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Welcome

Welcome to Callaway County

With 200 years of rich history, Callaway County is a great place to live, visit, or build a business. We are continuously seeking opportunities for innovation and improvement and are dedicated to building one of midMissouri’s most vibrant and progressive communities.

Being in the heart of Missouri, Callaway County is the perfect destination with easy access to some of the best education, health care, entertainment, shopping, and outdoor recreation the state has to offer. Our citizens can enjoy the charm of a small-town atmosphere, but still have convenient access to two larger metropolitan areas less than 25 miles Photo by Notley Hawkins; Courtesy Callaway Tourism, visitfulton.com away – Columbia and Jefferson City.

Fulton, the county seat and home to almost 13,000 people, is an ever-growing entrepreneurial community, home to two colleges, restaurants and cafes, historic properties and sites as well as parks and recreational spaces. In addition, the thriving town has an energetic business community with some of the state’s leading service institutions.

State institutions such as the Missouri School for the Deaf and the Fulton State Hospital have been critical for Fulton’s stable economy for more than 165 years. Together, they employ more than 1,400 people. The Fulton State Hospital, which is the oldest mental hospital west of the Mississippi River, moved into a new state-of-the-art $210 million campus in Fall 2019.

As Callaway County celebrates its 200th birthday, progression is evident around the county. In addition to the construction of the new Fulton State Hospital campus, notable success include the revitalization of the Fulton Brick District. Including in the quaint Brick District is the Brick District Playhouse, a 1920s-era landmark theatre that, since its official opening in 2018, has hosted cultural and performing arts events.

Progress is also seen through the continued entrepreneurial growth stimulated by the Show-Me Innovation Center as well as the county’s growth of several large businesses over the decade that exceeds the state average by 100 percent. One of those large businesses, Callaway Nuclear Energy Center, has created an ongoing impact in the county with its annual payroll of $100 million and revenue generation of $3 billion.

The Callaway Nuclear Energy Center is also 1 of 20 manufacturers in Callaway County. The county offers an expanding manufacturing base evidenced by new job creation at seven local industries during the past 3 years. Harbison Walker International is evidence of the continuous manufacturing growth in the community by creating a $1.9 million dollar expansion in Fulton, retaining 70 jobs, and increasing by two dozen more jobs in the county.

Along with a vivacious business community and ever-growing manufacturing sector, Callaway County’s education is also quite notable. Fulton’s Westminster College and William Woods University both have rich reputations – William Woods for its internationally recognized equestrian studies program and Westminster for its Green Lecture Series which attracts leaders to the Fulton campus to discuss foreign policy issues. The most notable speaker in this series was former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, who’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946 will forever be a pillar in the Fulton community. Churchill’s speech is commemorated on the Westminster campus today by the National Churchill Museum, and 32-foot long section of the Berlin Wall, which is viewed by more than 20,000 visitors annually. Additional great leaders come to the Fulton campus such as Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and Madeleine Albright, among others.

Since its founding in 1820, Callaway County has been an agricultural-based community with a rich history. The county’s outlying communities such as New Bloomfield, Auxvasse, Williamsburg, Mokane, Millersburg, Holts Summit, Portland, and Kingdom City have rich agricultural pedigrees that support farming operations for beef cattle and crop production – primarily corn, soybeans and wheat.

This year, in 2020, all of the communities in Callaway County will come together to celebrate the advancements and achievements of the county and showcase its fruitful growth.

We warmly welcome you to Callaway County to not only enjoy the charming atmosphere, but to also celebrate this great milestone with us.

Welcome, we hope you enjoy your stay!

Tamara Tateosian is the Executive Director of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce. Prior to holding her current position as Executive Director, Tamara has held many positions in the Chamber industry including Assistant to Economic Development, Membership and Marketing Director, and Director of Operations at her previous employer the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce in Arkansas. Since being hired to lead the Callaway Chamber of Commerce in November 2015, Tamara and the Chamber team have celebrated many successes. Those include: implementation of the monthly Business Breakfast, start-up of the Annual Show-Me Innovation Pitch Competition, Annual County Wide Teachers Appreciation Breakfast, National Manufacturing Day Celebration, welding program, workforce development initiatives for current workforce and students, educational training for business owners and staff, redesigned Leadership Callaway program, new business recruitment and business retention. Such progressions, such as the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, have yielded great recognition which includes being presented with the Award of Excellence from the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Missouri. Tamara spends her days working to build strong partnerships for our community with organizations such as the Missouri Job Center, Central Workforce Investment Board, Missouri Women’s Business Center, school districts in Callaway County, local, state and federal agencies, and the business community.

She proudly serves on the Bright Futures Fulton Board of Directors, state appointed to the Central Missouri Workforce Development Board and the Missouri Women’s Business Center Advisory Board. She is a past board member for the Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives and the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce Executives.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith and holds certifications as a SixSigma Green Belt in Problem Solving, Lean Manufacturing, and mediation and facilitation.

Her mission is to make Callaway County a better place by driving economic development initiatives, education, and workforce.

PROUD TO SERVE CALLAWAY COUNTY.

VISIT US TODAY AT 410 MARKET STREET IN FULTON’S BRICK DISTRICT

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Justis Smith, Marketing and Special Events Coordinator for the Callaway Chamber of Commerce and Callaway County native, graduated from South Callaway High School in Mokane in 2014. Upon graduation, she began her college career at William Woods University in Fulton where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She was inducted into Lambda Pi Eta, the Communication Studies honor society of the National Communication Association, and was also a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success, the nation’s largest leadership honor society.

Prior to her position with the Chamber, Justis worked at Veterans United Home Loans in Columbia as an Assistant Loan Officer. As an Assistant Loan Officer, Justis worked directly under two Loan Officers while maintaining a high level of detail and organization as she communicated with Veteran borrowers throughout their home loan process.

As the Chamber’s Marketing and Special Events Coordinator, Justis plans and executes several large events through the year, including Town and Country, Teacher Appreciation Breakfast, Golf Tournament, and Annual Banquet. In addition, she markets the Chamber by telling “their story” through economic and workforce development, education, and community initiatives.

Justis is also an avid volunteer, volunteering with Out of the Darkness Community Walks, Project Homeless Connect and Voluntary Action Center. In addition to her volunteer work, Justis is also a member of the Callaway County Salvation Army Board. Through her position at the Chamber and community involvement, Justis strives to build community for business and family.

Debo Funeral Home and Callaway Memorial Gardens

833 Court Street 10920 Old US Hwy 54N Fulton, Mo Holts Summit, MO 573-642-2211 573-642-2211 www.debofuneralhome.com