People you should know: Mike Downing
Mike Downing: Executive Director at Missouri CORE Partnership
AGE: 54
JOB DESCRIPTION: Work with community economic development organizations, businesses, institutions, particularly the University of Missouri, and state, federal and local governments to improve the economy of the 12-county CORE region.
YEARS LIVED IN MID-MISSOURI: 26 years.
ORIGINAL HOMETOWN: Bragg City, Mo. (10 miles east of Kennett)
EDUCATION: Masters Degree in Public Administration, UM-C; Bachelors Degree from Arkansas State University, double major in Business Administration and Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Active in Missouri Economic Development Council, International Economic Development Council, Missouri Economic Development Financing Association, Jefferson City Industrial Development Authority; Served on several statewide committees; First Baptist Church, Jefferson City; coached numerous sports teams; many other community organizations.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND: I was with the Missouri Department of Economic Development since 1982, most recently as the co-director of the division of business and community services.
A COLUMBIA BUSINESSPERSON I ADMIRE AND WHY: Robert Gerding of Gerding, Korte & Chitwood CPAs, and Greg Steinhoff, Director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, for their leadership in forming CORE, and both were successful former chairmen of the Columbia Chamber. They both are also successful businessmen and really good guys. Another is Steve Green, of Boone County Bank, my roommate at Arkansas State (and fellow Kennett High grad), who was president of the student government association.
WHY I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT MY JOB: I feel strongly that creating the opportunity for people to find good jobs is about as important as anything.
IF I WEREN’T DOING THIS FOR A LIVING, I WOULD: Be involved in economic development somewhere else, but I really like mid-Missouri, so the opportunity to work for CORE worked out great.
BIGGEST CAREER OBSTACLE I’VE OVERCOME AND HOW: I can’t say that I’ve had any.
A FAVORITE RECENT PROJECT: I was in the middle of trying to recruit Bombardier Aerospace to Kansas City since November. It would have resulted in over 2,000 good-paying jobs, and created an aerospace cluster between St. Louis to Wichita, Kan. I traveled to Montreal several times to meet with company officials and negotiate the deal, and we were confident we were going to be selected. Although we weren’t, I learned a lot about how Canadian companies look at doing business in U.S., which I hope to use for future projects.
WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PROFESSION: It’s a very difficult and complex task to attract new businesses to an area. The competition is not only from nearby communities and states, it’s now also from foreign countries. Everyone wants to attract clean, growing companies that pay good wages. But when you win, the benefits can be significant for the entire region.
WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Golf, basketball, sing in Men’s quartet, bike the Katy Trail, photography, Mizzou football.
FAMILY: Wife, Donna, is a teacher of severely handicapped preschool kids at the Special Learning Center (Jefferson City); son, Chris, is a junior at Lincoln University, majoring in Entertainment Management; and daughter, Emily, is a senior at Jefferson City High, where she was just named All-State in soccer.
FAVORITE PLACE IN COLUMBIA: Memorial Stadium on football Saturdays. Also, the Katy Trail in Columbia is my favorite. Booches for burgers can’t be beat.
ACCOMPLISHMENT I’M MOST PROUD OF: Coaching the MO-Girls soccer team to a Gold Medal in the U-11 age group at the Show-Me Games in 2002. It doesn’t get more fun than that.
MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW THAT I: Got second in a tryout to be a place-kicker for the Dallas Cowboys in 1978. I’ve got a letter from Tom Landry to prove it.