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Clif Smart Elected Board Chair As Missouri Partnership Welcomes New Leaders to Board & Advisory Council

  • November 21, 2023

Missouri Partnership’s Board of Directors recently elected Clifton M. Smart III (Clif Smart) as the new Board Chair. Smart has served as the President of Missouri State University since 2011 and recently announced he will retire in the summer of 2024. He joined Missouri Partnership’s Board in 2018 and has served as Treasurer and Vice Chair. 

In addition to a new Chair, the Board of Directors elected a new Secretary. Molly Hyland was elected Secretary, moving to the Executive Committee from her current position as Board Member. Hyland is Sr. Vice President, Community Relations, Government Relations at Commerce Bank.

Smart and Hyland’s terms are two years and begin January 1, 2024. 

Craig Unruh, President of AT&T Missouri and Arkansas, was elected Vice Chair. Michael Collins, Founder & CEO of Grayson Capital, LLC, was elected Treasurer.

Clif Smart
Molly Hyland
Molly Hyland
Craig Unruh
Michael Collins
Ashley McCarty
Leah FitzGerald
headshot of Bernie Andrews
Bernie Andrews
headshot of Travis Stephens
Travis Stevens
Headshot of Maggie Kost
Maggie Kost

The Board also elected two new members. Ashley McCarty, Executive Director of Missouri Farmers Care, and Leah FitzGerald, Managing Director at CBRE Kansas City, will join Missouri Partnership’s Board of Directors beginning January 1, 2024. Their terms are three years. 

Bernie Andrews, Executive Vice President of Columbia REDI, is the new Advisory Council Representative on the Board of Directors. Maggie Kost, Chief Business Attraction Officer at Greater St. Louis, Inc., and Travis Stephens, President/CEO of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, will join the Advisory Council beginning January 1, 2024. 

“We are honored to have Clif and Molly on our Executive Committee, and our organization will benefit from their leadership, insights, and guidance in these pivotal roles,” said Subash Alias, CEO of Missouri Partnership. “We extend a warm welcome to our newly elected Board and Advisory Council members whose expertise and commitment will undoubtedly help us remain competitive in business attraction. As we embrace these changes, Missouri Partnership is poised for continued success and growth, thanks to the dedication and caliber of our leadership team. We are excited about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead for our organization and the state of Missouri.”

To learn more about our Board, click here. 

About Missouri Partnership 

Missouri Partnership is a public-private economic development organization focused on attracting new jobs and investment to the state and promoting Missouri’s business strengths. Since 2008, Missouri Partnership has worked with partners statewide to attract companies that have created 33,000+ new jobs, $1.7 billion+ in new annual payroll, and $6.4 billion+ in new capital investment. Some recent successful projects that led to major investment in Missouri include Accenture Federal Services LLC, American Foods Group, Casey’s, Chewy, Inc., James Hardie, Meta, Swift Prepared Foods, URBN, USDA, and Veterans United.