Since opening in Smithville less than a year ago, Justus Drugstore, A Restaurant continues to up the ante not only for quality of dining in Kansas City, but for what can be accomplished by a small business in Smithville.

“How unique is it for someone with a family history to go back to the family business and create a premier restaurant that has received national publicity?” said Jim Hampton, executive director of the Clay County Economic Development Council. “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone who thought enough about their own community to come back and do that.”

In addition to extensive metropolitan-area recognition, Justus Drugstore was recently featured in USA Today. The results were immediate.

“A family from Spain heard about us in USA Today; they came to Smithville and brought some people from Kansas City,” said Justus Drugstore owner Jonathan Justus. “They had read about us on the plane on the way over from Barcelona.”

The criteria for winning a Keystone Award are not set in stone, and other Smithville businesses have been recognized in the past.

“It’s done specifically that way, so we can recognize a portfolio of companies,” Hampton said. “The Keystone Awards are one of my favorite projects because there are a lot of small companies around that are doing all the things that help the community. It’s not very often that we have a chance to turn around and say, ‘We really appreciate that.’”

Justus speculated as to some reasons why the restaurant may have been selected to receive the award.

“I think that is part of why we got this economic development award is because we invested in the economically underperforming downtown area, and keeping our money local by using local suppliers,” he said. “We’re getting most of what we use from people that live and work here, and that’s keeping the dollar here.”

He said Justus Drugstore wanted to serve as an anchor for business development in downtown Smithville, and the potential of the area had not been realized.

“What Smithville really needs to do is develop its downtown core,” he said. “When you have higher density, it’s cheaper for the sales tax dollars than it is if it is spread out.”

He said he thought downtown development was more penny-wise than new retail construction projects.

“We feel like all of the strip mall construction in Smithville does not distinguish Smithville from any other town, and they’re not going to bring up the quality of life for anyone,” he said. “The infrastructure needed to build and maintain them, compared to the sales tax they create, is a negative.”

With growth in Smithville a certainty, Justus said he would like to see the city “grow smart.”

“Smithville is going to grow, and our business is going to rely on Smithville growing,” he said. “But that growth needs to be in a way that makes sense and is not a financial drain on the people that live here.”

Smithville writer Andrew Turner can be reached at 532-4444 and andrewturner@npgco.com.

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