Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce officials announced today that Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) will be bringing facilities to a donated site near U.S. 54 and Missouri 179.
The 15.5-acre land donation to the organization for the project comes from Land Investments, run by Kirk Farmer, Mike Dunn and Frank Twehous.
Farmer said the company decided to donate the property after reading about the chamber's efforts to keep SOMO in Jefferson City through a collaboration with the Jefferson City Parks and Recreation Commission.
Bob Gilbert, board chairman at the chamber, said Land Investments agreed to donate the property to SOMO, which would then be used as an anchor to spur further commercial development on adjacent land.
Missy Bonnot, economic development director at the chamber, noted the project's importance in terms of economic development and said more than 100 Jefferson City businesses emailed support for the project, which was forwarded to SOMO board members.
SOMO headquarters, currently located in Jefferson City, employs 25 people, and the addition of the campus would bring that up to 34 people.
"That's well over $1 million in payroll," Gilbert said. "Some might not think that this is an economic development project, but it is."
Plus, he said the campus will bring more visitors to the community, projecting "2,000 (hotel) room nights per year."
The Jefferson City Council even approved a request from Randy Allen, president and CEO of the chamber, to fund the $300,000 cost of extending sewer service to the site, located at 2229 Christy Drive, in a closed session Oct. 20. The sewer extension would only be funded if SOMO selects Jefferson City's site.
Bonnot said one of the site's advantages is its visibility to those traveling through the area on U.S. 54 or Missouri 179. Gilbert said the average daily traffic on U.S. 54 and Missouri 179 is 24,000 to 25,000 cars per day, plus thousands more during holidays and summer vacations.