Show Me Christian County, Nixa Chamber report rising development interest and growing Nxpo attendance

A representative of Show Me Christian County updated the Nixa City Council on March 11 that the local economic development group is engaged with multiple prospective projects and community initiatives, while the Nixa Chamber told the council the city’s annual business expo has drawn more visitors each year.

The Show Me Christian County representative told the council the organization currently has five active projects with property in Nixa and 11 additional project leads considering the city. “So there’s a lot of interest right now, and so we’re really excited about that,” the representative said. The group is meeting monthly with the city and the chamber to coordinate on economic development and strategy.

The representative described partnership work on local trails and connectivity, noting meetings with the Ozarks Transportation Organization, the City of Ozark, Christian County and local partners to discuss alignment. The group also helped prepare a grant application tied to the Oak Park allocation, authoring paperwork to make a $250,000 grant application possible because the city provided matching funds. The representative said technical-assistance and trail-connection grants were sought in coordination with the James River Basin Partnership and an engineering firm working on Springfield Lake plans.

Show Me Christian County said it is transitioning to become a 501(c)(3) organization to support community-betterment projects and private–public partnerships. The group highlighted volunteer help on grant writing and a marketing staffer, Stevie Barfoot, who is providing one-on-one business support and e-commerce training for local businesses.

Whitney Gizon of the Nixa Chamber spoke during the visitor section about Nxpo, the chamber’s annual expo. Using Placer.ai data the chamber pulled visitor counts for the past three years and reported 4,600 visitors in 2022, about 4,400 in 2023 and just over 5,000 in 2024. Gizon said the percentage of visitors from Nixa remains above 50% but is declining slightly as the expo attracts more visitors from Springfield and surrounding communities. The chamber’s 2025 Nxpo was scheduled for March 22 at Nixa High School from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The council was also told that a joint business boot camp across Christian County had 14 participants and expected about eight graduates by the program’s conclusion; some participants were existing small businesses while others are developing business plans. The presentation emphasized ongoing outreach to attract businesses and support entrepreneurs through marketing and technical assistance.

Speakers said they will continue to report back to council as projects develop and grant decisions come in; the Show Me representative said they expect to hear back on some grant applications in the fall.