Moberly, MO – Moberly Area Economic Development Corporation (MAEDC) announces they have hired L&J Development of Moberly to expand and remodel their office located at 115 N. Williams St. MAEDC’s expansion is prompted by the hiring of the new Entrepreneurship Specialist position. The remodel will provide additional office and meeting space. The project will also include the construction of a media room that is capable of hosting classes and events.
L&J Development will begin work immediately and expect to complete the project in May of 2018. L&J was founded in 1997 by Jeff and Lara Lawrence of Moberly. MAEDC put the project out for bid to all of the general contractors that are members of the Industrial Club, and selected L&J Development. L&J Development has been an MAEDC Industrial Club member since 2006. The renovations will provide MAEDC with the necessary space to hold larger site visits, office space for the new SBTDC/PTAC position, and improved audiovisual equipment for presentations.
“We thank L&J Development for their longtime support of our organization and their willingness to complete this project for us.” Corey Mehaffy President of MAEDC said, “We are excited about the options this new space gives us and the possibilities it presents moving forward.”
The original renovation plan included doubling the size of the N. Williams office. However, due to a recent budget reduction by Randolph County, announced on January 23rd, 2018 the project scope has been reduced by over 50%. Randolph County announced they were defunding MAEDC which resulted in a $60,000 drop in revenue. Given the recent developments, the MAEDC Board of Directors wisely chose to revise the project and downsize the renovations accordingly.
Jeff Lawrence President of L&J was thankful for the opportunity, “When Lara and I started this business we wanted to fill a need in this community. We are proud of the work we have done, and have gladly partnered with MAEDC for over a decade. We are grateful they have trusted our company with this remodel and are looking forward to getting started.”
MAEDC considered several options for its office needs. However, with downtown revitalization efforts happening in Moberly, MAEDC wanted to continue being part of the progress. Downtown Moberly has been home to MAEDC for 30+ years and with this remodel it will continue to be home for many more to come. MAEDC thanks all firms that submitted bids, Joe Snodgrass formerly of Outline Consultants, Russ Freed of Orscheln Properties, and Rob Cater of Bank of Cairo and Moberly for their expert advice.
Moberly Area Economic Development Corporation works to promote financial investment in Randolph, Monroe and Howard Counties. For more information on the organization, please visit their website at http://www.moberly-edc.com