Local business leaders express need for prosperous school district to move city forward

By: Chris Roush, News Director

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- St. Joseph was once known as a "modern wonder," outperforming Kansas City and Chicago, and while that might not be realistic today, there are some local business leaders who want to see the city grow again.

This river town was built on the backs of trading, railroads and manufacturing. According to the Chicago Times in 1886, St. Joseph "is a modern wonder...wholesale trade as large as Kansas City and Chicago combined."

It's been almost 140 years since the newspaper article was published, and a lot has changed. St. Joseph has changed. 

For St. Joseph in 2025, the city is facing a declining population as communities diminish. The birthrate has also fallen below the death rate. 

According to one local business leader, one way the city can reverse the declining population is a thriving school district.

"When you look at any thriving community in America, one of the foundations is a thriving school district," said Kevin Kelly, former LifeLine Foods CEO.

The St. Joseph School District's Board of Education is set to decide the future of the district Monday night, and Kelly is urging the board to move the district and city forward.

"When you have that, you have got families, you've got kids, and you've got a business community all working together to make sure that the town moves forward in a positive direction, and quite frankly, we don't have a thriving school district," Kelly said.

Kelly, who just retired, said St. Joseph is a great community, but is concerned about its future.

The concern stems from the direction of the school district.

He has worked on previous district bond issues, which were passed, and believes the district can be a big motivator for the community.

"Long term, if we don't improve the school district, the town is going to suffer," Kelly said. "Businesses are not going to come here. They're not going to expand here. Jobs will go away. Tax revenue will go down."

According to data from the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, almost 25% of jobs in St. Joseph are in education or healthcare. There are another 20% in manufacturing, but not all of the individuals and families who work in St. Joseph live in St. Joseph.

"I don't think it's necessarily hard to understand why we sometimes have difficulty getting employees with families to move to St. Joseph," Kelly said. "They're aware of some of the school district issues, and as such, they go to the surrounding communities and drive in for their job."

Some families have also chosen to live outside of the city and send their kids to other districts around St. Joseph.

Other families choose local private schools like St. Joseph Catholic or St. Joseph Christian.

According to data from St. Joseph Christian, student enrollment has doubled from 265 students in Pre-K through 12th grade during the 2014-15 school year to 507 in Pre-K through 12th grade in 2025-26.

School district officials have stated the district-wide model needs to change because of its falling enrollment; however, several community members want to keep the three high school model because they love their neighborhood schools.

Kelly understands the desire to keep SJSD's current model, but wants to see the city move forward.

"Help me understand, are you still using a rotary dial phone? Are you still using a fax machine? Did you commute in horse and buggy? No. No. And no," Kelly said. "Progress happens. St. Joseph needs to progress."

During recent SJSD school board public hearings, other business leaders have spoken up.

Pat Dillon, Mosaic Life Care's Chief Government and Community Relations Officer, shared what would happen if the school district didn't improve at the board's first public hearing. 

"Too many families are going to continue to move out of St. Joe and move to other communities because of their school district," Dillon said. "And when that happens, we continue to lose population, we continue to lose enrollment and we continue to lose a tax base."

St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce president Natalie Hawn spoke during a November public comment session.

"Straying from a long-range plan will affect the growth here in St. Joseph," Hawn said. "Local businesses need a well-educated workforce and an environment that attracts families. Parents are attracted to outdated, undersized or inefficient schools."

St. Joseph is not the biggest city in Missouri, but is still in the Top 10. According to data, St. Joseph has the 9th largest population throughout the state.

St. Joseph is also the third largest exporter in the state, according to data from the Chamber of Commerce.

St. Joseph won't catch Chicago or Kansas City soon, population-wise, but people like Kelly believe its community can still thrive.

Kelly said, for the community to thrive, it must start with the school district and the leadership of the board.

"I would ask the school board to please make decisions that are going to improve the school district, regardless of the hate mail, emails and social media responses you get," Kelly said. "It's not easy to be a leader, but we expect it out of the board because that's what's going to drive positive change in the school district."

SJSD's board is scheduled to vote on the long-range plan at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 24, at its board meeting in Central High School's Auditorium.