The Southwest region is made up of seven counties, and contains Joplin, the region’s largest city.  Historic attractions in the area include the George Washington Carver National Monument and Harry S. Truman’s birthplace.  Major industries in the region include information technology, manufacturing, and warehousing distribution. Major companies including La-Z-Boy, General Mills, and Jack Henry & Associates have operations in the Southwest.

January 2012: Graybar announced it will open a branch in Joplin, employing 3 workers.

October 2011: NCO Group Inc., a leading provider of business process outsourcing services, announced a plan to hire 500 seasonal and full-time employees at its Joplin call center. The Joplin location currently employs about 700 workers.

April 2011: Pennington Seed, a company that packages grass seeds, mixes and prepares bird feed and mulch products for lawns, announced it had invested approximately $1 million in expanding its operations through the construction of a new mulch plant and hired 80 new employees in Greenfield.

Rock Tenn Company, which manufactures cardboard cartons for popular consumer products such as cereal boxes, frozen food packages and ice cream cartons, announced it had invested approximately $10.1 million in expanding its operations in Joplin and hired 25 new employees.

Key Industries:

Information Technology, Manufacturing, Warehousing/Distribution

Major Employers:

Able Manufacturing (Joplin) 
Aegis Communications (Joplin) 
Brass Eagle (Neosho)
Butterball Turkey (Carthage) 
Cardinal Scale/Detecto Company (Webb City) 
Conway (Joplin)
Crossland Construction (Joplin)
Eagle-Picher Technologies (Joplin) 
Empire District Electric Co. (Joplin)
FAG Bearing Corporation (Joplin)
General Mills Bakeries & Food Service (Joplin) 
La-Z-Boy Midwest (Neosho)
Leggett & Platt, Inc. (Carthage) 
Jack Henry & Associates (Monett) 
Stremick's Heritage Foods (Joplin)
LaBarge, Inc. Electronics Division (Joplin)
Moark Productions (Neosho)
Modine Manufacturing (Joplin)
Premiere Turbines (Neosho)
Rock-Tenn (Joplin) 
Scholastic (Neosho)
Schreiber Foods (Carthage)
Systems Services & Technology (Joplin) 
TAMKO Roofing Products (Joplin)
Thorco Industries (Lamar) 
State Motor Transit Company (Joplin)

Area	Population 2010	Population Projection 2030	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Barry County	35,911	44,295	17,059	15,617	1,442	8.50%
Barton County	12,289	13,730	5,108	4,542	566	11.10%
Dade County	7,306	6,977	3,329	3,019	310	9.30%
Jasper County	119,704	152,490	58,324	53,468	4,856	8.30%
Lawrence County	37,648	47,249	18,862	17,340	1,522	8.10%
Mcdonald County	23,070	28,078	10,835	9,803	1,032	9.50%
Newton County	56,154	66,663	28,118	25,654	2,464	8.80%
Southwest Region Summary	292,082	359,482	141,635	129,443	12,192	8.60%

Median Wages:

The regional average wage was $616 per week in the 1st Quarter of 2011.

Major roads in the region include I-44, US-60, US-71 and US-160. I-44 provides access to St. Louis, Springfield, and Oklahoma City.  US-60 links Virginia to Arizona, with major junctions at Richmond, Lexington, Louisville, and Phoenix.

US-71 currently extends from the Canadian border all the way to Shreveport; a large section of the highway from Missouri south is currently being upgraded to interstate standards as a potential extension of I-49. US-160 begins in Missouri and terminates in Arizona.

Commercial air service for the region is provided by Joplin Regional Airport.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Kansas City Southern provide Class I rail service to the region.

Joplin (Pop: 50,150)
Carthage (14,378)
Webb City (10,996)
Neosho (11,835)
Monett (8,873)

Higher Education Institutions:

Crowder College: (Neosho) 2-year, public
Missouri Southern State University: (Joplin) 4-year, public

Educational Attainment:

Area	High School Diploma	Associate's Degree	Bachelor's Degree	Graduate Degree	Total
Barry County, MO	10,646	1,383	2,152	1,112	15,293
Barton County, MO	3,728	480	669	407	5,284
Dade County, MO	2,545	263	427	222	3,457
Jasper County, MO	28,205	4,870	10,271	5,100	48,446
Lawrence County, MO	10,872	1,335	2,400	1,326	15,933
McDonald County, MO	6,137	1,055	919	388	8,499
Newton County, MO	13,106	3,527	4,579	2,661	23,873
Southwest Region	75,239	12,913	21,417	11,216	120,785
Source: ESRI. Population 25+, 2010.

Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Tech (MARET) Center at Crowder College: The mission of the MARET Center is to expand renewable energy throughout the region with education, applied research, and economic development. Educational programs include certification and transfer degrees encompassing green construction, solar thermal energy, solar electricity, wind, and bio fuels. The MARET Center also assists in new product development and other business support services in renewable energy.

Residents of the Southwest Region enjoy quality health care facilities, one of the lowest costs of living in the United States, and a variety of recreational options.

Major hospitals in the area include McCune Brooks Regional Hospital (Carthage),  Freeman Health System (Joplin), St. John’s Regional Medical Center (Joplin),  and Cox Monett.

The Battle of Carthage State Historic Site and Civil War Museum highlights one of the earliest battles in the Civil War.

The National Fish Hatchery  located in Neosho is the oldest federal fish hatchery in the United States.

On the outskirts of Joplin lies the George Washington Carver National Monument. The 240-acre national park is the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, the famous black argonomist, educator and humanitarian.

The birthplace of the Harry Truman  is located in Lamar.

Historic Route 66 passes through Carthage, Joplin, and Webb City.