Apr. 25—JASPER, Mo. — Two of Jasper County's smaller communities are getting a big economic boost with a major truck stop and convenience store chain working on two locations.

Love's Travel Stops and Country Stores, a chain that already has a location in Joplin at the interchange between I-44 and Missouri Highway 43 in Newton County, said it is building stores in Jasper, along I-49, and in Sarcoxie, along I-44.

"Each location will be more than 15,000 square feet and have all the amenities Love's is known for, including clean restrooms, a dog park, fresh food, snack and drink options and a Mobile to Go section with today's latest technologies like phone chargers and headphones," according to a statement emailed to The Joplin Globe by Love's in response to emailed questions.

"Sarcoxie will have eight gasoline islands for casual drivers and 10 diesel islands for professional drivers," Love's said. "The Sarcoxie location will also have an Arby's restaurant and three RV hookups for RVers looking for a place to stay overnight. Jasper will have six gasoline islands for casual drivers and nine diesel islands for professional drivers. The location will also have Dunkin' Donuts."

Jasper Mayor Becky Elliott said residents were excited when they found out Love's was building in their community.

"I'm excited about the revenue that Love's will provide for this little town.," Elliott said. "The excitement is that we're going to have a major corporation locate here. It will have two restaurants inside it. That gives us options as far as eating places. When something like Love's comes into town it puts you on the map, so to speak. It's a great location for them."

The Jasper store will be located on the northwest corner of the I-49 interchange in Jasper.

Elliott said the city had to purchase a lot next to the lot where Love's is building to install a larger lift station to provide wastewater service to the business.

In Sarcoxie, the new Love's will be built at the east exit of Business I-44 near an existing convenience store and truck stop.

"Love's chooses locations on highway corridors that are known to be highly trafficked by our customers and underserved by our current locations," the company said. "These locations will allow customers to get the services they need while traveling this stretch of the country and get back on the road quickly."

Love's said in its email it plans to donate $5,000 to a local nonprofit in each community as it gets closer to opening.

Weather permitting, the company plans to open the Sarcoxie location in June and the Jasper location in September.

Love's said it partnered early on in its decision process with the Jasper and Sarcoxie communities to answer questions and provide information about Love's.

"The company considers the community a stakeholder and takes their input into consideration when developing a new location," Love's said. "Additionally, these locations will add about 50 jobs to each community. Employees often live and work in the town stores are located, making them invested in the community."