Poplar Bluff is a community of growing opportunities

Downtown Poplar Bluff

Steve Halter, president of the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce, remembers when he couldn’t wait to graduate high school and leave Poplar Bluff for “bigger and better things.” Sticking around to start a career and raise a family in his hometown wasn’t something he considered. He wanted job opportunities, recreation and an overall fulfilling life. It turns out, Halter had a chance at everything he wanted out of life, and it was right in front of him.

Steve Halter, president of the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce

Halter works tirelessly as chamber president to promote the Poplar Bluff region and provide the quality-of-life people in the area are looking for. Halter and others who have called Poplar Bluff home for decades have gotten to watch — and help — as it grows into its potential.

“There are a lot of things to do these days and many more businesses and career opportunities,” Halter said.

GROWING OPPORTUNITIES

Chris Rushin, chief professional officer for the Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland based in Poplar Bluff, has similar memories to Halter. The 1985 Poplar Bluff R-I High School graduate doesn’t remember his community as a place that was always moving forward.

“In my 20s, I remember Poplar Bluff being somewhat in a stagnant rut. A lot of the people I graduated with moved away for better opportunities,” Rushin said.

Rushin remembers a turning point when the city and Chamber of Commerce attracted Briggs & Stratton to Poplar Bluff in 1989. What followed was a snowball effect.

The Gates Corporation, a manufacturer of application-specific fluid power and power transmission solutions, is just one of the major industrial employers in the Poplar Bluff, Mo., area. Most are located in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park south of the city.

“It also created another need for other factories that could make the materials needed for an efficient and successful Briggs plant. More jobs and opportunities followed,” he said.

Briggs & Stratton now employs about 1,000 people. Other factories in Poplar Bluff include Gates, SUSA, L&M Machine & Manufacturing, Inc., Foxy Manufacturing Inc., Manufacturers Assistance Group, Rice Trailers, PMB Inc., Mid Continent Steel and Wire, Nortek Global HVAC, Revere Plastics Systems, Primo Ceramic Grills and Empire Comfort Systems. Most are located in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park south of the city.

Chris Rushin, chief professional officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Poplar Bluff

The next decade saw more changes that boosted the region’s appeal. The city council passed a sales tax in the mid-1990s with the goal of improving quality of life. It worked.

“[That] successful initiative helped create the Black River Coliseum, state-of-the-art 911 emergency service, remodel the public library, an additional nine holes to Ozark Ridge Public Golf Course, purchase of McLane Park, and the construction of the baseball and softball complex [at McLane]. All of that created more opportunities and gave a real choice as to where our citizens wanted to spend recreational time,” Rushin said.

The Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center opened at its current location in 2013, and is the largest employer in the region with approximately 1,400 employees.

HEALTH INDUSTRY LEADERS

The growing economic success and quality of life in Poplar Bluff and the wider region are tied closely to another local industry: health care. Poplar Bluff is home to the John J Pershing VA Medical Center, which serves the region of Southeast Missouri and opened in the early 1950s.

Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center (PBRMC), which opened at its current location in 2013, is the largest employer in the area with approximately 1,400 employees. The state-of-the-art facility has helped attract many specialists and other medical-related businesses to the area.

Robbie Myers, director of Butler County Emergency Management Agency, said PBRMC continues Poplar Bluff’s long history of being a hub for health care for surrounding counties.

Robbie Myers, director of Butler County Emergency Management Agency

“The success and vitality of the hospital is directly connected to the success and vitality of our communities. Businesses don’t want to invest — and people don’t want to live — in a place without a strong health care environment,” Myers said.

An integral thread in the community tapestry is the partnership between Three Rivers College and PBRMC, which creates a strong student to health care worker pipeline. The hospital provides clinical placement for Three Rivers students in registered nursing and licensed practical nursing programs. They also help by giving input on curriculum, developing new programs and finding employment opportunities for current students and graduates.

Three Rivers College President Wesley Payne said the school’s health care programs are “wide-ranging” and vital to the success of Poplar Bluff and the surrounding region.

“Our nursing and allied health programs have a long history of high quality, as shown through high pass rates on licensure exams, and extremely high employment rates,” Payne said. “By working in partnership, we are able to train nurses who are better educationally and clinically prepared to provide top quality care.”

Scott Dill, Superintendent of Poplar Bluff R-I School District

EDUCATION

Three Rivers College itself has a $110 million annual economic impact on the Poplar Bluff area. Offering a full array of programs that lead to baccalaureate degrees, career programs that lead to high-level employment and workforce development programs, Three Rivers is a significant driver of local economic development and future growth of the region. Myers pointed out that many Three Rivers College graduates remain in the area and become productive members of the community.

“Our purpose is to assist the citizens of our area in building a better tomorrow and making their dreams of a better future come true,” Payne said.

Halter said education is key to attracting businesses and workers to the area.

“We are blessed to have great facilities, great services and great leadership at both Poplar Bluff R-I and Three Rivers College. Education is a key factor in most people’s decision-making as to where they want to live and raise their children,” said Halter.

Community partnerships are vital to the region’s flourishing education opportunities. Poplar Bluff R-I superintendent Scott Dill said the relationship between Three Rivers College and the district is essential to the success of Poplar Bluff’s educational system and greater community.

“The unfettered access our students have to the offerings at Three Rivers makes our community a destination in the region and the state,” Dill said.

Rushin said the Boys & Girls Club’s Great Futures partnership with Three Rivers enables high school students to earn college credit and jumpstart their careers. Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland also has two other programs that facilitate educational success: Power Hour, a tutoring program that has led to seven out of every 10 of its participants making the A or B honor roll at school, and a meal program that saw more than 40,000 meals served to youth members in 2022.

During the first days of the COVID pandemic, Boys & Girls Club helped distribute nearly half a million meals to all Poplar Bluff students when they were learning from home.

A promising — if unexpected — community intersection will soon see the school district as a participant in the revitalization of the downtown. The Poplar Bluff R-I School District administrative offices will soon be housed in the former U.S. Bank building. Renovations on the downtown building began over a year ago.

Morgan McIntosh, director of Downtown Poplar Bluff Inc.

DOWNTOWN RENAISSANCE

Fifty years ago, the Poplar Bluff downtown was bustling. The area saw gradual decline beginning in the 1990s, eventually becoming unrecognizable as the thriving city center it once was. But now, some businesses are taking a chance and investing in a new downtown experience.

Morgan McIntosh, director of Downtown Poplar Bluff Inc., and membership services for the Chamber of Commerce, has been a guide for those who are looking to locate and revitalize the downtown area.

Businesses that have opened in downtown in recent years, according to McIntosh, include Foxtrot Coffee, Haffy’s Sports Bar & Grill, Haff Whiskey Saloon, Mimi’s Market & Royal Café, The Prom Closet, Earth & Water Bathhouse, The Office, Strike Zone, Forum Fifty Fifty, Susie-Q’s, Poplar Bluff Realty, Southern Care and Comfort, St. Vincent de Paul and Saks Thrift Avenue. Expected to open soon is Francisco Esquivel’s restaurant.

McIntosh knows personally about the beauty and impact of a strong downtown community.

“My dad owned a business downtown when I was a kid, in a building my aunt used to have a beauty shop in,” McIntosh explained. “My first job was downtown at a concert venue my cousin owned called The Well. My paternal grandparents met at the Rodgers Theatre. I will always feel drawn to our historic district and how my life has always revolved around it.”

As for the school district? Superintendent Dill believes the school district can play a vital role in continuing the revitalization of downtown through relocating their central office.

“A thriving downtown is essential to the future of Poplar Bluff, and I am proud that the school district may be able to play a part in the project,” Dill said.

LOOKING FORWARD

Community leaders agree: Poplar Bluff has changed and will continue changing for the better. But the heart of the community — one of its most profound characteristics — has always been a strong asset.

Dill still remembers the day he came to Poplar Bluff to interview for his current position. It was 2016, and he could feel something special was happening in the community.

“As I drove the streets looking at schools, businesses and residences, there was an omnipresent feeling of change and renewal in the air. I wanted to be a part of that feeling,” Dill said. “When one changes jobs and moves across the state, one hopes that one will find a community that pulls together and takes care of each other. We have found that in abundance here in Poplar Bluff.”

In 2005, the community came together when it passed a tax to help fund a construction project that took U.S. 67 from two-lane to four-lane from Fredericktown to Poplar Bluff. Another vote from the public allocated funds from the same sales tax to do four-lane improvements from Poplar Bluff south to the Arkansas state line. Not every community would approve a tax increase to help as many people outside the community as within it.

The Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland based in Poplar Bluff, Mo., pose with Chris Rushin, chief professional officer for the Heartland group. Rushin said the group has a partnership with Three Rivers College to enable high school students to earn college credit.

“This is a community that doesn’t wait for something to happen, it makes it happen. How many other cities can claim that they built a four-lane highway? Poplar Bluff made it happen,” said Rushin.

Payne and his wife, Maribeth Payne, moved to Poplar Bluff in 2009. He said the changes in less than 15 years have been remarkable.

“Our industrial and retail base has both increased and strengthened. The city has seen the construction and renovation of multiple shopping centers and the construction of the hospital,” he said. “The college has built new buildings, improved its infrastructure, and restructured its process and programs to better serve the community and give our students the greatest chance of success. Neither Poplar Bluff or Three Rivers College is the same place [as it was], both have grown and strengthened.”

What helps rally the community to move forward, stressed Halter, are “solid partnerships between state, county and city governments coupled with the community in a shared belief that our best days are yet to come.”

“A large part of our success in attracting business to our community is our ability to get things done. We are very pro-business. We don’t allow anything to get in the way of a business succeeding. Our licensing and permitting process is very easy to navigate and our city/county leadership help push things through the process,” Halter said.

The bottom line for many in Poplar Bluff is pride. Pride in their community. Pride in their schools. Pride in helping uplift others.

“I’m very proud of where I come from. I love this town,” McIntosh said. “I want to create an even better Poplar Bluff for my kids, and I think we are all in the same boat rowing together to get there.”

Chris Pruett is the publisher of the Daily American Republic in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The Briggs & Stratton plant was attracted to the Poplar Bluff area by the Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce in 1989. They employ approximately 1,000 people.