New uniform business signs designed to improve navigation at the Mountain Home Industrial Park are now in place, marking the culmination of a months-long project led by the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Class of 2025. The Chamber announced the project’s completion this week.

The updated signage aims to provide a consistent look for participating businesses and make it easier for visitors and clients to locate companies throughout the industrial park. Previously, signage across the park had been uneven, with some faded, hard to read, or obscured by overgrown vegetation.

The project began as part of the Leadership program’s focus on business retention and expansion. Leadership Class members toured the park, engaged with local business representatives, and identified challenges that hindered growth and accessibility. They determined improved signage was a priority.

However, the effort revealed larger issues. As they conducted an inventory of the park, class members discovered vacant lots owned by out-of-state investors, overgrown properties with grass as high as six feet, and a number of businesses that declined to participate in the project or did not respond to outreach efforts.

One class member, Ricky Greninger of Danfoss, said the park’s condition motivated him to propose improvements. "Just how in disarray it is," Greninger explained. “Not knowing who all’s out there, who has land out there, who it belongs to.”

Kelly Chandler of ERA Doty Real Estate noted that some businesses were skeptical of the class’s intentions, and Tim Nichols of Marchant Building Center emphasized that the goal was to create a professional, uniform look for all participating businesses.

Class members personally funded the signs, while Baxter County assisted with the lettering and installation. Chamber President Dani Pugsley, who reviewed the project with the group in December, mentioned that the park’s governing covenants were last updated in 1993 and enforcement appeared to have ceased around that time. Historical records reveal that an industrial park commission was active through the early 2000s, but no meeting minutes remain, and the park’s management has since lapsed. Approximately 50 acres within the park are still zoned for residential development intended for worker housing that was never built.

Roger Meier of Shadetree Construction advocated for reinstating a commission to maintain the park’s order and enforce its covenants to prevent recurring issues. Pugsley suggested the recently formed County Economic Development Committee, established in 2025, could potentially assume this role.

The Leadership Mountain Home program, organized annually by the Chamber, offers emerging community leaders monthly sessions on topics such as local government, education, health care, and nonprofit operations. Each class is tasked with completing a community impact project. This year’s class selected the industrial park initiative over a competing proposal to renovate the “Big Top” gymnasium at Mountain Home High School.

The 2025 Leadership Class included Ricky Greninger, Kelly Chandler, Tim Nichols, Roger Meier, Bradley Ludwig, Shadrach Ibinola, Brian Carlisle, Tamya Stallings, Kaitlyn Strode, Kolt Kincade, Heather Link, Becca Zurcher, Michelle Lindquist, Tim Lindquist, Branden McMaster, and Stephanie Jackson.

Those interested in applying for future Leadership Mountain Home classes can contact the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce for more information.