Category Archives: Employer of the Month

Moark, LLC | November Employer of the Month

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Members of the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Industrial Appreciation Committee met Thursday to honor Moark LLC, for their ongoing contribution to the area. Newton County Comissioner Marilyn Ruestman and State Representative Bill Reiboldt were also in attendance, and each presented Moark’s Midwest Division General Manager Jerry Welch with plaques commemorating the occasion. Moark currently employs 160 people in the Neosho area. Housing 2.6 million birds at their location on D Highway. They also recently completed a neighboring pullet facility. Moark distributes eggs as far east as Ohio and as far west as California. MOARK LLC is the largest producer of eggs in the United States.

When asked what is unique about the Neosho area, Jerry Welch, General Manager Midwest Division said “I think it’s the comradery of the community, especially the business community. You just don’t see that in a lot of communities. In Moark we are actually split up into three different regions, Western, Eastern, and the Midwest, as I look and compare to our other divisions there is a level headed, down to earth workforce, and you just don’t find that in other areas.”

Please join the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce in congratulating Moark LLC as our November Employer of the Month.

Willis & Associates Printing | October Employer of the Month

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Members of Neosho’s Economic Development Industrial Appreciation Committee honored Willis & Associates as their October Employer of the Month. Representative Bill Reibioldt presented the Willis family with a proclamation; also in attendance were Newton County Commissioners Jack Sanders and Jerry Black who presented a proclamation from Newton County. Willis & Associates has been doing business in Neosho for 50 years. When Frances and Robert Willis started their printing company in 1962 When asked what his favorite thing about doing business in Neosho, Rob Willis was hard pressed to find a single answer. “The People, the small town feel, this is home for us” Rob added. “The small town feeling that you get, most people we know. Sometimes my wife will ask ‘do you know everybody?’ everybody is a neighbor, you know?” Frances Willis added, “We have 8 children, and Neosho is the best place to raise them”. Willis & Associates is no stranger to adversity either, having their home and business destroyed in the May 10, 2008 tornado. Since then the Willis’s have built back and are proudly serving the Neosho area’s printing, promotional material, and graphic design needs. Please join the Chamber in congratulating Willis & Associates Printing, our October Employer of the Month.

Lowe’s of Neosho | August’s Employer of the Month

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Members of the Neosho area Business community met earlier this month to honor Lowe’s Home Improvement as August’s Employer of the Month. When asked what makes Neosho a great place to do business Tom Baumhover, the store’s Manager, said “It’s the people, the people in Neosho are so friendly, they’re so easy to work with, I think they appreciate us being in town, in Neosho and we love being in this community from every aspect, we like to think we’re their home improvement shop, if you can imagine it we can make it, your dreams, come true.”

When asked what Lowe’s enjoyed most about placing a store in Neosho Tom pointed to the small town feel of Neosho; “Our level of service where we know the customer versus a large metro area we know the customer on a first name basis, you don’t see a lot of Lowes in a smaller market like Neosho, It’s proven very successful for the company, it’s a great environment to be in, we’re known for customer service.”

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Teen Challenge | May Employer of the Month

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Please join the Chamber in congratulating Teen Challenge of the Four States as our April Employer of the Month. The Teen Challenge Center outside Neosho currently employs 11 people. When asked to say a few words about why Teen Challenge was chosen to receive the award, Sy Werner said; “if you look back a few years before Teen Challenge was there this was an open field, there were no jobs here at all.—We try to recognize different organizations and what they do for the community, and in this case we are doing double duty in honoring Teen Challenge as the Employer of the Month and an Expansion Award.”

The Neosho Teen Challenge center has twenty residents, all of whom are there of their own volition. Residents find out about Teen Challenge from Family members, Churches, the Internet and the Court System. Residents at Teen Challenge are not allowed to watch television during the week. The 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month, they are allowed family visits. Teen challenge residents are not allowed to leave the campus without a staff chaperone. Jim Lowans explained the nature of these chaperoned outings by saying “Our students do go out into the neighborhoods and work for people in the afternoons, so if people have jobs they want done around the house, any type of job, we can usually have the guys come in. They are in turn supporting the ministry by doing that.” Although residents are “detoxed” before they enter the Teen Challenge program, they have joined forces with the Talkington Foundation to offer 12 step and Al-anon services with a strong focus on Christian faith.

Jim Lowans is also the Teen Challenge Director for the Asian Pacific Region. When asked what he loves most about Neosho, Jim said; “We’re so excited to be a part of the city of Neosho, we enjoy the friendships we’ve made and the people who have welcomed us into the city, and we really just feel a part of the city.”

More about Teen Challenge:

There are over 250 Teen Challenge Centers in the US, and about 800 more outside of the US. There are seven Teen Challenge Centers in Missouri alone, with two in St. Louis; a men’s center and a women’s center, a center in Cape Girardeau and a ladies center in Ozark, Mo. They also offer services to those under the age of eighteen with an adolescent boy’s center in Branson, and an adolescent girl’s center in Kansas City. Teen Challenge is also in the process of starting Mother’s and children’s center in the Colombia/Jefferson City area. Mother’s would come in to the center and when they are ready, their children can join them. The Teen Challenge general headquarters are also located in Ozark, Mo.

Please join the Chamber in Congratulating Teen Challenge as our May Employer of the Month!

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