Power Profile: Mayor Ron Fitzwater
Ron Fitzwater, mayor of Jefferson City
Elected mayor of Jefferson City in April, Ron Fitzwater has big plans for revitalizing Missouri’s capital. With a background in politics and the private sector, Fitzwater is working to bring new life to local businesses through collaboration and a no-nonsense work ethic.
“I continue to preach: partnership, partnership, partnership. We need to be able to work with people. And if we have a tough issue, lay it on the table and talk about it like adults. We have found that to be true, and that's how I like to do business,” said Fitzwater.
Although Fitzwater is just starting his career as mayor, his history in Jefferson City stretches back over two decades. Born in eastern Ohio, Fitzwater moved to Jefferson City when he became CEO of the Missouri Pharmacy Association. After serving as CEO for 21 years, Fitzwater was elected to the city council in 2017, where he represented Ward 4.
“Jefferson City is home for me. We love it here. It's just a good community full of good people, and there were just some things that I felt like I could bring to the table to help move it along. It's been a fun six years. I can't believe I spent six years on council, it just went so fast,” said Fitzwater.
As mayor, Fitzwater is focused on economic development and growing job opportunities in Jefferson City.
“My goal has been to get the message out that Jefferson City is open for business,” said Fitzwater. “We have not had growth over the last 10 or 15 years, so we're trying to address a whole host of issues. As we talk to our four big employers— the State of Missouri, Unilever, Hitachi and Scholastic— the overriding concern that they have is housing and trying to make sure that there are places for the employees that they want to hire and bring into our community."
Fitzwater and the city have adopted the “Race to 50”, which aims to move Jefferson City's population to 50,000. The initiative is designed to help grow new and existing businesses since the city’s population has held at around 44,000 for the last decade.
“We’re here to create a framework where we can grow the city and then get out of the way so that the people who are investing the money, who have the ideas and developers can do their thing and our businesses can grow, and people can take a look at Jefferson City and say, ‘Yeah, that would be a great place to live,’” said Fitzwater.
Fitzwater considers Ameren Missouri to be part of this push toward economic development in Jefferson City through Ameren’s work as a community partner and its utility infrastructure.
“We're moving into a new world with all the push toward solar and other energy sources. I've just always appreciated the fact they've been very open when new ideas come along and always had a very good relationship working with the city,” said Fitzwater.
With economic development at the forefront and sharing a drive for positive change, Ameren and Fitzwater are both working toward a stronger Jefferson City.