Community leaders take fresh look at historic Poplar Bluff

The Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce was awarded a grant through the U.S. Economic Development Authority, which is being used to assist in obtaining a new strategic plan for Downtown Poplar Bluff.

The $99,000 grant, according to chamber President Steve Halter, also was used for a new retail market analysis, industrial analysis and labor shed study.

The chamber had a 20% match on the grant, but “it was well worth it,” Halter said.

These types of reports are “vitally important for our business recruitment and retention program,” Halter explained. “We also felt like Downtown Poplar Bluff has enough positive momentum to warrant a new strategic plan and market analysis of its own.”

While the grant was awarded to the chamber, “we feel like the downtown is really an important part of our community and want to help with it,” said Halter, who serves on the Downtown Poplar Bluff board.

Halter said it has been several years “since we have conducted a strategic plan for downtown. We have accomplished most of what we set out to accomplish from the last plan.

“We have a new city manager and a new downtown director and several interested investors. This new plan will be used to springboard our downtown into the future.”

Halter knows people have different opinions on downtown, but in this day and age, “everyone can shop online.

“Everyone has a Walmart, Menards and Home Depot, so a competitive advantage for a community is having a unique downtown area for people to come to visit.”

As part of the strategic plan for downtown, community meetings have been held, and officials are “waiting on a final report from Retail Strategies,” Halter said. “Retail Strategies is a very reputable company, recommended by successful, local businessman Nathan Maurer.”

Officials with Retail Strategies met in June with concerned citizens, downtown business owners, council members and Downtown Poplar Bluff representatives to find out what needs to be improved in downtown, what they would like to see happen and what issues the area faces.

This reportedly was the second step in Retail Strategies’ process of developing a strategic plan for the area, which was expected to take four to six weeks to write. The first step was a market analysis of the area.

Halter said Poplar Bluff’s retail developers are “excited to have new, current information” from the market analysis of the area.

“The retail market analysis is pulled from statistical data driven by credit card purchases,” Halter explained. “This data really dials in on location of shoppers and buying habits. This information can be used to predict what gaps we have in retail operations and where we need to focus our marketing efforts for downtown and our entire region.”

The area’s large employers also are pleased to have an updated “picture of what the labor shed looks like,” Halter said.

“Kay Brockwell, from Future Focus Development Solutions, spent many hours in Poplar Bluff reviewing our current climate on manufacturing,” Halter explained. “Kay has been around economic and industrial development for many years and is respected in the industry.”

Halter said Brockwell also spent time with workforce development officials from Three Rivers College, the Job Center, Poplar Bluff R-I Technical Career Center and human resources and plant managers from the Industrial Park.

“Workforce development is a crucial part of economic development and having a clear understanding of our local and regional workforce will greatly assist all employers,” Halter said.

Information obtained from this grant will be used by businesses trying to put together business plans and plan for the future, Halter said.