have to lend a helping hand. So, in 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). A year later Congress gave the agency the money and power to promote rural electrification by providing low-cost loans to build transmission and generation facilities.
Rural Americans took it from there, paying their $5 membership fee and rapidly forming rural electric cooperatives to take advantage of the favorable financing. Farm by farm, village by village, the lights went on across rural Missouri and rural America. And as electrical needs grew, the REA continued to provide low-cost financing, which cooperatives have faithfully paid back.
Eventually, Associated added generation facilities, financed with help from the REA, to meet rural America’s, and now suburban America’s needs. Its first-generation facility was built in 1966 and more followed. Today, Associated has diverse resources that include hydropower, coal, natural gas and wind energy, as well an energy efficiency program for the member at the end of the line.
The electrification of rural America often is described as the single most dramatic event to touch the daily lives of this country's farming families. It helped make this nation's agriculture industry the most productive in the world and enabled the rural economy to grow in even more unexpected ways.
Today, an affordable, reliable power supply is what helps Associated’s member systems help their members power their homes, schools, farms and businesses and grow their communities.
Working with Associated Electric in that goal are the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives and the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, which assist rural electric cooperatives and promote growth and development of rural America.
As Associated Electric celebrates more than 60 years of success, it looks forward as a well-positioned generation and transmission cooperative featuring diverse generation capacity, a resilient transmission network, financial strength and the support of a cohesive three-tiered system. Learn more at www.aeci.org and about electric cooperatives at www.electric.coop.
Vital Farms (Nasdaq: VITL), a Certified B Corporation, offers a range of ethically produced foods nationwide. Started on a single farm in Austin, Texas, in 2007, Vital Farms is now a national consumer brand that works with over 300 family farms and is the leading U.S. brand of pasture-raised eggs by retail dollar sales.
A central hub of our operations is Egg Central Station (ECS), nesting in Springfield, Missouri. This award-winning egg washing and packing facility is less than a day’s drive from our more than 300 family farms and is powered by our incredible crew, who help to grade, wash, and pack our eggs before they are shipped to grocery stores and foodservice operations across the country — ultimately landing on your table. Not only does ECS allow us to uphold our promise of quality and transparency, but it also signifies our dedication to the Springfield community, creating quality jobs and fostering a culture of sustainability and ethical food production right here in the Missouri.
At Vital Farms, we're deeply committed to transparency, allowing our consumers to know exactly where their food comes from. Through our traceability feature, customers can trace their eggs back to the very farm they came from. Each carton is stamped with the farm name, providing a direct link to view a 360-degree video of the farm on our website. This level of traceability underscores our commitment to ethical practices and farm animal welfare, ensuring our consumers feel connected to and confident in the food they eat.
We invite you to learn more about our journey, our practices, and how Egg Central Station, alongside our traceability feature, plays a pivotal role in our mission by visiting Vital Farms ECS and our Traceability page.
For more information about Vital Farms and our wide range of ethically produced foods, please visit our website at https://vitalfarms.com/.