The annual meeting of the Sustainable Ozark Partnership took place Wednesday at the Ark Community and Sports Center in Waynesville

The annual meeting of the Sustainable Ozark Partnership took place Wednesday at the Ark Community and Sports Center in Waynesville. SOP is a nonprofit organization comprised of government, business, military, and community leaders from Laclede, Texas, Phelps and Pulaski Counties. The organization’s goal is to strengthen the Fort Leonard Wood region by supporting American’s national defense priorities as well as growing the economy and opportunities in central Missouri. Missouri 121st District State Representative Bill Hardwick, the chairman of the Sustainable Ozark Partnership, greeted the over two hundred community leaders from the four-county area. After the meeting, Hardwick said….

Guest speakers during the meeting included Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, 4th District Congressman Mark Alford, Deputy Commander of Installation Management Command, Brigadier General Joe Riccardi, Commandant of the U.S. Army Military Police School, Brigadier General Sarah Albrycht, and Missouri Military Advocate Harry Roberts. Also addressing the gathering was Keith Pritchard of Waynesville, the Civilian Assistant to the Secretary of the Army from the Western District of Missouri.
The meeting’s agenda largely focused on strategies to sustain and grow the defense missions on Fort Leonard Wood and its engagement strategy with the Pentagon and member of Congress in the U.S. House and Senate.

That’s State Representative Bill Hardwick of Waynesville, the chairman of the Sustainable Ozark Partnership.